Aitor Larrazábal Bilbao (born 21 June 1971) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played solely for

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Gernika Club Gernika Club is a Spanish football team based in Gernika, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1922 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Estadio Urbieta'', with a capacity of 3,000 seats ...

. A

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

of attacking penchant, he appeared in 445 competitive matches for his only club and was also a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

specialist, scoring at least one

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

goal in 13 of his 14 seasons.

Playing career

Larrazábal was born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

. Having joined

's youth ranks at 11, he started playing professionally with its reserves in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, and made his first-team debut on 2 September 1990 in a 1–0 away loss against

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

, finishing his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

with 18 games. From then onwards, Larrazábal was an undisputed starter for the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

, scoring and assisting alike. In the 1997–98 season, as Bilbao finished runners-up, he scored a career-best seven league goals, being instrumental as his team qualified for the subsequent edition of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where he featured, for instance, in both group stage draws against

Juventus FC )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

, although they eventually ranked last. After the emergence of

Asier del Horno Asier del Horno Cosgaya (born 19 January 1981) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left back. After solid displays with Athletic Bilbao, for which he appeared in 126 official games in five years scoring 17 goals, he moved to Chelse ...

(another

Lezama Lezama is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is home to the training headquarters of the football team Athletic Bilbao, and is accessible by bus - Bizka ...

youth graduate) in the 2002–03 campaign, Larrazábal still featured prominently in his last two seasons – 36 matches, three goals – but eventually retired from the game in May 2004 at the age of 33, after a two-decade link with a sole club.

Coaching career

Larrazábal subsequently became a coach: after starting in amateur football, he joined lowly

SD Lemona Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B, Se ...

(Basque Country) from

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

in 2009, leading the side to the sixth position in his first year and narrowly missing out on play-off qualification. After a second season in

Lemoa Lemoa ( es, Lemona) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. Sports in Lemoa * SD Lemona (Associat ...

in which the team reached

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

Copa Federación de España The Copa Real Federación Española de Fútbol, popularly known as the Copa Federación (Federation Cup) or Copa RFEF, is a Spanish football competition for teams from the Segunda División B, the Tercera División and sometimes from the Preferent ...

, he returned to Athletic Bilbao to take up a position as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

, following the election of former teammate

Josu Urrutia Josu Urrutia Tellería (born 10 April 1968) is a Spanish former Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder. His 17-year senior career was solely connected with Athletic Bilbao for which ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in July 2011. In 2013, a reorganisation of functions at the club saw Larrazábal take over responsibility for its

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

, with

José María Amorrortu José María Amorrortu Prieto (born 22 July 1953) is a Spanish former Association football, football Forward (association football), forward and Coach (sport), manager. Playing career Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Amorrortu signed with Athletic Bilbao ...

(the

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

) focusing on the senior team. The former resigned from the position in summer 2015, citing professional differences and a desire to return to managerial roles. In April 2016, Larrazábal became manager of third-tier

Marbella FC Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación, Te ...

for a short spell, and although they only collected two points from his three games in charge, it was enough to successfully steer them away from the relegation zone by the end of the campaign. For the following season he moved back to the Basque Country, taking control of

SD Amorebieta Sociedad Deportiva Amorebieta is a Spanish football team based in Amorebieta-Etxano, in the Basque Country. Founded in 1925, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Campo Municipal de Urritxe'', which s ...

of the same league; they escaped relegation by a single point. Larrazábal was appointed at

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...

in the same division in June 2017. Three years later, following a brief spell at

Salamanca CF UDS Salamanca Club de Fútbol UDS, previously known as ''CF Salmantino'', is a Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 2013 after the dissolution of UD Salamanca, it currently plays in ...

, he returned to his previous club. On 28 December 2020, Larrazábal was replaced by his assistant

Germán Beltrán Germán Beltrán Juarez (born 26 October 1979) is a Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward, currently a Manager (association football), manager. He spent most of his career in Seg ...

, but continued in his role of sporting director. He returned to management in June 2022, joining

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda División RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B-Segunda Federación, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by t ...

side

Personal life

Larrazábal's son, Gaizka, is also a footballer. A

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

by position, in summer 2017 he joined Athletic Bilbao (being assigned to the reserves) from

Zamudio SD Zamudio Sociedad Deportiva is a Spanish football team based in Zamudio, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1943, it plays in Tercera División – Group 4, holding home games at '' Estadio Gazituaga'', with a capacity of ...

, having played against the Amorebieta team managed by his father during the preceding season.

Managerial statistics

References

External links