Pedro Vallana

Vallana was born in Getxo to an Italian father who worked as a machinist in Bilbao, and a Swiss mother. He was loyal to his hometown club in his entire career as a footballer, the Arenas Club de Getxo, which he arrived in 1912, three years after its founding, while still a teenager and where he remained until his retirement 17 years later in 1929. In his first year Arenas in 1912, at only 15 years old, he combined playing football with work as a secretary. First, as a midfielder, and later as a defender, he formed a historic defensive partnership with Domingo Careaga, another man from Getxo like himself, with whom he shared the team's defense for many years. Together with Careaga, he was one of the main architects of the team's football power in the Basque Country, competing head-to-head against the likes of Athletic Club and Real Unión, being crucial in the club's five Biscay Championships in 1916–17, 1918–19, 1921–22, 1924–25 and 1926–27, and he also was pivotal in helping Arenas reach four Copa del Rey finals (1917, 1919, 1925, and 1927), only missed the one in 1927 and only winning the one in 1919, which still stands as the only Copa del Rey title in the club's history. The highlight of his club career was helping Arenas win the 1919 Copa del Rey after defeating the powerful FC Barcelona by a score of 5–2. He stood out for his great speed, which he used to help him easily snatch the ball from the opponent. As a talented sprinter, he achieved a silver medal in the 200…

He earned 12 caps for Spain between 1920 and 1928, half of which in Olympic football tournaments. In the 1920 Summer Olympics, he did not play in the first game of the tournament against Denmark, which marked the historic debut of the Spain national team, but he then featured in all of the remaining four matches against Belgium, Sweden, Italy, and the Netherlands, contributing decisively to help Spain win the silver medal. His other two caps in the Olympics came in the 1924 and 1928 editions, which is a record since no other Spanish player has been in three Olympic events. However, except for the 1920 silver medal, his Olympic appearances were not favored by fortune. In 1924 he netted an own goal past Ricardo Zamora with 12 minutes to go, which led to the elimination of the Spanish team from the tournament in the preliminary round in a 0–1 loss to Italy. In 1928 he was injured in the first game against Mexico, which was to be his last for the national team. Like many other Arenas de Getxo players of that time, he played a few games for the Biscay national team, participating in both the 1922–23 and the 1923–24 Prince of Asturias Cups, an official inter-regional competition organized by the RFEF. Both campaigns ended in narrow defeats to Asturias (3–4) and Catalonia (0–1).

In 1928, when still a player, he began his career as a referee, making his debut in the Spanish First Division that same season. Thus, Vallana holds the peculiar distinction of being one of the few to have participated in the same La Liga season both as a player and as a referee. He belonged to the Colegio Vizcaíno, of which he ended up being president. Apart from three sporadic appearances in 1922 in the Copa del Rey, he whistled in the cup uninterruptedly from 1928 until 1936. In his first season as a referee, he oversaw his first and only final, the 1928 Copa del Rey Final between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad, a final that needed 3 matches to decide the winners as the first two ended in 1–1 draws, and Vallana refereed the first of them. Barcelona won in the end with a 3–1 victory in the third match. His career in the world of refereeing in Spain lasted until 1936. Vallana refereed 33 matches in the First Division during those years.

In 1936 the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War temporarily put an end to sports competitions in Spain. At the beginning of 1937, the Basque Government arranged for the Basque Country national team to make a tour in Europe and play friendly matches, in order to raise funds in Europe for Basque refugees and carry out propaganda work in favor of the Basque Government and the Spanish Republic, and Vallana enlisted as the team's coach. After Bilbao fell into Franco's hands, the Basque National Team went to South America to continue the tour. When the economic, political, and sports difficulties overwhelmed this errant team, Vallana decided to abandon it and leave his coaching position when they passed through Argentina, before emigrating to Montevideo, Uruguay, arriving in 1938.