Vila-real mourns Cistercian monk and former Villarreal CF player Vicente Ferrer Alayrach Bort | OneFootball

Vila-real is mourning the death of Vicente Ferrer Alayrach Bort, a Cistercian brother of San Isidro de Dueñas and a former Villarreal CF footballer. Born in Vila-real on 14 January 1936, he has died at 90 after a life first shaped by football then by more than six decades of monastic service.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, the city council offered public condolences, highlighting that he devoted his life to God and to his monastic community.

Before his vocation, Alayrach played for Villarreal CF in the 1950s, a chapter recorded in 100 años de fútbol en Vila-real by Vicente Soro Nácher. The book places him in the era between consolidation in Primera Regional and the club’s first promotion to Tercera División.

His path changed in 1960 when he entered the monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas in Palencia province. He made temporary profession on 6 January 1963 and solemn profession on 15 August 1966.

The community remembers a man of deep piety, devoted to prayer, lectio divina and communal life. They also note his humour and readiness to serve in the refectory, kitchen, farms and tailoring.

In later years arthritis limited his mobility, and heart and vascular illness led to a move to the infirmary. His memory endures as one of service and humility.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo