Ander Garitano Urkizu (born 26 February 1969) is a Spanish retired professional football

left midfielder 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 ...

and

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 ...

. His career as a player – spent almost entirely in

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' ...

– was solely associated with two clubs, Athletic Bilbao and

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

Playing career

Born in

Derio , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 ...

, Garitano began his professional career at local powerhouse Athletic Bilbao. After appearing twice in the closing stages of 1987–88 he quickly imposed himself as a first-choice player with good

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

skills, scoring 35

goals over nine seasons; on 12 March 1988, two weeks after his 19th birthday, he made his official debut, starting in a 5–0 away loss against Real Madrid. Garitano signed for

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

in 1996, and played there until his retirement in six years later. He was still regularly used in the Aragonese side's victorious run in the 2000–01 Copa del Rey, and finally retired the following summer at 33 – Zaragoza suffered top-flight relegation – with more than 500 competitive matches to his credit; from 1986 to 1988 he played 61 games for Athletic Bilbao B, with that team in the Segunda División.

Coaching career

Subsequently, Garitano moved into coaching, first taking charge of Zaragoza's youth teams. In mid-January 2008 he replaced the dismissed

Víctor Fernández Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish football manager. He had three spells with his hometown team Zaragoza, winning the Copa del Rey in 1994 and the Cup Winners' Cup a year later. He also led Tenerife, Celta, Be ...

, first appearing in a Spanish Cup round-of-16 tie against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

, a 4–2 loss (5–3 on aggregate). Just two days after his only league game, a 3–1 home win over

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

, Garitano quit the job, quoting a lack of commitment. The club would have a further two managers until the end of the campaign, which ended in relegation. Garitano returned to Zaragoza for 2008–09, now as a youth coach. However, in late 2009, he moved to the reserves following

José Aurelio Gay José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, and the Manager (association football), manager of Bolivian club C.D. Vaca Díez, CD Vaca Díez. He was associate ...

's promotion to the main squad.

Personal life

Garitano was the younger brother of Angel Garitano (also known as 'Ondarru') who served for many years as assistant to Mané at managerial appointments including

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

and Athletic Bilbao, and the uncle of another footballer (and midfielder),

Gaizka Garitano Gaizka Garitano Aguirre (born 9 July 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of SD Eibar. Over 11 seasons as a player, he amassed Segunda División totals of 315 matches and 37 goals, main ...

whom, after unsuccessfully graduating from Athletic's academy, went on to represent, among others, neighbours

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

, Real Sociedad and Alavés. They were distantly related to

Juan Urquizu Juan José Urquizu Sustaeta (24 June 1901 – 22 November 1982) was a Spanish football player and manager. Career Born in Ondarroa (Biscay, Basque Country), Urquizu played as a defender for Osasuna, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Barakaldo ...

who also served Athletic as player and manager. However, the Basque player and manager

Asier Garitano Asier Garitano Aguirrezábal (born 6 December 1969) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. During a 14-year senior career, he appeared in 134 matches in Segunda División over five seasons, totalling 23 goals f ...

is no relation.

Club statistics

Honours

Zaragoza *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2000–01

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garitano, Ander 1969 births Living people People from Greater Bilbao Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Real Zaragoza players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Basque Country international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Tercera División managers Real Zaragoza managers