Enrique Collar

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Collar and the second or maternal family name is Monterrubio.

Enrique Collar
Collar in 1962
Personal information
Full name Enrique Collar Monterrubio
Date of birth (1934-11-02)2 November 1934[1]
Place of birth San Juan de Aznalfarache, Spain[1]
Date of death 29 December 2025(2025-12-29) (aged 91)
Position Left winger
Youth career
Imperial
Peña Norit
1949–1952 Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1969 Atlético Madrid 339 (71)
1952–1953 → Cádiz (loan) 20 (7)
1954 → Murcia (loan) 11 (7)
1969–1970 Valencia 15 (1)
Total 385 (86)
International career
1952 Spain U18 2 (1)
1955–1959 Spain B 7 (1)
1955–1963 Spain 16 (5)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Enrique Collar Monterrubio (2 November 1934 – 29 December 2025) was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a left winger.

He spent most of his career with Atlético Madrid, playing 470 games and scoring 105 goals over all competitions, as well as being captain from 1960 to 1969. He won one La Liga title, three Copa del Generalísimo titles and the European Cup-Winners' Cup. He retired in 1970 after one season at Valencia.

Collar earned 16 caps and scored five goals for the Spain national team from 1955 to 1963. He played in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Collar was born in San Juan de Aznalfarache in the Province of Seville, to a father from Tomelloso in the Province of Ciudad Real, and a mother from Bilbao.[1] He was one of four sons and two daughters.[1]

Collar began playing football for Imperial in his hometown,[2] and when he was 12 his father moved the family to Madrid due to his banking job.[1] Collar continued playing Peña Norit in the capital city and then the youth teams of Atlético Madrid in 1949.[2] He went to a trial for Atlético with his brothers Antonio and Pepe and barely touched the ball in the practice match, but was asked to demonstrate a corner kick and then assigned to the team.[1] With the team, he won a national youth title in 1952.[2]

Club career

After turning 18, Collar signed his first professional contract on 3 November and was loaned to Cádiz in the Tercera División for the season.[2] All four of the Collar brothers played for Cádiz at the same time.[1] On 13 September 1953, he made his Atlético debut as the season opened with a home game against Espanyol,[2] but he played only five league games and two in the cup over the entire season.[1] He had another loan for the first half of 1954–55, scoring 7 goals in 11 games for a Real Murcia side that ended the season promoted as champions.[2]

After his loans, Collar became a regular at Atlético Madrid, forming the Ala infernal (Wing of Hell) with his friend Joaquín Peiró.[2] The nickname was given by opponents in Brazil, and the pair played together between 1956 and Peiró's sale to Torino in 1963.[3] Collar was the first of several Atlético players to be nicknamed El Niño (The Kid), a moniker later given to fellow youth team graduates Carlos Aguilera and Fernando Torres.[4]

Collar was Atlético captain from 1960 to 1969, which by the time of his death was the longest captaincy in the club's history.[2] During this period, the club won La Liga (1965–66), the Copa del Generalísimo (1960, 1961, 1965) and the European Cup Winners' Cup (1962).[2] He played 470 games in all competitions for Atlético – joint fifth at the time of his death with current player Antoine Griezmann – and scored 105 goals.[2]

Collar played his final season for Valencia in 1969–70.[2] On 28 May 1972, Atlético held a testimonial match for him against Bayern Munich.[2]

International career

Collar played 16 games and scored 5 goals for Spain, having scored on his debut on 19 June 1955 in a 3–0 friendly win against Switzerland in Geneva.[5] On 23 November 1961, he was captain and scored the decisive goal of a 3–2 win over Morocco in the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs, and he was chosen for the final tournament in Chile.[5] His last game on 30 May 1963 was a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland in Bilbao in 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying;[5] he was not chosen for the final event which Spain won on home soil.[2]

Personal life and death

Collar appeared as himself in the 1960 film The Economically Handicapped, a comedy themed around football.[6]

Collar was president of Atlético Madrid's charitable foundation until 2011.[4] He lived his final years with Alzheimer's disease. His son told the programme El día después in 2023 that his father was unaware of his own identity and was largely non-verbal, but could recognise Atlético Madrid's badge and kit.[7]

In December 2023, the town council in Collar's birthplace of San Juan de Aznalfarache renamed the local football stadium in his honour.[8]

Collar died on 29 December 2025, at the age of 91.[9]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Collar goal.
List of international goals scored by Enrique Collar[5]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 June 1955 Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland   Switzerland 1–0 3–0 Friendly
2 13 March 1958 Parc des Princes, Paris, France  France 2–1 2–2 Friendly
3 14 July 1960 Nacional, Santiago, Chile  Chile 3–0 4–0 Friendly
4 23 November 1961 Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain  Morocco 3–1 3–2 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 1 November 1962 Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain  Romania 3–0 6–0 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying

Honours

Murcia

Atlético Madrid

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cazón, Patricia (30 December 2025). "Collar, el primer niño eterno del Atlético" [Collar, Atlético's first eternal child]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pérez, José Ignacio (29 December 2025). "Muere Enrique Collar, leyenda y gran capitán del Atlético" [Enrique Collar, legend and great captain of Atlético, dies]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  3. ^ Cazón, Patricia (19 March 2020). "Peiró, Collar y el ala infernal" [Peiró, Collar and the Wing of Hell]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gómara, Javier G. (29 December 2025). "Muere Enrique Collar, el primer Niño del Atlético de Madrid" [Enrique Collar, Atlético Madrid's first Niño, dies]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d "Enrique Collar". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  6. ^ Carreno, Fernando M. (8 May 2022). "Tony Leblanc: Centenario y su deliciosa película sobre fútbol... en MARCA" [Tony Leblanc: Centenary and his delicious film about football... in Marca]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  7. ^ "La emotiva historia de Enrique Collar: el Alzheimer y su recuerdo del escudo del Atleti" [The moving story of Enrique Collar: Alzheimer's and his memory of the badge of Atleti]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  8. ^ Fedriani Cabezas, Álvaro (21 December 2023). "El Estadio de fútbol Primero Mayo de San Juan pasará a llamarse «Enrique Collar»" [San Juan's Primero de Mayo football stadium will be renamed "Enrique Collar"] (in Spanish). Aljarafe Digital. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Muere Enrique Collar, leyenda del Atlético de Madrid" [Enrique Collar, Atlético Madrid legend, dies]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 29 December 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Collar