Carmelo Cedrún, bridge between old and modern Athletic, dies aged 95 | OneFootball

Carmelo Cedrún has died aged 95, the goalkeeper who bridged Athletic’s golden 1950s and the club’s next era. After 15 seasons he handed the shirt to José Ángel Iribar, having earlier succeeded Raimundo Pérez Lezama.

According to El Correo, Cedrún was a Spain international at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, where he played two of the team’s three matches. He finished with 13 caps.

Born Carmelo Sedrún, the club altered the spelling to Cedrún so he avoided African military service, he served at Garellano. He joined in 1950/51 and soon became first choice, setting 132 consecutive league games from 1952 to 1957, a run later surpassed by Iñaki Williams.

Tough and dependable, he played through injuries. At Maine Road against Manchester United he collided with Taylor after a short pass from Garay, stayed on and conceded three. He also played a month with a broken finger.

A penalties specialist, he once outfoxed Kubala at Les Corts by nudging the ball into a divot before the kick. He won one league and three Copas, lost the 1953 final to Barcelona, then took the Cups in 1955 and 1956, the league in 1956, and the 1958 Bernabéu final against Real Madrid. Only Ignacio Uribe now survives from the ‘eleven villagers’.

Iribar’s rise sent him to Espanyol, with Di Stéfano as team-mate and Kubala as coach, before a year in the NASL with the Baltimore Bays.

He later coached Barakaldo, Logroñés and Cultural Leonesa, and won promotion with Celta. His son Andoni kept goal for Athletic and Zaragoza, winning the Cup Winners’ Cup. He once filled in up front against Burnley, the coach was sacked next day.

Source: El Correo