Isidro Lángara Galarraga

Isidro Lángara Galarraga (1912—1992) was a Spanish (Basque) football striker. He played 12 times for Spain, scoring 17 goals.

On 7th December 1930, Isidro Lángara made his debut for Real Oviedo. He netted a couple of goals, the first ones of a long tally to come.

On 24th April 1932 Real Oviedo’s Buenavista Stadium was officially opened with a match between Spain and Yugoslavia. Isidro Lángara played for the first time ever for the Spanish national team and managed to score. For three seasons in a row he was La Liga’s top-scorer, until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 came in between him and the opposition’s goal.

In 1937, amidst the chaos of the Spanish conflict, a Basque national side was teamed up. They were a squad whose main aim was to raise some funds for the Basque government by playing friendly matches around Europe and America. Once Bilbao was taken over by Nationalist forces, the Basque side settled down in Mexico, where they took part in the 1938-1939 Liga Mayor under the name of Club Deportivo Euskadi and finished as runners-up in the title race.

Meanwhile, in Spain the Order of 19th December 1939 established that all sportsmen who had fought on the Republican side or had left Spain from 18th July 1936 on would be suspended for six years if they did not return to Spain in less than two months. As a result, in 1946 Lángara came back to Spain and Real Oviedo could count on its most renowned player again.