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Javier Irureta

{{short description|Spanish footballer and manager}}

{{Distinguish|Xabi Irureta}}

{{family name hatnote|Iruretagoyena|Amiano|lang=Spanish}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Javier Irureta

| image = Javier Irureta 1973.jpg

| caption = Irureta in 1973

| fullname = Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|4|1|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Irun, Spain

| height = 1.76 m

| position = Attacking midfielder

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1965–1967

| clubs1 = Real Unión

| caps1 = 48

| goals1 = 14

| years2 = 1967–1975

| clubs2 = Atlético Madrid

| caps2 = 208

| goals2 = 48

| years3 = 1975–1980

| clubs3 = Athletic Bilbao

| caps3 = 136

| goals3 = 22

| totalcaps = 392

| totalgoals = 84

| nationalyears1 = 1969–1971

| nationalteam1 = Spain U23

| nationalcaps1 = 4

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 1967

| nationalteam2 = Spain amateur

| nationalcaps2 = 4

| nationalgoals2 = 2

| nationalyears3 = 1972–1975

| nationalteam3 = Spain

| nationalcaps3 = 6

| nationalgoals3 = 0

| nationalyears4 = 1979

| nationalteam4 = Basque Country

| nationalcaps4 = 1

| nationalgoals4 = 0

| manageryears1 = 1984–1988

| managerclubs1 = Sestao

| manageryears2 = 1988–1989

| managerclubs2 = Logroñés

| manageryears3 = 1989–1993

| managerclubs3 = Real Oviedo

| manageryears4 = 1993

| managerclubs4 = Basque Country

| manageryears5 = 1993–1994

| managerclubs5 = Racing Santander

| manageryears6 = 1994–1995

| managerclubs6 = Athletic Bilbao

| manageryears7 = 1995–1997

| managerclubs7 = Real Sociedad

| manageryears8 = 1997–1998

| managerclubs8 = Celta Vigo

| manageryears9 = 1998–2005

| managerclubs9 = Deportivo La Coruña

| manageryears10 = 2006

| managerclubs10 = Real Betis

| manageryears11 = 2008

| managerclubs11 = Real 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.[https://elpais.com/deportes/2011/12/22/actualidad/1324542126_850215.html "Hay una inestabilidad permanente" ("There's a permanent instability")]; El País, 22 December 2011 (in Spanish)

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.[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/intconclub74.html Intercontinental Club Cup 1974]; at RSSSF

=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.[http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1975/09/09/100.html El traspaso de Irureta ha costado veinticinco millones de pesetas (Irureta transfer has cost twenty five million pesetas)]; ABC, 9 September 1975 (in Spanish)[https://www.martiperarnau.com/los-50-de-la-historia-del-athletic/ Los 50 de la historia del Athletic (The 50 in the history of Athletic)]; Martí Perarnau, 27 May 2013 (in Spanish)

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 and joined Logroñés four years later,[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1988/05/20/MD19880520-025.pdf Irureta firmará por el Logroñés la próxima semana (Irureta will sign for Logroñés next week)]; Mundo Deportivo, 20 May 1988 (in Spanish)[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1989/01/30/MD19890130-077.pdf Logroñés: Javier Irureta, cesado (Logroñés: Javier Irureta, sacked)]; Mundo Deportivo, 30 January 1989 (in Spanish) then led Real Oviedo[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1989/05/25/MD19890525-020.pdf Entrenadores: más descartes (Coaches: further releases)]; Mundo Deportivo, 25 May 1989 (in Spanish) 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)[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD03/HEM/1997/07/06/MD19970706-036.pdf Irureta emprende "un proyecto ambicioso" (Irureta takes on "ambitious project")]; Mundo Deportivo, 6 July 1997 (in Spanish) in 1998. In 1994–95 he briefly returned to Athletic Bilbao,[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1994/06/09/MD19940609-027.pdf San Mamés da el voto a Arrate (San Mamés votes Arrate)]; Mundo Deportivo, 9 June 1994 (in Spanish)[http://elpais.com/diario/1995/03/20/deportes/795654006_850215.html Irureta presenta la dimisión en el Athletic (Irureta resigns at Athletic)]; El País, 20 March 1995 (in Spanish) then coached neighbours Real Sociedad.[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1995/11/28/MD19951128-024.pdf Irureta dice ‘sí’ a la Real (Irureta says ‘yes’ to Real)]; Mundo Deportivo, 28 November 1995 (in Spanish)

However, Irureta's greatest successes came with Deportivo de La Coruña[http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD03/HEM/1998/05/24/MD19980524-054.pdf 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) where he spent seven years,[http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2005/05/31/actualidad/1117524119_850215.html Irureta deja el Deportivo tras siete años como entrenador (Irureta leaves Deportivo after seven years as coach)]; El País, 31 May 2005 (in Spanish) winning another Don Balón coaching accolade in 2000. In his second year he led Depor to its first ever league title,[http://elpais.com/diario/2000/05/20/deportes/958773601_850215.html El Deportivo salda una deuda histórica (Deportivo take care of historic debt)]; El País, 20 May 2000 (in Spanish) 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.[http://elpais.com/diario/2002/03/07/deportes/1015455601_850215.html Una victoria para la eternidad (Win for eternity)]; El País, 7 March 2002 (in Spanish)

=Betis=

Irureta was appointed at Real Betis in June 2006 on a one-year contract,[https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01b6-0f8ea8460550-2f5193ac9a46-1000--irureta-returns-with-betis/ Irureta returns with Betis]; UEFA, 12 June 2006 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".[https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01bc-0f8ea9f3672b-c76c4cca124a-1000--irureta-says-goodbye-to-betis/ Irureta says goodbye to Betis]; UEFA, 21 December 2006[http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2006/12/22/mas_futbol/1166772415_850215.html Irureta tiró la toalla al saberse sentenciado (Irureta threw towel after knowing of his fate)]; Diario AS, 22 December 2006 (in Spanish)

=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.[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/oct/24/sport.sport1 Bolton again train sights on Megson after Souness snub]; The Guardian, 24 October 2007

Eventually, he took over at Real Zaragoza, after replacing Víctor Fernández.[https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c9-0f84cacff338-95de46ca43fd-1000--zaragoza-turn-to-irureta/ Zaragoza turn to Irureta]; UEFA, 23 January 2008 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,[http://archivo.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/zaragoza/es/desarrollo/1096381.html Javier Irureta dimite como técnico del Zaragoza (Javier Irureta resigns as Zaragoza coach)]; Marca, 3 March 2008 (in Spanish) 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.[https://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2008/03/03/futbol/1204564299.html Irureta dimite como entrenador del Zaragoza (Irureta resigns as Zaragoza manager)]; El Mundo, 3 March 2008 (in Spanish)

Managerial statistics

{{updated|24 May 2019}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|+ Managerial record by team and tenure

rowspan="2" |Team

! rowspan="2" |Nat

! rowspan="2" |From

! rowspan="2"|To

! colspan="5" |Record

!rowspan=2|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

{{Tooltip|G|Games managed}}

!{{Tooltip|W|Games won}}

!{{Tooltip|D|Games drawn}}

!{{Tooltip|L|Games lost}}

!{{Tooltip|Win %|Winning percentage}}

align="left" |Sestao

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|10 June 1984

|align=left|22 May 1988

{{WDL|186|87|41|58}}

|

align="left" |Logroñés

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|22 May 1988

|align=left|30 January 1989

{{WDL|21|5|9|7}}

|

align="left" |Real Oviedo

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|27 June 1989

|align=left|5 February 1993

{{WDL|156|54|49|53}}

|

align="left"|Racing Santander

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|3 July 1993

|align=left|9 June 1994

{{WDL|42|17|9|16}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1993-94|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left"|Athletic Bilbao

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|9 June 1994

|align=left|20 March 1995

{{WDL|35|13|9|13}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1994-95|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left"|Real Sociedad

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|28 November 1995

|align=left|6 July 1997

{{WDL|72|31|19|22}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1995-96|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1996-97|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left"|Celta Vigo

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|6 July 1997

|align=left|18 May 1998

{{WDL|44|22|9|13}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1997-98|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left"|Deportivo La Coruña

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|18 May 1998

|align=left|31 May 2005

{{WDL|377|187|90|100}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1998-99|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=1999-00|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2000-01|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2001-02|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2002-03|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2003-04|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2004-05|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left"|Real Betis

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|11 June 2006

|align=left|22 December 2006

{{WDL|17|4|5|8}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2006-07|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

align="left" |Real Zaragoza

|{{flagicon|Spain}}

|align=left|22 January 2008

|align=left|3 March 2008

{{WDL|6|1|1|4}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/p/l5057.html?temp=2007-08|title=Irureta: Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=24 May 2019}}

colspan=4 | Career Total

{{WDLtot|956|421|241|294}}

!—

Honours

=Player=

Atlético Madrid

Athletic Bilbao

=Manager=

Deportivo

=Individual=

  • Don Balón Award: Best Coach 1999–2000[https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/spanpoy.html Spain – Footballer of the Year]; at RSSSF

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{BDFutbol|5057}}
  • {{BDFutbol manager|5057}}
  • {{Athletic Bilbao profile|id=247/irureta}}
  • [http://www.athletic-club.eus/en/history-coaches/37/javier-irureta.html Athletic Bilbao manager profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081413/http://www.athletic-club.eus/en/history-coaches/37/javier-irureta.html |date=30 September 2018 }}
  • {{NFT player|28650}}
  • {{EU-Football.info|9094}}

{{Navboxes

|title= Javier Irureta managerial positions

|list1=

{{CD Logroñés managers}}

{{Real Oviedo managers}}

{{Racing de Santander managers}}

{{Athletic Bilbao managers}}

{{Real Sociedad managers}}

{{Celta de Vigo managers}}

{{Deportivo de La Coruña managers}}

{{Real Betis managers}}

{{Real Zaragoza managers}}

}}

{{La Liga winning managers}}

{{Copa del Rey winning managers}}

{{La Liga Coach of the Year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irureta, Javier}}

Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:Footballers from Irun

Category:Spanish men's footballers

Category:Men's association football midfielders

Category:La Liga players

Category:Tercera División players

Category:Real Unión footballers

Category:Atlético Madrid footballers

Category:Athletic Bilbao footballers

Category:Spain men's under-23 international footballers

Category:Spain men's amateur international footballers

Category:Spain men's international footballers

Category:Basque Country men's international footballers

Category:Spanish football managers

Category:La Liga managers

Category:Segunda División managers

Category:Segunda División B managers

Category:Sestao Sport managers

Category:CD Logroñés managers

Category:Real Oviedo managers

Category:Racing de Santander managers

Category:Athletic Bilbao managers

Category:Real Sociedad managers

Category:RC Celta de Vigo managers

Category:Deportivo de La Coruña managers

Category:Real Betis managers

Category:Real Zaragoza managers

Category:20th-century Spanish sportsmen