Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea (24 October 1918 – 24 February 2016) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 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 285 matches and 89 goals over 15 seasons, 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 ...

and

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 subsequently became a manager, working for nearly 30 years and being in charge of both clubs.

Club career

Born in

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

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 ...

, Iriondo arrived at

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 ...

giants

in 1940, from

Atlético Tetuán Club Atlético Tetuán was a Spanish football club based in Tétouan, Spanish protectorate of Morocco. The club played a single season in La Liga in 1951–52, after winning the Segunda División Southern Zone in 1950–51. This ended in rel ...

. He made his

debut on 29 September in a 2–2 draw 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 ...

and, during his 13-year spell with the club, would form an historic attacking partnership with

Agustín Gaínza Agustín Gaínza Vicandi (28 May 1922 – 6 January 1995) was a Spanish football forward and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Piru'', Gaínza's entire career was spent with Athletic Bilbao. Born in Basauri, Biscay, he made his official debut a ...

José Luis Panizo José Luis López Panizo (6 February 1922 – 14 February 1990) was a Spanish footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. During 16 seasons he played for Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 413 official matches (179 goals) and winning seven ma ...

and

Telmo Zarra Telmo may refer to: People * Saint Telmo (died 303), also known as Erasmus of Formia, Christian martyr and saint * Pedro González Telmo (1190-1246), Castilian friar and priest * Luis Telmo Paz y Miño (1884-1962), President of the Supreme Milit ...

, helping Athletic to the 1942–43 league and four

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 footb ...

trophies. After 328 official games for Athletic with 115 goals, Iriondo moved to another team in the region,

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...

, in 1953. After a couple of months, however, he returned to the top division and joined

, retiring shortly after the end of the 1954–55 season. Iriondo started coaching immediately after retiring, with modest

SD Indautxu Sociedad Deportiva Indautxu is a Spanish football club based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1924, it plays in Vizcaya Group of '' Territorial Preferente'', holding home games at ''Campo Iparralde''. Apart ...

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 ...

. He continued in his native region the following years, 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 ...

and Barakaldo. In the 1968–69 campaign, Iriondo returned to Athletic Bilbao as head coach, helping the club to the 11th place in the league and the domestic cup. He would also manage the team for two full seasons in the mid-1970s, interspersed with stints at

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 ...

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

. Iriondo's last coaching job was with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

: he led the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns to the 1977 Spanish Cup, but suffered top-flight relegation the following season. After 15 matches at

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 ...

in 1980 ( meeting the same fate) he returned to Betis for one final campaign in 1981–82, being one of three managers to help the team finish sixth in the top tier and qualify for 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 ...

for the first time ever; he 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 24 February 2016, aged 97.

International career

Iriondo earned 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 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 as many friendlies, his debut coming on 23 June 1946 in a 0–1 loss to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

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 ...

. This was the first national team game attended by general

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. Seven months later, in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, he scored against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

who won 4–1.

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1942–43 *

: 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950 *

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...

: 1950

Manager

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1969 Betis *Copa del Rey: 1976–77

References

External links

* * *
Athletic Bilbao manager profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iriondo, Rafael 1918 births 2016 deaths People from Guernica Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Gernika Club footballers Atlético Tetuán footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Barakaldo CF footballers Real Sociedad footballers SD Indautxu footballers Spain international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Deportivo Alavés managers Barakaldo CF managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers RCD Espanyol managers Real Zaragoza managers Real Sociedad managers Real Betis managers Rayo Vallecano managers