Not to be confused with Xabi Irureta.
Javier Irureta
FullnameJavier Iruretagoyena Amiano
Birth date1 April 1948 (age 78)
Birth placeIrun, Spain
Height1.76 m
PositionAttacking midfielder
Years 11965–1967
Clubs 1Real Unión
Caps 148
Goals 114
Years 21967–1975
Clubs 2Atlético Madrid
Caps 2208
Goals 248
Years 31975–1980
Clubs 3Athletic Bilbao
Caps 3136
Goals 322
Totalcaps392
Totalgoals84
Nationalyears 11969–1971
Nationalteam 1Spain U23
Nationalcaps 14
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 21967
Nationalteam 2Spain amateur
Nationalcaps 24
Nationalgoals 22
Nationalyears 31972–1975
Nationalteam 3Spain
Nationalcaps 36
Nationalgoals 30
Nationalyears 41979
Nationalteam 4Basque Country
Nationalcaps 41
Nationalgoals 40
Manageryears 11984–1988
Managerclubs 1Sestao
Manageryears 21988–1989
Managerclubs 2Logroñés
Manageryears 31989–1993
Managerclubs 3Real Oviedo
Manageryears 41993
Managerclubs 4Basque Country
Manageryears 51993–1994
Managerclubs 5Racing Santander
Manageryears 61994–1995
Managerclubs 6Athletic Bilbao
Manageryears 71995–1997
Managerclubs 7Real Sociedad
Manageryears 81997–1998
Managerclubs 8Celta Vigo
Manageryears 91998–2005
Managerclubs 9Deportivo La Coruña
Manageryears 102006
Managerclubs 10Real Betis
Manageryears 112008
Managerclubs 11Real Zaragoza

Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano (born 1 April 1948), Irureta for short, is a Spanish retired football attacking midfielder and manager.

He had a distinguished playing career with Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, playing in 344 La Liga games for both teams combined and scoring 70 goals.

Irureta managed several Spanish top flight clubs, most notably Deportivo. He was the only person to have coached both the two major Galician (Deportivo and Celta Vigo) and Basque (Athletic and Real Sociedad) sides.

Playing career

Atlético Madrid

Irureta was born in Irun, Gipuzkoa, making his senior debut for local Real Unión in 1965. Two years later he helped them reach the second division play-offs, before joining Atlético Madrid later that year. During his time at the club he was part of a team that won two La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey, playing alongside the likes of Adelardo, Luis Aragonés and José Eulogio Gárate.[1]

The Colchoneros also reached the European Cup final in 1974, but after the winners, Bayern Munich, declined to participate in the Intercontinental Cup, they were invited as runners-up: facing Independiente of Argentina the side won 2–1 on aggregate, with Irureta scoring one of the goals in the 2–0 second-leg home victory.[2]

Athletic Bilbao

After eight seasons at Atlético, Irureta returned to the Basque Country and signed for Athletic Bilbao. The highlight of his career there was winning two runners-up medals in 1977 – Spanish and UEFA Cups, as among his teammates were veteran José Ángel Iribar and an emerging José Ramón Alexanko.[3][4]

Irureta retired in 1980 aged 32, with more than 400 official matches to his credit and nearly 100 goals.

Spain

Irureta won six caps for Spain in a three-year span (exactly two years and 11 months). However, he did not experience a successful time with the national side, and never took part in any major tournament; his debut came on 23 May 1972 in a 2–0 friendly win with Uruguay, in Madrid.

Towards the end of his playing career, Irureta also played one game for the Basque Country national team.

Coaching career

Early years and Deportivo

As a coach, Irureta started with lowly Sestao Sport Club, narrowly missing out on promotion in 1986–87,[5][6][7] and joined Logroñés four years later,[8][9] then led Real Oviedo[10] to a sixth-place finish in the 1990–91 season, with subsequent qualification to the UEFA Cup – he repeated the feat with Celta Vigo (where he was awarded Manager of the Year titles by both Don Balón and El País)[11] in 1998. In 1994–95 he briefly returned to Athletic Bilbao,[12][13] then coached neighbours Real Sociedad.[14]

However, Irureta's greatest successes came with Deportivo de La Coruña[15] where he spent seven years,[16] winning another Don Balón coaching accolade in 2000. In his second year he led Depor to its first ever league title,[17] adding runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2002 and third-places in the following two years while also reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2001 and 2002 and the semi-finals in 2004; in 2002 they also won the domestic cup, beating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[18]

Betis

Irureta was appointed at Real Betis in June 2006 on a one-year contract,[19] being sacked on 21 December after the team's poor start to the campaign. He stated: "My contract has been rescinded by mutual agreement but I made the first move. We could have continued like this for much longer but it wasn't good".[20][21]

Later career

In October 2007, Irureta put his name forward to be the new coach of English club Bolton Wanderers, but lost out in the running to Gary Megson, and was also touted by December as possible replacement for Real Sociedad's Chris Coleman.[22]

Eventually, he took over at Real Zaragoza, after replacing Víctor Fernández.[23] However, on 3 March 2008, after merely one and a half months in charge, he resigned, arguing that never as a manager had he lost four games in a row,[24] and that he did not feel up to the task of stopping the Aragonese side's slump into the relegation zone (eventually, they dropped down a tier). He was quickly replaced by former Zaragoza goalkeeper Manolo Villanova, whom at the time was in charge of Huesca.[25]

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamNatFromToRecordRef.
GWDLWin %
Sestao10 June 198422 May 1988
Logroñés22 May 198830 January 1989
Real Oviedo27 June 19895 February 1993
Racing Santander3 July 19939 June 1994[26]
Athletic Bilbao9 June 199420 March 1995[27]
Real Sociedad28 November 19956 July 1997[28]
Celta Vigo6 July 199718 May 1998[29]
Deportivo La Coruña18 May 199831 May 2005[30]
Real Betis11 June 200622 December 2006[31]
Real Zaragoza22 January 20083 March 2008[32]
Career Total—

Honours

Player

Atlético Madrid

Athletic Bilbao

Manager

Deportivo

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Hay una inestabilidad permanente" ("There's a permanent instability"); El País, 22 December 2011 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ Intercontinental Club Cup 1974; at RSSSF
  3. ^ El traspaso de Irureta ha costado veinticinco millones de pesetas (Irureta transfer has cost twenty five million pesetas); ABC, 9 September 1975 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Los 50 de la historia del Athletic (The 50 in the history of Athletic); Martí Perarnau, 27 May 2013 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Alcaide, Jesús (16 February 1986). "3–2: Amarró los dos puntos el Castilla" [3–2: Castilla bagged two points] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  6. ^ Soler, Jaume (22 October 1990). "Palamós dió por bueno el punto" [Palamós happy with point] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  7. ^ Hoyos, Javier (22 November 1992). "El Mallorca sentencia al final" [Mallorca decider in the end] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  8. ^ Irureta firmará por el Logroñés la próxima semana (Irureta will sign for Logroñés next week); Mundo Deportivo, 20 May 1988 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Logroñés: Javier Irureta, cesado (Logroñés: Javier Irureta, sacked); Mundo Deportivo, 30 January 1989 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Entrenadores: más descartes (Coaches: further releases); Mundo Deportivo, 25 May 1989 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ Irureta emprende "un proyecto ambicioso" (Irureta takes on "ambitious project"); Mundo Deportivo, 6 July 1997 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ San Mamés da el voto a Arrate (San Mamés votes Arrate); Mundo Deportivo, 9 June 1994 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ Irureta presenta la dimisión en el Athletic (Irureta resigns at Athletic); El País, 20 March 1995 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Irureta dice ‘sí’ a la Real (Irureta says ‘yes’ to Real); Mundo Deportivo, 28 November 1995 (in Spanish)
  15. ^ Irureta deja el Celta y ya piensa en el Deportivo (Irureta leaves Celta and is already thinking of Deportivo); Mundo Deportivo, 24 May 1998 (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Irureta deja el Deportivo tras siete años como entrenador (Irureta leaves Deportivo after seven years as coach); El País, 31 May 2005 (in Spanish)
  17. ^ El Deportivo salda una deuda histórica (Deportivo take care of historic debt); El País, 20 May 2000 (in Spanish)
  18. ^ Una victoria para la eternidad (Win for eternity); El País, 7 March 2002 (in Spanish)
  19. ^ Irureta returns with Betis; UEFA, 12 June 2006
  20. ^ Irureta says goodbye to Betis; UEFA, 21 December 2006
  21. ^ Irureta tiró la toalla al saberse sentenciado (Irureta threw towel after knowing of his fate); Diario AS, 22 December 2006 (in Spanish)
  22. ^ Bolton again train sights on Megson after Souness snub; The Guardian, 24 October 2007
  23. ^ Zaragoza turn to Irureta; UEFA, 23 January 2008
  24. ^ Javier Irureta dimite como técnico del Zaragoza (Javier Irureta resigns as Zaragoza coach); Marca, 3 March 2008 (in Spanish)
  25. ^ Irureta dimite como entrenador del Zaragoza (Irureta resigns as Zaragoza manager); El Mundo, 3 March 2008 (in Spanish)
  26. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  30. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
    "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  31. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  32. ^ "Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  33. ^ Spain – Footballer of the Year; at RSSSF