Julián Troncoso Sagredo (12 November 1895 – 9 March 1983) was a Spanish military man and sports leader who served as the first president of the Francoist Spanish Football Federation between 1937 and 1939, playing a crucial role in having it recognized by FIFA, to the detriment of the republican one, and managed to structure all football in the so-called Franco zone, with a profusion of tournaments that culminated with the 1939 Copa del Generalísimo.
[1] Julián Troncoso was born in Valladolid on 12 November 1895 into a family with strong military roots that managed to form a lineage by joining the Army along with three of his brothers.
[1] In 1937, Troncoso was appointed commander of Bidasoa (Borders in Irun), from where he organized, and even personally directed, a network of "commandos" dedicated to the assault and kidnapping of ships related to the republic, who clandestinely delivered goods from French ports.
[1] On 22 March 1938, a court in Brest sentenced Troncoso and other members of the command to six months in prison, but fortunately for him, the accusations could only implicate him in the use of weapons without a license since such a submarine "did not exist", so he was released four days later and then expelled from France by Hendaye.
[1][2][5] With his expulsion from France his career as an undercover agent of Julián Troncoso ended, so when he returned to Spain, he was removed from his position as Military Commander of Bidasoa and transferred to the Catalan front.
[4] A participant in equestrian competitions, on the occasion of his military assignment in Zaragoza, Troncoso was named president of the Aragonese Athletics Federation, where he did an outstanding job.
[1] This task, perhaps romantic, was naturally hindered by those big clubs, which together with the problem of the First Division vacancy that Real Oviedo had left and that he had promised to Osasuna de Pamplona, forced his resignation in October 1940.