Eduardo de Acha
Spanish football executive, and player
Eduardo de Acha y Otáñez (13 March 1878 – 30 November 1928) was a Spanish soldier (Captain of the Artillery) and Knight of the Order of Calatrava. In 1903 he was one of the main architects of the foundation of Club Athletic de Madrid (now Atlético Madrid), an entity of which he would serve as its second president between 1903 and 1907.
Early years
Acha was born on 13 March 1878 in Madrid as the son of Juan Nicolás de Acha, who founded the Ophthalmic Institute of Madrid, which would later be donated to the state. To thank this initiative, King Alfonso XIII appointed Alberto de Acha Marquis de Acha, eldest son of Juan Nicolás and Eduardo's older brother, with a marquesado (a marquisate).
Foundation of Athletic
In April 1903, Acha had to travel to Bilbao for family matters at that time, and there he took the opportunity to request from Athletic Club, who had just won the 1903 Copa del Rey final on 8 April, the requirements for the creation of a Madrid branch of the Bilbao club. The idea was received with enthusiasm in the Basque town, so he was immediately provided with the statutes, the shield and he was even invited to pose in the official photo alongside the Spanish champions. Thus, on the night of April 25–26, he organized a meeting between all the participants in the idea at the Sociedad Vasco Navarra in Madrid, which included a Basque colony of students from the Escuela Superior de Minas and four former and current associates of Madrid FC (Julián Palacios, Valdeterrazo, Eustaquio Celada, and Darío de Arana), and on the morning of 26, this group led by him and the directors of the Basque club met to officially give birth to Athletic de Madrid.
Acha appeared on the club's first board of directors as a secretary with Enrique Allende as president. Despite the insistence of the rest of the founders to elect Acha president, Acha himself opted instead for the 32-year-old Allende to become the club's first president because even though he had been the main promoter and architect of the team's creation, Allende had a comfortable economic situation and could thus act as patron of the club, a decision that was staunchly defended by the future president Ricardo de Gondra. However, Allende did not meet the expectations that were held of him; he soon got tired and stopped showing much interest in football, so he resigned in the fall of that same year, and Acha assumed the presidency.
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