Fidel Uriarte Macho (1 March 1945 – 19 December 2016) was a Spanish

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 ...

who played as a striker. Having spent most of his 15-year professional career with Athletic Bilbao, he was crowned

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 Pichichi in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, winning two

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 ...

and scoring more than 100 official goals with his main club.

Club career

Born in

Sestao Sestao is a town and municipality of 27,296 inhabitants located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is in the left bank of the Estuary of Bilbao and part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. ...

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 ...

, Uriarte was promoted to

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

giants Athletic Bilbao's first team at only 17, making his

debut on 23 September 1962 in a 0–2 away loss against CD Málaga. At the end of his fourth season, aged 21, he had already appeared in 100 league matches and scored 14 goals. Uriarte scored a career-best 22 goals in only 24 league games (35/28 overall) in the 1967–68 campaign, helping Athletic to finish in seventh place; on 31 December 1967, he contributed five to an 8–0 home demolition of

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. In the following year he conquered the first of his two

with the club, and left in 1974 with 389 competitive appearances and 121 goals. In 1974, Uriarte joined Málaga. In his time with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

n side, they were promoted once and relegated twice. He often played as a sweeper, and retired in 1977 at the age of 32. Uriarte worked as a coach in the following decades, managing both Athletic's

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

and youth sides amongst others.

International career

Uriarte earned nine

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

over four years, his debut coming on 28 February 1968 in a friendly with Sweden in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. In another exhibition game, a 2–1 away win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 20 February 1971, he scored his only goal.

International goals

Personal life and death

Uriarte's younger brother, Gabriel, was also a footballer. A forward, he was mainly a reserve player at

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. On 19 December 2016, Uriarte died in Castro Urdiales, Bay of Biscay, after a long illness. He was 71 years old.

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

Copa del Generalísimo 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 ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, 1972–73 Individual *

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

: 1967–68

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uriarte, Fidel 1945 births 2016 deaths People from Sestao Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football forwards Association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Málaga footballers Spain youth international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spain amateur international footballers Spain international footballers Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Pichichi Trophy winners Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Villarreal CF managers