José María Amorrortu Prieto (born 22 July 1953) is a Spanish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

forward and manager.

Playing career

Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Amorrortu signed with

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 ...

in the summer of 1973 from neighbouring amateurs CD Getxo. He went on to spend five seasons in La Liga with the former club, making his debut on 2 September 1973 in a 2–1 away loss against

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

. He added 11 appearances in the runner-up run in the 1976–77 edition of the UEFA Cup, featuring in the 2–1 home win over Juventus F.C. in the second leg of the final. After only 13 games in the 1977–78 campaign, Amorrortu signed with Real Zaragoza also in the top division. He scored a career-best (at the professional level) ten goals in his first year, but his team could only finish in 14th position; until his retirement in 1983, aged only 30, he competed solely in that tier.

Coaching career

Amorrortu began working as a coach immediately after retiring, spending his first decade in the

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 ...

or lower and also working at youth level, notably with

, where he was credited for bringing Fernando Llorente to the club. His first season at the professional level was 1994–95, when he was in charge of Bilbao Athletic 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 ...

. Additionally, he had short spells as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

for their senior team in 1995 and 1996. After leaving Athletic, Amorrortu became manager of SD Eibar also from the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

(second tier), signing a two-year contract with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

on 3 June 2004 and being fired in late January 2006. From 2006 until 2011 he acted as director of

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

's academy before returning to the same role at Athletic Bilbao, departing at the end of 2018 when Aitor Elizegi was elected president and implemented personnel changes. Amorrortu also spent time as coach of the unofficial Basque Country regional side, for which he also featured and scored as a player.

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao * Copa del Rey runner-up: 1976–77 * UEFA Cup runner-up: 1976–77

Manager

Barakaldo * Tercera División: 1987–88

References

External links

* * *
Athletic Bilbao manager profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amorrortu, Jose Maria 1953 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Bilbao Association football forwards La Liga players Tercera División players SD Indautxu footballers CD Getxo players Athletic Bilbao footballers Real Zaragoza players Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers SD Amorebieta managers Barakaldo CF managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers SD Eibar managers Real Sociedad managers Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff Spanish sports executives and administrators