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The Mystery Man Was…

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My love for facts, stats and trivia lead me to try something different here on Vital Blackburn. On this occasion govtpros gave you a three part trivia question to try and answer.

The question asked:
Part 1 – Which former Rovers Player was.. (see clues below)?
?A German Prisoner of War.
?Manager of 3 international teams.
?Manager of 4 Spanish Premiera Clubs

Part 2 – What was his nickname?

Part 3 – What record which still stands, did he orchestrate over a Spanish club giant?


The answers we were looking for were as follows:

Part One – Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland
1914: Germany
1920: France
1920-21: Racing de Santander
1922-25: Athletic Bilbao
1925-26: Athletic Madrid
1926-27: Real Oviedo
1927-29: Athletic Madrid
1929: Spain
1929-33: Athletic Bilbao
1934-35: Athletic Madrid
1938-40: Barrow A.F.C.


Part Two – Pentland earned the nickname El Bombín, due to his bowler hat, whilst at Athletic Bilbao.

Part Three – Orchestrated the 12-1 victory over Barcelona

Here is also a brief history care of govtpros…

Born Wolverhampton, July 29, 1883, died on March 16, 1962 in Poole, Dorset.

After retiring as a player, Pentland went to Berlin in 1914 to take charge of the German Olympic football team. However within a few months, the First World War broke out and he was subsequently interned at Ruhleben.

In 1920 Pentland coached France at the Olympic Games. The final stages of the tournament descended into a farce and France missed out on the opportunity to win the silver medal.

Pentland joined Racing de Santander but after one season he was poached by Athletic Bilbao. He revolutionised the way Athletic played, favouring the short passing game and in 1923 he led the club to victory in the Copa del Rey. However in 1925 he left Athletic and went onto coach Athletic Madrid, leading them to the Copa final in 1926. He then left the Madrid club for one season and coached Real Oviedo. In 1927 he returned to Athletic Madrid and guided them to victory in the Campeonato del Centro. He was also manager at the Madrid side during the inaugural La Liga season. In May 1929 he helped coach Spain when they beat England 4-3 at Athletic Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium. As a result Spain became the first non-British team to beat England.

In 1929 Pentland rejoined Athletic Bilbao. He subsequently led them to La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931. He also guided the club as they won the Copa del Rey four times in a row between 1930 and 1933 and finished as La Liga runners-up in 1932 and 1933. Pentland’s Athletic were notable for their prolific goalscorers including Bata and Guillermo Gorostiza. In 1931 he also masterminded Athletic’s 12-1 victory over FC Barcelona, the latter’s worst ever defeat. In 1933 he joined Athletic Madrid for a third time but returned to England at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1959 Athletic invited Pentland back to Spain for a testimonial game against Chelsea and awarded him a Distinguished Members medal.

When he died in 1962, Athletic held a memorial service in his honour at San Mamés
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Congratulations to vital member sandgroanun who was the first to correctly get this.

Do you have any trivia questions you would like to put to everyone? If so contact me via e-mail at this address blackburn@vitalfootball.co.uk and I’ll get Vital Football Members pondering over your teaser?

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Formerly Hughes Da Man (HDM)

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