Emilio Butragueño Spanish Footballer From Madrid

Early life

Emilio Butragueño Santos was born on 22 July 1963 in Madrid. He is listed at 168 centimetres tall and played as a forward. In 1981 he joined the youth system of Real Madrid, the club of his home city, and worked his way up through the lower teams. He spent a year with Real Madrid C and then moved to the reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla, where he stayed until 1984. During that time he also played for the Spain under-21 team.

Career

Butragueño made his first-team debut for Real Madrid on 5 February 1984 in an away match against Cádiz, scoring twice and setting up a third goal in a 3-2 comeback win. In December of that year he scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 home victory over Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup, a tie Madrid went on to win after losing the first leg 3-0. Madrid won that competition and took it again the following season.

He was nicknamed El Buitre, "the Vulture", and belonged to a group of home-grown players known as La Quinta del Buitre, alongside Manolo Sanchís, Rafael Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza. Through the second half of the 1980s the club won the league title five seasons in a row. Over the course of his time with the club he scored 123 league goals in 341 appearances. In the 1990-91 season he won the Pichichi Trophy as the top scorer in the Spanish league. His last years at Madrid were less productive. After the emergence of the teenager Raúl, he played only eight league games in 1994-95, a season in which the team still won the title. In June 1995 he signed with Atlético Celaya in Mexico. His new side reached the league final in his first year there. He announced his retirement in April 1998 after three seasons in Mexico, and he is noted for never having been sent off in his career.

For Spain, Butragueño won 69 caps and scored 26 goals. His international debut came on 17 October 1984 in a World Cup qualifier against Wales, in which he scored. He had already been named in the squad for the 1984 European Championship, where Spain finished as runners-up. At the 1986 World Cup he scored four goals in the 5-1 round-of-sixteen win over Denmark and ended the tournament as one of its top scorers. He also played at the 1990 World Cup in Italy but did not score in four matches. His last appearance for the national team was on 18 November 1992, a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland.

After his playing days he moved into club administration. On 19 October 2004 he replaced Jorge Valdano as Real Madrid's director of football, and until the end of the 2005-06 season he also served as vice-president. He later headed the club's public relations. In 1988, while still playing, a computer game bearing his name was released for several home computer systems. On screen, he appears in the documentary Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado (2004) and the football film Goal II: Living the Dream (2007).

Recognition

Butragueño won six La Liga titles with Real Madrid, in 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1994-95. He also won two Copa del Rey titles, in 1988-89 and 1992-93, the 1985 Copa de la Liga, four Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Cups and the 1994 Copa Iberoamericana. Individually, he finished third in the Ballon d'Or voting in 1986 and 1987, received the Bravo Award in 1985 and 1986, and earned the Silver Boot and a place in the all-star team at the 1986 World Cup. He is also on the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players, selected in 2004.

Public roles

From October 2004 Butragueño served as director of football and, until 2006, as vice-president of Real Madrid, followed by a position as the club's head of public relations.