Ángel Sertucha Ereñozaga (27 January 1931 – 6 April 2019), simply known as Sertu, was a Spanish

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 lea ...

. Mainly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he could also operate as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Football career

Born in

Gatika Gatika () is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territo ...

in 1931,

Province of Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. Biscay is one of the most renowned and prosperou ...

, Basque Country, since he was a child he knew that he wanted to be a professional footballer. He started his football career with 14 years in the modest team CD Begoña of Bilbao. Then, he went to CD Mungia, to continue his formation and in the 1954–55 season he signed up by the

Sestao Sport Club Sestao Sport Club was a Spanish football club based in Sestao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded it 1916 it held home matches at ''Campo Municipal de las Llanas'', with a capacity of 8,900 seats. History Sestao managed to ...

. Then he played in first Division teams like

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

CD Azkoyen Club Deportivo Azkoyen, previously called Club Multideporte Peralta and Club Deportivo Azcoyen, is a Spanish football team based in Peralta, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1927, they have participated 24 seasons in Tercera ...

, etc., due to a severe

Achilles heel An Achilles' heel (or Achilles heel) is a weakness despite overall strength, which can lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to do ...

injury when 39 years old. Angel Sertucha resumed his career in the First División and in the Second division of then Spanish league, being the captain

, being an undisputed starter during most of his stay and eventually gaining club captaincy.

Personal life

Angel Sertucha's retirement was not his last moment in football; after his retirement in 1969, he worked as a football coach in his first team, Mungia. When he was in his third season, he decided this was not his place and his choice of professional career, so he decided to give up completely the life around football to open a tavern in the same city, "Mungia", and to spend time with his wife and his son and daughters.

References

External links

* 1931 births 2019 deaths People from Mungialdea Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders CE Sabadell FC footballers Footballers from Biscay Sestao Sport Club footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers CA Osasuna players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-footy-defender-stub