Edmundo Novoa

Edmundo Basilio Novoa de María (14 June 1887 – 6 July 1981) was a Uruguayan-born Spanish diplomat and footballer who played as a defender for Real Madrid in Spain^[1][2] and Nacional in Uruguay.^[3] In 1911, he played one match as a midfielder for the Uruguayan national team.^[4][5][6] He later worked as a consular agent of Uruguay in Spain, using this position to save thousands of people from Franco's repression.^[7]

Edmundo Novoa was born on 14 June 1887 in Durazno, Uruguay, as the son of Edmundo Nóvoa Couto and Justina de María, both from Pontevedra.^[8] He spent most of his youth frequently traveling back and forth between Galicia and his homeland until he eventually settled in Salcedo.^[7]

In his youth, Novoa was a fan of several sports such as sailing, fencing, and shooting, and football, being one of the most notable promoters of the latter in the city.^[9] In 1905, he was a co-founder of Pontevedra Athletic Club, which was the very first club that played football in the city of Pontevedra.^[10] In the following year, a local newspaper described him as an "excellent" player with "an elegant style" who demonstrated "his skill and mastery in the game of football, with even the English spectators praised him "as one of the best players".^[7] This team played several friendly matches against nearby teams, such as Fortuna FC, Vigo FC, but also against some teams farther away, such as Marín and Vilagarcía de Arousa, and even some competitive matches; for instance, in 1907, Novoa helped Pontevedra claim the Copa Compostelana with a 2–0 win over Vigo FC.^[7]

Following an invitation from Madrid FC, Novoa and his teammate Cipriano Prada went to the capital to reinforce them in the upcoming 1908 Copa del Rey in April, but they arrived there a month earlier, in March, when the Merengue club was still competing in the Madrid regional championship.^[7] Novoa made his debut for Madrid on 19 March, helping his side to a 3–0 victory over Atlético Madrid; there are no records about the next two championship matches, both against Español de Madrid, but it is likely that Novoa started in both as Madrid won the title and thus qualified for the Copa del Rey.^[7][11] On 12 April, both he and Prada started in the 1908 Copa del Rey final against Vigo FC, helping their side to a 2–1 victory.^[7][11][12] In the final, he formed a defensive partnership with the club's captain José Berraondo, with the local newspaper stating that Vigo's play was "easily counteracted by Berraondo and Novoa's defense".^[7] In total, Novoa only played two known matches for Madrid.^[1]

In the following year, Novoa competed in the Copa del Rey again, but this time with Galicia FC, which was knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual champions Club Ciclista.^[7][13] Earlier that same year, in February 1909, he was a member of one of the first versions of a Spanish national team, which consisted of the best players of clubs from northern Spain, particularly Irún, Fortuna, and Pontevedra, which faced a team of the best players from southern France at the Pont Jumeaux stadium in Toulouse.^[7]

In 1910, Novoa took advantage of one of his many trips to Uruguay, where his father lived, to join the ranks of Club Nacional, with whom he played for four months, scoring a total of two goals in nine matches, including in the Uruguayan Championship, the Copa de Honor, and Copa Artigas.^[3][7] On one occasion, he briefly switched to goalkeeper when a violent shot completely fractured his little finger, which had to be amputated.^[7]

His performances at Nacional, and later at Bristol FC, did not went unnoticed by technical staff of the Uruguayan national team, who selected him for an Argentine Copa de Honor match against Argentina in Buenos Aires, in which he started alongside the likes of Ángel Romano and José Piendibene in an eventual 2–0 loss.^[6][7][14]

It was around this time that Manchester United showed interest in signing him, but he declined because he did not want to live in England.^[7] By the mid-1910s, he gradually stepped away from football, only occasionally playing in friendly or tribute matches.^[7]

After retiring from football, Novoa shifted his focus to the poultry business, owning one of Pontevedra's largest farms, Las Galerías, where he sold eggs for consumption as well as birds for breeding.^[7] He abandoned this career in 1925, when he was appointed consul of Uruguay in Vilagarcía de Arousa.^[7][15] He also briefly served as the consul of Argentina, following the death of that country's representative.^[7]

When the fascists took Galicia at the start of the Spanish Civil War, many Uruguayans and Argentines fled the area, so despite being a consul, Novoa began to play a more humanitarian than diplomatic role, using both his consulate and his house to protect numerous people from Francoist repression, and thanks to the power granted by his position, he was able to obtain documents and safe-conduct passes for thousands of Argentines, Uruguayans, and even Spanish opponents threatened by Franco's regime, using his diplomatic-flagged vehicle to ferry people across the Portuguese border and even arranged papers to take others by ship to America.^[7][16]

When the Franco regime became aware of his actions, Novoa was branded an enemy and lost his diplomatic exequatur, thus being stripped of his immunity,^[7][16] and due to the risks of being arrested or killed, he and his family moved to Porto, from where he continued to make arrangements to help the persecuted cross the border.^[16] In 1943, in Montevideo, he was the subject of a tribute held by many of the Uruguayans and Argentines who had left Spain thanks to him.^[7] After being expelled from Spain, he became Uruguayan consul in Porto, and later in Philadelphia.^[9]

In September 1914, Novoa married Mercedes García Solis, daughter of Aquilino García Estévez, the Mayor of Pontevedra,^[7][17] and the couple had eight children, most of them born in Galicia, one of whom was the painter and sculptor Leopoldo Nóvoa.^[18] His grandson, Joseph Novoa, is a Venezuelan-Uruguayan film director whose 1994 film "Sicario" was a finalist at the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film 1995.^[7]

In addition to football, Novoa also loved hunting, becoming an Ibero-American Shooting Champion in 1968 in Mexico.^[7] He died in Madrid on 6 July 1981, at the age of 94.^[7]

^[1]

Madrid FC

• Centro Championship:
  • Champions (1): 1907–08

• Copa del Rey:
  • Champions (1): 1908

• List of Real Madrid CF players