José Francisco 'Txetxu' Rojo Arroitia (28 January 1947 – 23 December 2022), also known as Rojo I, was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

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. During his career, the forward played solely for

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 a professional spell which spanned nearly 20 years. He was one of the club's most iconic players, and later also worked as a coach with the team. Rojo won 18

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Rojo joined local giants

's youth academy at an early age. In 1965, he started playing for the reserves but, after only three appearances, was promoted to the first team, and stayed there until his professional retirement 17 years later. Rojo made his

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 ...

debut on 26 September 1965 in a 1–0 away loss against Córdoba, and helped Athletic to win

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

trophies in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. He totalled 414 games in the Spanish top flight, becoming the player with the second-most appearances in the

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 ...

club's history, only behind José Ángel Iribar. The total was eventually surpassed by Iker Muniain in 2023 and Óscar de Marcos a year later, though both played far fewer minutes than Rojo overall. For several seasons, Rojo shared teams with his younger brother José Ángel, with the pair being thus referred to as 'Rojo I' and 'Rojo II'.

International career

Rojo played 18 times for

, his debut coming on 26 March 1969 in a friendly against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

held in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. He scored three goals in his nine years with the national team, but never took part in any major international tournament; he and his brother José Ángel appeared together in an exhibition game with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 17 October 1973, in the latter's sole

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

Coaching career

In 1982, aged 35, Rojo retired as a footballer and began a coaching career – a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

was held in his honour, with Athletic Bilbao hosting the England national team. His first managerial experience would be with the former's reserves, and he was promoted to first-team duties early into the 1989–90 campaign, being dismissed at its conclusion. After a four-year spell at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, achieving promotion to the top flight in his second season as champions, and also leading the side to the domestic cup final in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Rojo returned to

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 ...

and stayed there the next three seasons, in charge of

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

and

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

. For 1997–98 he was appointed at

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, helping the modest club to retain its first-division status, and the following season he joined

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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

, leading them to fourth position in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

but failing to qualify for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

because of a controversial decision to instead award their place to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, winners of the continental tournament. Rojo returned to the San Mamés Stadium for 2000–01, but moved back to Zaragoza the following campaign, being replaced by Luis Costa on 22 January 2002 after a 4–2 away loss against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, and ultimately being relegated from the top tier. He then took a sabbatical year, subsequently joining

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

in division two and again dropping down a league.

Personal life and death

Rojo died on 23 December 2022 at the age of 75, in Leioa. Athletic Bilbao released the following statement upon his death:

"There are not enough words in the world to describe Txetxu Rojo and what he means for our Club. Those who enjoyed his unique style on the left wing for 17 seasons will remember the amazing runs, the surgical and unexpected passes, exquisite controls, beautiful goals, but, above all, the aura of an inimitable footballer, an artist, a creator of beauty, perhaps lacking in the brawn of other Athletic legends, but nonetheless possessing the enormous heart of a Lion. Although Txetxu's heart has stopped beating in his mortal body, it will continue to beat forever in the hearts of our fans."

Rojo was given the nickname the "Mozart of football" by composer Carmelo Bernaola.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rojo goal.''

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao *

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

, 1972–73; runner-up 1965–66, 1966–67, 1976–77 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: runner-up 1976–77

Manager

Celta *

: 1991–92 *Copa del Rey runner-up: 1993–94

References

External links

* * *
Athletic Bilbao manager profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojo, Txetxu 1947 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football forwards La Liga players Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers RC Celta de Vigo managers CA Osasuna managers UE Lleida managers UD Salamanca managers Real Zaragoza managers Rayo Vallecano managers