The Atleti Family is mourning the death of Isacio Calleja
One of our club's greatest legends has passed away aged 82. He played for Atleti between 1958 and 1972, winning two league titles, four cups and the 1962 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
Today is a sad day for the Atleti Family. We are mourning the death of our former player Isacio Calleja (Palencia, Dec. 6, 1936) aged 82. The former left-back is one of our greatest legends, having played 425 matches (300 in the league, 76 in the cup, 15 in the European Cup, 12 in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 16 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, two in the UEFA and four in the International Cup) during 14 seasons in one of our brightest eras. He is the fifth player with the most games in Atleti history.
Isacio arrived at our club in 1958 at age 19. He made his debut the following year and during his 14 seasons at our club, won two league titles (1965/66 and 1969/70), four cups (1960, 1961, 1965 and 1972) and the 1962 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He was our captain when we won two of those trophies: the 1969/70 league and the 1972 cup.
His Atleti performances earned him 13 caps with the Spain National Team. In fact, he played his last international game during the Vicente Calderón's official inauguration on May 23, 1972. He captained his country on the day.
He became one of the first professional footballers to study a University degree, law, which he combined with football. After retiring in 1972, he became a lawyer.
The Wanda Metropolitano flag will be at half mast in his memory for 24 hours.
Atlético de Madrid, its President, CEO and board would like to send their deepest condolences to Isacio Calleja's family.
