José Agustín Aranzábal Askasibar (23 July 1946 – 30 December 2020), known as Gaztelu, 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

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 ...

. He spent his entire career with Real Sociedad, playing 308 competitive games and scoring 33 goals.

Club career

Gaztelu was born in Bergara,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

. As a young child, he received his nickname, meaning castle in '' Euskera'', after a farm owned by his aunt.Agustín Aranzábal “Gaztelu”
Rincón del Forero, 21 March 2009 (in Spanish) He signed with Real Sociedad in 1965 from his local club and, after just one season with the reserves, was promoted to the first team at the age of 20. Gaztelu made his debut 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' ...

on 8 October 1967, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 away draw against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

. He scored his first goal in the competition on 17 November of the following year, in another draw (1–1, at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

); in early 1970, whilst playing with the Spain under-23 team in

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 ...

, he suffered a serious injury that sidelined him for nearly two years. Gaztelu scored a career-best seven goals (from 29 games) in 1973–74, helping the ''Txuriurdin'' to the fourth position. On 5 December 1976, he was decorated by Real Sociedad to celebrate his tenth season and, shortly after, scored twice – once through 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. ...

– to help to a 5–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao in the

Basque derby The Basque derby (in Basque ''Euskal Derbia'', in Spanish ''derbi Vasco'') is the name of the football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city rivalry between Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián, capita ...

. Gaztelu contributed one match in 1980–81, as Real won their first ever national championship. In the process, he became the first player to achieve that feat as well as promotion from Segunda División in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, retiring at the end of the campaign at 35.

International career

Gaztelu won two

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 ...

, in as many years. His first came on 15 October 1969, as he started in a 6–0 rout of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (, more often referred to as La Línea) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of the Bay of Gibraltar, a ...

for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Personal life and death

Gaztelu's son Agustín was also a footballer. A defender, he too played for Real Sociedad and Spain. The former died in his hometown on 30 December 2020, aged 74.Jose Agustin Aranzabal 'Gaztelu' zendu da, Realeko jokalari historikoetako bat (Death of José Agustín Aranzábal 'Gaztelu', one of Real's historic players)
Goiena, 30 December 2020 (in Basque)

Honours

: 1980–81 * Segunda División: 1966–67

References

External links