Tini has passed away

This past Saturday, 24 July, former Athletic Club premier team player (1949-50 and 1951-52 season) Mr. Agustín Garcia Braceras, ‘Tini’, passed away in Laredo (Cantabria).

Born in Sodupe on 30 December 1930, Tini arrived in Athletic in the 1949-50 season with the difficult challenge to dispute the number ‘9’ with Zarra. He made his debut in a friendly match.

Despite his great condition during the two first campaigns he only disputed friendly matches, with his first match donning the rojiblanca jersey being a match in San Mamés against Real Sociedad on 26 March 1950 (Athletic Club 3 – Real Sociedad 5).

His official debut took place on matchday 13 of the 1951-52 season (2 December 1951, Valencia CF 2- Athletic Club 3), a debut conditioned on an injury of the forward from Asua the previous day.

Tini didn’t fail to take advantage of his opportunity and disputed practically all the remaining matches of that season, altogether 14 in Liga (11 goals) and two in Copa (1 goal), helping with his goals, among which two hat-tricks are worth mentioning (Real Sociedad 1 – Athletic Club 4 and Athletic Club 4 – Deportivo 1), to reach the Liga sub-championship of that year.

Once Zarra recovered, and feeling like a Premier team player, in the 1952-53 season he left Athletic and went to Real Valladolid, a team in which he continued to develop his career.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, 26 July, at five in the afternoon at Santa Maria Parish Church in Castro Urdiales (Cantabria).