MADRID, 17 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Former soccer player José Martínez ‘Pirri’ will be the new Honorary President of Real Madrid CF in place of the late Amancio Amaro, if approved by the next General Assembly of Members of the white club, reports the Concha Espina entity after the agreement reached at the meeting of its Board of Directors.
Madrid legend Pirri will replace Amancio Amaro, who died on February 21st. The former player would join former club players such as Alfredo di Stéfano or Paco Gento as Honorary President.
A makeshift midfielder, defender and striker, Pirri scored 172 goals in the 16 seasons he played for Real Madrid. He was part of the ‘yeyé team’, led by Francisco Gento. In the year of his debut, he won the first of the ten league titles he won as a Real Madrid player. In 1966 Real Madrid, along with one of the youngest teams in Europe, won what would be Real Madrid’s sixth European Cup, beating Partizan Belgrade in the final (2-1).
He was international 41 times and in 1980 he ended up in Puebla de México. Two years later and after finishing his medical studies, he returned to Spain to join the Real Madrid medical staff, where he later held the duties of technical director and general sports director.
In addition to the European Cup, 10 league titles and 4 Spanish Cups that he won as a Real Madrid player, Pirri was the first Real Madrid player to receive Real Madrid’s highest distinction: the Laureada.