Irishman O'Connell, the man who saved the Catalan giants' very existence, died in London in 1959 and doesn't have the tombstone he deserves

Among the rows of graves in a Kensal Green cemetery, *the great football pioneer’s unremarkable resting place does not even bear his name.

As a shrine to Patrick O’Connell, who captained Manchester United and Ireland in his playing career and later, as a manager, saved *Barcelona from extinction during the Spanish Civil War, it is a *desperately spartan memorial.

More than half a century after he died in London, destitute and alone, O’Connell is still revered in Spain, where his amazing achievements earned him the affectionate *nickname Don Patricio.

O’Connell guided Real Betis to their only title in La Liga 79 years ago, and it remains a miracle how he transformed the second-biggest team in Seville into the best side in the whole of Spain.

And when Barca’s very existence was threatened, after club president Josep Sunyol was murdered by General Franco’s assassins in the descent towards civil war, O’Connell rescued the players by leading them into exile in Mexico.

The money O’Connell’s side generated by playing exhibition matches on their extended tour was lodged in a Swiss bank account, beyond the clutches of Franco’s fascists, ensuring Barcelona would survive to become the biggest club in Europe.

Better late than never, and backed by O’Connell’s grandson Mike, a group of fans have launched an appeal fund to buy a headstone for O’Connell’s grave in north-west London 55 years after he died.

Getty Samuel Eto'o
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And on 27 February next year, to mark the centenary of O’Connell joining United, a gala auction of signed shirts at Sheffield *Wednesday’s Hillsborough should raise enough to *celebrate his life with a whole temple.

David Beckham, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Gareth Bale and Paolo Maldini have all donated shirts. A Scotland jersey, signed by the three goalscorers in their famous 3-2 win at Wembley in 1967, will also go under the hammer.

In an age when every sabbath is a Super Sunday and Premier League spending in one transfer window exceeds a banana republic’s debt, it is important to recognise the *ancestors who made such largesse possible.

The O’Connell fund campaigners are seeking only modest respect for Don Patricio. St Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, where he lies, is funded entirely by charitable donations and maintained by *volunteers with strimmers.

Film producer Jeff Healey visited the graveside and was shocked that one of Irish football’s most *influential exports has left only a pauper’s legacy.

Healey, who produced the acclaimed documentary about Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone, Lord of the Wing, said: “I have an emotional attachment in the sense that I am a Manchester United season-ticket holder and Bobby Charlton was best man at my wedding – on a beach in Mauritius, and his wife, Lady Norma, was a witness.

Getty FC Barcelona's Spanish coach Josep Guardiola is thrown in the air in celebration after Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1 during their UEFA Champions League final football match at Wembley
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“It is incongruous that, outside Spain, there is so little by way of legacy to celebrate a man who achieved so much in football.

“At Barcelona, fans who know the long-term history of the club adore the skills Messi, Maradona and Cruyff have brought to the team – but they revere O’Connell for his role in saving the club and as a pioneer.”

Fergus Dowd, a Dublin-based IT systems consultant who is helping to co-ordinate the fund, said: “Our goal is to raise funds to build a memorial *befitting the name Patrick O’Connell at the cemetery in Kilburn, and to build a *monument to him at his first professional club, Belfast Celtic.

“We are thrilled that Glenda Jackson, MP for Kilburn North, has endorsed this project, and Gerry Armstrong (scorer of Northern Ireland’s famous winner against hosts Spain in Seville at the 1982 World Cup), has agreed to be the fund’s ambassador, as well as donating his shirt from that *tournament to the auction.”

O’Connell was no angel. He was implicated, but not convicted, in one of football’s earliest match-fixing scandals when he missed a penalty – by a startling margin – against Liverpool when United were flirting with relegation.

But is a decent headstone for the man who saved Barcelona too much to ask?