| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ángel María Villar Llona | ||
| Date of birth | 21 January 1950 | ||
| Place of birth | Bilbao, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1961–1969 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1969–1981 | Athletic Bilbao | 291 | (22) |
| 1969–1970 | → Galdakao (loan) | ||
| 1970–1971 | → Getxo (loan) | ||
| National team | |||
| 1972 | Spain amateur | 1 | (0) |
| 1973–1979 | Spain | 22 | (3) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ángel María Villar Llona (born 21 January 1950) is a retired Spanish professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
After having represented Athletic Bilbao during a full decade, he went on to serve an even larger stint as president of the Spanish Football Federation.
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Villar was born in Bilbao, Biscay, and emerged through the youth ranks of local Athletic de Bilbao, going on to make his senior debuts in amateur football, loaned,[1] after which he returned in 1971. With the Basque outfit, he was an undisputed starter in nine of his 10 seasons, helping it to two cup finals, and winning the 1973 edition.
In March 1974, during a 0–0 first division home draw, Villar elbowed Barcelona's Johann Cruyff, as the Dutch was subject to severe man-marking by several Athletic players;[2] he received a four-match ban, but the pair later reconciled.[3] He retired seven years later, with more than 300 official appearances for Athletic.
Villar played 22 times for Spain, scoring thrice. His debut came on 17 October 1973 in Istanbul, in a 0–0 friendly with Turkey.
On 9 December 1979, his last cap, Villar helped the nation qualify for UEFA Euro 1980, scoring in a 3–1 win in Cyprus; he did not participate however, in any major international tournament.
In 1979, still as an active player, Villar majored in law, and would practice the activity during the following years, which he accumulated with several posts in the footballing hierarchies - He was one of the founders of the Association of Spanish Footballers in 1978.
Having already worked in the Royal Spanish Football Federation under president José Luis Roca, Villar was elected his successor in 1988, and would stay in office for the following two decades, being in charge as the national team won Euro 2008.
Villar also occupied several roles within UEFA and FIFA, being named the organizations' vice president, respectively in 1992 and 2002. Following Spain's controversial exit at the 2002 FIFA World Cup,[4] he left his post at the latter, but was immediately named, amongst others, for the presidency of the Referees' Committee (also in that year, he was named for that position at UEFA[5]).