José María Igartua Mendizábal (born 6 March 1950) is a Spanish former

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 ...

. He competed in the men's tournament at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Career

Igartua emerged from the youth system at

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 ...

alongside Javier Clemente, with both players establishing themselves in the first team at the age of 18 after making their

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 ...

debut in the same match, against

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, Igartua started the

1969 Copa del Generalísimo Final The Copa del Generalísimo 1969 Final was the 67th final of the King's Cup. The final was played at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, on 15 June 1969, being won by Club Atlético de Bilbao, who beat Elche CF 1-0. Details References {{DE ...

, also against Elche, a 1–0 victory in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In October 1970, he suffered a broken leg in a match against Celta Vigo which kept him out of the game for seven months, and when he returned, he could not reach the same high levels of performance as before the injury and was no longer a first choice at Athletic; he missed out on their

1973 Copa del Generalísimo Final The Copa del Generalísimo 1973 Final was the 71st final of what would be called the Copa del Rey ("The King's Cup") after the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. The final was played at Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, on 29 June 1973, ...

success having featured in earlier rounds. By then, Clemente's playing career had also been ended prematurely due to injury. In 1975 Igartua opted to move down to the second tier with Celta (managed by former Athletic goalkeeper

Carmelo Cedrun Carmelo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Carmelo Anthony (born 1984), American basketball player * Carmelo Antrone Lee (born 1977), Puerto Rican basketball player * Carmelo Bene (1937-2002), Italian director, actor, phil ...

and assisted by Pedrito, the man responsible for the broken leg five years earlier), helping the Galicians win promotion in his first season, although they were relegated in the second. He moved on again, returning to his native

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 ...

with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

, where he appeared regularly for four campaigns 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 ...

before being forced to retire altogether aged 31 due to Spondylitis. He remained involved in sport despite his physical problems, returning to Basque pelota in which he had been heavily involved in his teens before focusing on football. At the

1986 Basque Pelota World Championships The 1986 Basque Pelota World Championships were the 10th edition of the Basque Pelota World Championships organized by the FIPV. Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * *Others Events A total of 12 events were disputed, in 4 playing ar ...

, he won a bronze medal in the ''Paleta cuero'' (wooden bat and leather ball) variant of the game.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Igartua, Jose Maria 1950 births Living people Spanish footballers Olympic footballers of Spain Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics People from Durangaldea Association football defenders RC Celta de Vigo players Athletic Bilbao footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players Basque Country international footballers Spanish pelotaris Sportspeople from Biscay Pelotaris from the Basque Country (autonomous community)