Pedro Areso was born on 29 June 1911 in
Ordizia,
Gipuzkoa. Areso was signed by Real Betis in October 1932, making his debut a few days later, on 12 October, in the
1932–33 Mancomunado Centro-Sur regional championship against
CD Nacional de Madrid at the
El Parral field in
Madrid. The following year, goalkeeper
Joaquín Urquiaga and defender
Serafín Aedo joined Betis, thus forming the famous defensive triplet that was the basis of Betis' historic league title in
1934–35, conceding a mere 7 goals in the entire tournament. In his three seasons at Betis, Areso played a total of 52 League games, 16 in the
Copa del Rey, 26 in the Joint Regional Championship, 2 in the Andalusia Cup and 14
friendly matches. In the summer of 1935, Areso was the star signing of FC Barcelona, where he joined coach
Patrick O'Connell, but the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War in 1936 put a premature end to his career at Barça. During his short time there, the central defender became known in Barcelona as ''l'Stop''. During the civil war, Areso played for several teams in Argentina and Venezuela, such as
Tigre (1938),
Racing de Avellaneda (1939–40),
River Plate (1941),
C.D. Vasco (1942–45) before returning to
Spanish football in 1945, where he played a season for both
Racing de Santander and
Gimnástica Burgalesa, finishing his career with his hometown team. In his last years, he combined the position of footballer and coach. ==International career==