Bata (footballer)

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

Agustín Sauto Arana (11 May 1908 – 21 August 1986), known as Bata, was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker.

Bata

Personal information
Full name	Agustín Sauto Arana
Date of birth	(1908-05-11)11 May 1908
Place of birth	Barakaldo, Spain
Date of death	21 August 1986(1986-08-21) (aged 78)
Place of death	Valle de Trápaga, Spain
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	San Vicente Barakaldo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1925–1929	Barakaldo
1929–1936	Athletic Bilbao	118	(105)
1938–1942	Barakaldo	42	(18)
1942	Osasuna	0	(0)
1942–1944	Barakaldo	13	(6)
International career
1931	Spain	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, scoring 208 goals in as many matches across all competitions and winning four La Liga championships.^[1][2] He is the only player to have scored 7 goals against Barcelona in a single match. The goals were scored during the 1930/1931 Laliga season in which Bilbao crushed the Catalans 12-1.

Club career

Born in Barakaldo, Biscay, Bata started his career at hometown club Barakaldo CF. His nickname derived from the fact he used to wear an overall (bata in Spanish) made by his mother in order to prevent him from staining his better clothes; he was also dubbed El Bertha bilbaino (Bilbao's Bertha), El terror de San Mamés (terror of San Mamés) and El león enfurecido (raging lion).^[3]

Bata signed with Athletic Bilbao in 1929, and made his professional debut for them on 22 September in a 4–1 win against Deportivo Alavés for the Biscay Championship. In his first season, he won both the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles. His first goal in the former competition came on 23 March 1930, in a 4–3 success at Atlético Madrid;^[4] he was the focal point of what become a famous forward line at the club, along with José Iraragorri, Chirri II, Lafuente and Guillermo Gorostiza.^[5][6][7][8]

Bata achieved the same feat of league and cup double the following campaign, while also earning the Pichichi Trophy having scored 27 goals.^[9] Seven of those came in Athletic's historic 12–1 defeat of FC Barcelona on 18 February 1931,^[2] even though some sources only awarded him five and others as many as eight;^[10][11] he continued to play regularly until 1935–36 when he won the championship for a fourth time, but his career was then effectively ended at the age of 28 by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

In the summer of 1938, Bata re-joined Barakaldo, but the competition would only be resumed the following year after the end of the war. He retired at the age of 35 after four seasons in Segunda División, and died on 21 August 1986 at 78 in Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran.^[11]

International career

In spite of his club achievements, Bata won only one cap for the Spain national team. It happened on 19 April 1931, in a friendly with Italy played in Bilbao.^[12]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Regional championship		Totals		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Athletic Bilbao	1929–30	La Liga	7	1	5	4	8	7	20	12	[13]
	1930–31		17	27	7	10	1	1	25	38	[13]
	1931–32		18	12	6	6	8	11	32	29	[13]
	1932–33		18	15	9	7	8	15	35	37	[13]
	1933–34		17	12	6	7	7	15	30	34	[13]
	1934–35		21	16	1	0	12	12	34	28	[13]
	1935–36		20	22	4	2	8	6	32	30	[13]
	Total		118	105	38	36	52	67	208	208	–
Barakaldo	1938–39	Segunda División	0	0	6	5			6	5	[14]
	1939–40		12	3	2	0			14	3	[14]
	1940–41		19	7	6	1			17	9	[14]
	1941–42		11	8	0	0			11	8	[14]
	Total		42	18	14	6	0	0	56	24	–
Osasuna	1941–42	Segunda División	0	0	3	2			3	2	[14]
Barakaldo	1942–43	Segunda División	9	5	2	0			11	5	[14]
	1943–44		4	1	0	0			4	1	[14]
	Total		13	6	2	0	0	0	15	6	–
Career total			173	129	54	42	52	67	279	238	–

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

• La Liga: 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36
• Copa del Rey: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy: 1930–31, 1931–32^[9]

References

1. Rodrigálvarez, Eduardo (22 November 2014). "Zarra, el rey de la antigüedad" [Zarra, king of old]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
2. "Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao – 'Bata'" [Athletic Club de Bilbao legends – 'Bata']. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
3. "Breves y curiosos relatos (II)" [Short fun facts (II)] (PDF) (in Spanish). Bilbao.net. August 2004. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
4. "Athlétic de Madrid, 3 – Athlétic de Bilbao, 4". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 24 March 1930. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
5. Salazar, Bernardo (2 March 2016). "Las tres grandes delanteras que hubo en la historia el Athletic" [The three great forward lines in the history of Athletic]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2018.
6. "History: 1928–1937". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
7. García, Montse (12 March 2012). "El 'Abecedario' del fútbol: Guillermo Gorostiza, la bala roja de San Mamés" [The 'ABC' of football: Guillermo Gorostiza, the red bullet of San Mamés] (in Spanish). Fútbol Primera. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
8. Radnedge, Keir (1 August 1977). "The history of Athletic Bilbao 1898–1936". World Soccer (via In Bed With Maradona). Retrieved 4 November 2018.
9. Bravo, Luis Javier; Sillipp, Bernhard; Torre, Raúl; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Spain – List of Topscorers ("Pichichi") 1929–2015". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
10. Ramos, Jesús (18 March 2016). "Bata y los cinco goles al Barça" [Bata and the five goals to Barça]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
11. "Agustín Souto Arana, futbolista" [Agustín Souto Arana, footballer]. El País (in Spanish). 23 August 1986. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
12. "Sobre un campo convertido en lodazal, Italia y España cerraron la lucha con empate a 0 goals" [On mire-like pitch, Italy and Spain ceased hostilities with 0 to 0 draw]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 20 April 1931. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
13. Bata at Athletic Bilbao
14. Bata at BDFutbol

External links

• Bata at Athletic Bilbao
• Bata at BDFutbol
• Bata at National-Football-Teams.com
• Bata at EU-Football.info