Japan Vs Spain: Football professions of Basque refugee children Two child refugees of the Spanish Civil War, who later became Football World Cup player, are being recalled 85 years after arriving in the UK. Sabino Barinaga and Raimundo Perez Lezama were among 4,000 Basque children who left Bilbao for Britain in 1937. Their football capacities were spotted while they remained in Southampton football club. More than a dozen of the young immigrants went on to play for work and are the focus of a new display by Spanish club Athletic Bilbao. Football World Cup 2022 fans from all over the world can book Football World Cup tickets from our online platforms WorldWideTicketsandHospitality.com. Football fans can book Japan Vs Spain Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.
On 26 April 1937 the small Basque town of Guernica was embattled by Franco's Nationalist forces supported by the German and Italian air forces in one of the most dishonourable actions of the Spanish Civil War. Thousands of families required protection for their children by sending them foreign 4,000 were crowded on to the SS Habana guaranteed for the port of Southampton. On entrance the children were housed in a temporary camp on the borders of the city at North Stoneham before being moved to homes known as colonies around the state. Many of the children carried with them a desire for football. Sabino Barinaga and Raimundo Perez Lezama Spain Football World Cup player, who were 14 at the time, were placed at the Nazareth House Catholic orphanage in Hill Lane, Southampton. Southampton football club historian Duncan Holley said the boys' football professions apparently began when they went for a walk past the club's close ground at The Dell. The gates were open and the players