Rafael Moreno Aranzadi: the Athletic player who became Pichichi

When a team plays at San Mamés for the first time, their captain lays a bouquet of flowers beside the bust of Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, an Athletic Club legend also known as Pichichi. It’s a tradition that has existed since January 1927.

After making his Athletic Club debut on March 17, 1913, Pichichi took Bilbao and the game of football by storm. Over a 12-year period, the inside-forward bagged goals for fun and wowed fans with his natural ability.

Pichichi played a major role in the Lions’ early successes. By the time he retired in 1921, he had won four Copas del Rey and five regional championships and scored a remarkable 83 goals in 89 appearances.

Born in the Bilbao neighbourhood of Casco Viejo on May 23, 1892, Moreno came from a prominent family. His mother was a distant relative of famous Basque writer Miguel de Unamuno, while his father was at one point the city’s mayor.

Pichichi’s family encouraged him to pursue a life of academia. He even studied law at university, but dropped out after failing every class in the first year. After this, his father pulled strings and got his unruly son a job at Bilbao’s City Hall, but there was little anyone could do to prevent Pichichi from following his true passion – playing football.

It’s most likely his famous nickname originated from when he was a child and played football with older boys, pitxitxi is a Basque word literally meaning ‘minimum’.

Moreno was always slight in build. But surprisingly enough, despite the sport being more brutal during that period, Pichichi’s size never hindered his game, with his technique and excellent game intelligence ensuring his thin frame never held him back.

What’s more, he wasn’t hard to spot on the pitch either, as he would always don a white bandana, which he claimed prevented the stitching on the footballs from cutting his forehead.

In a short interview, Pichichi’s teammate Seve Zuazo described what it was like to play alongside the gifted footballer.

“Dribbling was his best skill,” Zuazo said. “He always went towards the goal, never to the sides. And he had a very precise and powerful shot.”

Pichichi showed Athletic Club fans what he was capable from his very first appearance in the red-and-white stripes.

The inside-forward made his official Athletic debut against Real Madrid in the 1913 Copa del Rey semi-finals, scoring a brace in the first 11 minutes and laying the groundwork for Athletic to win 3-0.

Pichichi was on the scoresheet again a week later when the Lions drew 2-2 against Racing Irun in the first leg of the final. And although Athletic lost 0-1 in the second leg, the young footballer had well and truly put himself on the map.

In August of the same year, Pichichi became the first ever player to score at San Mamés, getting the opener as the Lions drew 1-1 with Racing Irun in the stadium’s inaugural friendly. The fixture was part of a tournament which also involved Shepherd’s Bush FC.

He played an instrumental role as Athletic became the early Kings of the Copa. He won his first Copa del Rey in May 1914 – one of four Rafael would eventually get his hands on. In the semi-finals, Pichichi scored four goals in the final 30 minutes of the 11-0 first leg victory over Sporting Vigo, practically guaranteeing Athletic’s place in a second consecutive final.

The Lions went on to play España FC in the final and although Moreno didn’t score, he did set up Zuazo’s and Athletic’s second in a 2-1 win.

His defining moment in an Athletic strip came in the following season’s Copa final, where he scored a hat-trick and assisted another as the Lions eased to 5-0 victory over RCD Espanyol.

Newspapers reported that towards the end of the first half the crowd began to applaud every time Moreno did a trick or dribbled past an Espanyol player.

The performance propelled Pichichi to stardom, he had become an icon. It was one of the first examples of a footballer becoming a celebrity.

He was even immortalised on canvas. In 1920, he and his future wife, Avelina Rodriguez, were the subjects of Aurelio Arteta’s famous painting, Idilios en los Campos de Sport (Idyll in the Sports fields).

However, as much as Pichichi loved the spotlight and for all the praise he received, he also had his critics. Some claimed he was an attention seeker, who enjoyed his new-found status a bit too much, while others derided his ‘individualismo’ and branded him a selfish footballer.

Moreno would win two more Copas before hanging up his boots. Athletic beat Real Madrid 4-0 in 1916, lifting the trophy for a third season in a row, and again in 1921, defeating Atlético Madrid 4-1.

But his career was on the decline and the negativity towards him intensified. So, at the age of 29, not long after the Copa final against Atlético Madrid, Pichichi retired as a footballer.

His final appearance as a player at The Cathedral was for a Basque-select side in a friendly against West Ham United. Moreno went on to become a referee and as destiny would have it, he made his debut as a match official at San Mamés.

Unfortunately, Rafael passed away on March 1, 1922, less than a year after his retirement and just a couple of months short of his 30^th birthday.

It’s not exactly known what caused his death, but many suspect it was typhoid brought on by the digestion of bad oysters.

His death led to an outpouring of grief in the city of Bilbao. Thousands turned up at his funeral to pay their respects. And the following Sunday, thousands more were in attendance at San Mamés, as Athletic faced Arenas Club de Getxo in a testimonial match organised to raise funds for Rafael’s wife and young daughter.

A couple of years later, Athletic Club commissioned local sculptor Quintin de Torre Berástegui to make a bust of Pichichi. The work of art was completed by December 1926 and unveiled outside San Mamés.

The statue has been a part of the furniture at the stadium ever since. Throughout all the remodels and construction work done to the old ground, a space was always found for Pichichi.

And after the new San Mamés was opened in 2013, he was placed at the entrance of the tunnel, meaning he gets arguably the best view in the stadium on matchday.

Not long after the statue was originally unveiled, the first ever iconic floral offering took place. On January 1, 1927, the players from Hungarian side MTK Budapest laid the first bouquet of flowers next to Pichichi before taking on Athletic in a friendly.

From that moment onwards, all newcomers to San Mamés have made the same gesture of respect towards one of football’s and Athletic’s most historic players.

This isn’t the only Pichichi-related tradition that lives on till this day. Since the 1952-53 season, sports newspaper Marca has given the Trofeo Pichichi to LaLiga’s top goalscorer.

Curiously, the first person to receive the award was another legendary Athletic striker, Telmo Zarra – the man who remains top goalscorer in Athletic history.

A larger than life figure, Rafael Moreno Aranzadi was one of Athletic Club’s first legendary lions. Pichichi was a pioneer of the sport, not only as an athlete, but also as a personality. For that reason, his legacy lives strong to this very day.

*Photos and videos courtesy of Athletic Club Museum