One hundred years of family history against Barça

BarcelonaA century after Antonio Emery defended the Real Unión goal against Barça, his grandson will once again face the blue and garnet team from the technical area. Unai Emery will manage Aston Villa in the fourth matchday of the Champions League at the Camp Nou. The surname Emery, of French origin, has been part of Spanish football history for decades, but the relationship with Barça is only a small part of a family legacy spanning four generations that has the goal as its main common thread.

A century under the posts

The origin of the dynasty lies with Antonio Emery Arocena, known as "Pajarito", who was one of the prominent goalkeepers for Real Unión during the twenties. His name became linked to the club's most glorious era, with the Cups of 1924 and 1927. He was also part of the team that played in the first years of the League and went down in history for conceding the first goal of the competition, scored by Pitus Prat in the inaugural match between Espanyol and Real Unión, on February 10, 1929.

Barça had already met Antonio Emery that same year, on May 9, 1926, in a Copa del Rey semi-final. Real Unión lost 2-1 in a match where the goalkeeper played a prominent role by saving a penalty. Three years later, on June 23, 1929, both teams met again, this time at the Les Corts field, in a League duel that also ended with a Blaugrana victory (4-1). Two precedents that place the first clashes between the Emery family and Barça a century before this week's European duel.

The tradition did not end with Antonio. His son Juan Mari, Unai's father, also followed the same path and became a professional goalkeeper. He wore the Real Unión shirt, like his father, but also played for teams such as Alavés, Burgos, Logroñés, Deportivo de la Coruña, Sporting de Gijón, Recreativo de Huelva, and Granada. With Dépor, he lost a Cup match against Barça in the 60s (1-3).

Unai Emery was the first of the dynasty not to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors between the sticks. Trained at Real Sociedad, he played as a midfielder and passed through teams such as Toledo, Racing de Ferrol, Leganés, and Lorca Deportiva before beginning a career on the bench that has made him one of the most prestigious coaches in European football. As a coach, he has built a career that has led him to manage some of the great clubs. After passing through Valencia and Sevilla, he made the leap to PSG, with whom he experienced one of the most painful nights in the recent history of the French club: the 6-1 comeback by Barça at the Camp Nou in 2017, which eliminated PSG from the Champions League round of 16. Later, he managed Arsenal and Villarreal, with whom he won the Europa League in 2021, before arriving at Aston Villa.

The family project

The bond with Real Unión goes beyond family memory. Unai and his brother Igor promoted the project to take charge of the Irun club and preserve its legacy. The Aston Villa coach is the majority shareholder of the entity, while his brother is involved in the day-to-day operations of the club. The family's relationship with Real Unión, however, goes back a long way. "It's the family's club. We have always been aware of how it was doing," explains Igor Emery to ARA, who also played there during his childhood.

The decision to take over Real Unión began to take shape before the pandemic. When Unai left Arsenal and had more time to assess the situation, the brothers finally decided to buy the club. Since then, one of the priorities has been to recover the youth football system after a few years in which, as Igor explains, resources were mainly allocated to the first team: "Youth football had been abandoned. It is a medium and long-term effort, of reconstruction, that we are achieving little by little."

Real Unión has experienced ups and downs since the arrival of the Emerys. It started in Primera Federación, was relegated to Segunda two seasons ago, and last season it regained the category. "Our ambition would be to reach professional football." The goal, according to Igor, is to grow sportingly without neglecting the stability of the club: "We want that, when we get there, the club is in a much more solid situation than it was when we arrived."

Lander, Pajarito's great-grandson

The fourth generation of the Emery family has also chosen goalkeeping. Lander, son of Unai and great-grandson of Antonio, is currently the starting goalkeeper for Real Unión. After training in different teams and spending two seasons in Aston Villa's youth system, in 2025 he returned to Spain to join the entity owned by his father.

His connection to his family history became especially visible in a match against Eibar B. Lander had an outstanding performance and only conceded one goal, from the penalty spot. While the rival player was preparing to execute it, the local fans began to sing "Pajarito, Pajarito", in reference to his great-grandfather, one of the club's historic figures. "I was very thrilled that the fans sang my great-grandfather's name," the goalkeeper explained.

Lander also keeps small gestures to remember Antonio before taking the field. On the door of the Real Unión dressing room there is a plaque dedicated to his great-grandfather and, as he explained, he sometimes touches it before matches to ask him for a bit of luck. "Every now and then I touch it so that my great-grandfather helps me from wherever he may be," he recounted. A sign of the relationship he maintains with the figure of Antonio, very present among the Real Unión supporters.