Enrique Collar’s relationship with Atlético de Madrid was never limited to his time as a player; After his retirement, he remained involved with the institution, serving as president of the club’s foundation between 2005 and 2011 and being actively involved in the Veterans Association. This connection was reflected in the 2023/24 season when his image was chosen for the red and white club’s membership card. The most important news reported by Atlético de Madrid this Monday is the death at the age of 91 of Enrique Collar, captain for a decade and one of its great legends, who marked a significant period in the history of the club.
According to a club statement, Collar was with Atlético between 1953 and 1969, making 470 official appearances and scoring 105 goals. This makes him the fifth most capped player in the team’s history, tied with Antoine Griezmann, and the one who has held the role of captain the longest, wearing the captain’s armband for ten consecutive seasons from 1960 to 1969. Atlético de Madrid’s media emphasized the importance of this continuity and the symbolic character that the left winger represented for the fans and the institution.
Enrique Collar was born on November 2, 1934 in San Juan de Aznalfarache, Seville. His beginnings in football came with the teams Imperial CF and Peña Norit before moving to the youth teams of Atlético de Madrid. He made his first team debut on September 13, 1953 in a game against Espanyol. Later, after experience with Cádiz and Real Murcia on loan, he managed to establish himself as a regular at the Madrid club.
As Atlético de Madrid recalled in its farewell message, Collar was present at some of the club’s most important moments in the 1960s. He led the team to win the league in the 1965/66 season, won three Copa del Reys in 1960, 1961 and 1965 and also won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1962, which was Atlético’s first continental title. In all these successes, he played the role of captain, with which he inaugurated the Vicente Calderón Stadium in 1966.
The club highlighted the importance of the attacking duo it formed with Joaquín Peiró, known as “El Ala Infernal”. This partnership was crucial, particularly in the 1960 Cup final against Real Madrid, where Collar won his first title with the club. Their ability to unite on the left wing left an important mark in the history of the Rojiblanco attack, and the people who lived through those years still remember this duo today.
At international level, Collar defended the Spanish national team jersey 16 times, scoring a total of five goals. He took part in the 1962 World Cup in Chile and was part of the team during the qualifying phase of the 1964 European Championship, a trophy that Spain would eventually win. After returning from the World Cup, he added another success by becoming champions of the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Atlético, defeating Fiorentina in the playoff game in Stuttgart.
After ending his long career at Atlético in 1969, he played one season at Valencia CF and decided to retire from professional football in 1970. Two years later, a ceremony was held in his honor at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, where he received the club’s gold and diamond badges as well as the silver medal for sporting merit. This event included a game against Bayern Munich, where he officially said goodbye to the fans.
Collar’s connection to Atlético de Madrid extended beyond his years wearing the red and white jersey. The former player maintained an important role within the organization through veterans initiatives and later through his presidency of the Atlético de Madrid Foundation, a position he held between 2005 and 2011. The validity of his figure was once again recognized when he became the likeness of the membership card in the 2023/24 season, an award reserved for representative figures in the club’s history.
Atlético’s official statement emphasized that with Collar’s death, the company “loses an icon who gave everything to bring Atlético to the top of national and continental football.” The institution expressed its condolences to the family and friends and highlighted the indelible mark that the former footballer leaves on the club and on those who followed his career. As the media reports, there is deep sadness in the red and white environment over the disappearance of one of the most influential and longest-lasting players in the history of Atlético de Madrid.
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