Luis María "Koldo" Aguirre Vidaurrázaga (27 April 1939 – 3 July 2019) was a Spanish

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 ...

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 o ...

. He played for

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 ...

for twelve years, appearing in 297 competitive matches (61 goals scored) and 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 footbal ...

trophies.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Sondika Sondika (Spanish, ''Sondica'') is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. Situated directly south of the runway of Bilbao Airport, it is the location of Bilbao Bri ...

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 ...

, Aguirre joined

in 1957 at the age of 18 from

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 ...

neighbours

CD Getxo Club Deportivo Getxo is a Spanish football team based in Getxo, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1927 it plays in División Honor Bizkaia, holding home matches at ''Campo Municipal de Fadura'', with a 3,500-seat ...

, being immediately promoted to the first team. He made his

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 on 19 January 1958 in a 2–1 away loss against

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 La ...

, and finished his first season with only three matches played; the campaign ended with

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 footbal ...

conquest. In the following years, Aguirre was a regular starter for Athletic, scoring a career-best 11 goals in 29 games in 1961–62 to help the side finish in fifth position. On 10 October 1965 he put four past

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

in a 4–3 away win in 11 minutes, as the opposition's

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

was former teammate and good friend

Carmelo Cedrún Carmelo Cedrún Ochandátegui (born 6 December 1930) is a Spanish former football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Born in Amorebieta-Etxano, Cedrún started playing professionally with local giants Athletic Bilbao, making his first-team de ...

. Towards the end of his spell with the ''Lions'', when he was again only a fringe player, he won his second domestic cup, against

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Estadi ...

. In the summer of 1969, aged 30, Aguirre transferred to fellow league club

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

, retiring halfway through the season after only 115 minutes of action in order support his family in the wake of the death of his younger brother Iñaki (a

with AD Plus Ultra) from

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. He still played some amateur football with

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

, and later worked with Athletic Bilbao as an ambassador with the supporters.

International

Aguirre earned seven

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 Java ...

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 four years. His debut was on 19 April 1961, in a 2–1 away win against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

for the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

qualifiers.

Coaching career

Aguirre began his coaching career in the lower divisions. He returned to his main club Athletic Bilbao as an assistant manager, after having been in charge of the reserves and also of neighbouring

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 ...

; he was promoted to head coach for 1976–77 and, during his three-year spell, the team finished twice in third position, reaching the finals of the Spanish Cup and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in 1977. Aguirre then worked three seasons with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

– also in the top flight – being relegated in his last year, 1981–82. In the following campaign he was one of three managers 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 ...

, being in charge for the final seven games (three wins, two draws and two losses) as they ranked in 15th, the first position above the relegation zone; crucially, they defeated leaders

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

on the final matchday, which meant not only that they stayed up but also that Athletic won the title, his former club having reciprocated the favour to Valencia by beating

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

who finished 16th and went down. After another brief spell in the top division, with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, Aguirre returned to the lower leagues, and again managed Bilbao Athletic amongst other sides.

Death

Aguirre died in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

on 3 July 2019, at the age of 80.

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

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 ...

; Runner-up 1965–66, 1966–67

Manager

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

runner-up: 1976–77

References

External links

* * *
Athletic Bilbao manager profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguirre, Koldo 1939 births 2019 deaths People from Greater Bilbao Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football midfielders La Liga players CD Getxo players Athletic Bilbao footballers CE Sabadell FC footballers Alicante CF footballers Spain B international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Deportivo Alavés managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers Hércules CF managers Valencia CF managers RCD Mallorca managers CD Logroñés managers UE Lleida managers Barakaldo CF managers