Mikel Labaka Zurriarain (born 10 August 1980) 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and is the assistant manager of

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 ...

. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 111 matches and five goals over six seasons, representing in the competition

and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

. He added 111 games and eight goals in

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 ...

, in a 14-year professional career.

Club career

Born in

Azpeitia , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , u ...

, Basque Country, Labaka reached

's youth system at the age of 17. After playing three years with the reserves he made his professional debut with

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

(

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 ...

) and

Ciudad de Murcia Club de Fútbol Ciudad de Murcia, usually abbreviated to Ciudad de Murcia, was a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the namesake autonomous community. They played at the 16,000-seater ''Estadio de La Condomina''. Ciudad Murcia was reloca ...

(

), spending one season with each club on loan. On 24 October 2004, Labaka made his first-team – and

– debut with Real Sociedad, in a 2–1 home win against

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 ...

, and finished his first season with 30 games and three goals to help the ''Txuriurdin'' finish in 14th position. He only appeared in 11 league matches in 2006–07 as they suffered relegation for the first time in 40 years, but regained first-choice status the following campaigns. In August 2011, the 31-year-old Labaka was deemed surplus to requirements by new manager

Philippe Montanier Philippe Jacques William Montanier (born 15 November 1964) is French professional Association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Toulouse FC, Toulouse. As a player, he was as a Goalkeeper (association footb ...

, and left Real to sign for

, recently promoted to the top level. He retired in June 2013, after two seasons as a backup. Labaka was named assistant coach at his main club on 7 June 2016, after nearly two years in the same capacity with the B side.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Labaka, Mikel 1980 births Living people People from Azpeitia Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Real Unión footballers Ciudad de Murcia footballers Rayo Vallecano players Basque Country international footballers Real Sociedad non-playing staff Association football coaches