José Agustín Aranzábal Askasibar (23 July 1946 – 30 December 2020), known as Gaztelu, 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent his entire career with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, playing 308 competitive games and scoring 33 goals.

Club career

Gaztelu was born in

Bergara Bergara (; ) is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of Spain. An Enlightened center of education operated by the '' Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del P ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

. As a young child, he received his nickname, meaning "castle" in

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 ...

, after a farm owned by his aunt.Agustín Aranzábal “Gaztelu”
Rincón del Forero, 21 March 2009 (in Spanish) He signed with

in 1965 from his local club and, after just one season with the reserves, was promoted to the first team at the age of 20. Gaztelu made his debut in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

on 8 October 1967, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 away draw against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. He scored his first goal in the competition on 17 November of the following year, in another draw (1–1, at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

). In early 1970, whilst playing with the Spain under-23 team in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, he suffered a serious injury that sidelined him for nearly two years. Gaztelu scored a career-best seven goals (from 29 games) in 1973–74, helping the ''Txuriurdin'' to the fourth position. On 5 December 1976, he was decorated by Real Sociedad to celebrate his tenth season and, shortly after, scored twice – once through a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

– to help to a 5–0 home win over

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 ...

in the

Basque derby The Basque derby (in Basque language, Basque ''Euskal Derbia'', in Spanish language, Spanish ''derbi Vasco'') is the name of the association football, football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city ri ...

. Gaztelu contributed one match in 1980–81, as Real won their first ever national championship. In the process, he became the first player to achieve that feat as well as promotion from

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, retiring at the end of the campaign at 35.

International career

Gaztelu won 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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in as many years. His first came on 15 October 1969, as he started in a 6–0 rout of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (), often referred to simply as La Línea, is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of ...

for the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

qualifiers.

Personal life and death

Gaztelu's son Agustín was also a footballer. A defender, he too played for Real Sociedad and Spain. The former died in his hometown on 30 December 2020, aged 74.Jose Agustin Aranzabal 'Gaztelu' zendu da, Realeko jokalari historikoetako bat (Death of José Agustín Aranzábal 'Gaztelu', one of Real's historic players)
Goiena, 30 December 2020 (in Basque)

Honours

: 1980–81 *

: 1966–67

References

External links