Enrique Collar, leader of Atlético de Madrid, died at 91 | Soccer | Sporty

Former footballer Enrique Collar, manager of Atlético de Madrid, has died at the age of 91, according to overnight information from the Spanish club. Champion of a League, three Cups and a European Cup with Atlético, he was captain of Rojiblanco for ten years (1960-1969), a success in the history of the colchonero club, which is the fifth player with the most matches, tied with Antoine Griezmann. I was also a member of the Spanish national team and participated in the World Cup in Chile in 1962.

Referring to the rojiblanco club and Spanish football of the 1960s, Collar was one of the best left wingers in Europe, playing 470 matches and scoring 105 goals as a player for the Madrid club. Skillful and fast, he was part of the Rouge et Blanc team from 1953 to 1969. During this period, he became the player who wore the captain’s bracelet the longest at the club.

Born in the Spanish town of San Juan de Aznalfarache in 1934 and started in the Imperial of this Andalusian city before arriving in Madrid and being part of Peña Norit until in 1949 he entered the lower categories of Atleti. After signing his first professional contract with the Rojiblanca entity, at the age of 18, he spent a year in Cadiz and returned in 1953 to the Madrid club, where he started and stayed.

His first game took place on September 13, 1953 against Espanyol. However, he was loaned out again, to Murcia, and contributed to the team’s rise to prominence despite returning to Madrid before the end of the season.

Since that year, Collar spent 15 consecutive seasons as a footballer for the Rojiblanco team, winning a League (1965-1966), three Cups (1960, 1961 and 1965) and a European Cup in 1962. He experienced key moments in the history of the entity such as the first European title, the loss of the old Metropolitan stadium and the inauguration of the Manzanares stadium in 1966.

Collar, one of the references of Spanish football at that time, was international with Spain 16 times. He took part in the World Cup in Chile in 1962 and also participated in the qualifying phase of Euro 1964, which Spain subsequently won.

Enrique Collar retired in 1970 and, years later, was awarded the club’s gold and glittering badge as well as the silver medal for sporting merit from the National Department of Sports and Physical Education. Collar has been linked to the club throughout his life as a member of the former Asociación de Veteranos and as president of the Fundación del Atlético Madrid between 2005 and 2011.

In a press release, Atlético recalls that with the death of Collar, the entity “lost one of its symbols, an emblematic player, a reference of his time and an unrivaled footballer in his time”.