José Ramón Esnaola
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José Ramón Esnaola Laburu (born 30 June 1946) is a Spanish retired
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
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
. He spent 40 years at the service of Betis, working with the club in various capacities.


Club career

Esnaola was born in
Andoain Andoain is a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the North of Spain. Nowadays it has a population of 14,637 inhabitants (2019), which has been quite stable since the 90s. Andoain is located where t ...
,
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 ...
. He played for
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, ...
and
Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...
, with 16 of his 20 professional seasons being spent 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 ...
. At that level, he appeared in 166 league matches with the first club and 303 with the second, for which he signed in 1973 for 12 million '' pesetas'' as it was in
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 ...
; with the former, he started initially as backup to Adolfo Arriaga, but won first-choice status as he became severely ill after shattering his
pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...
during a game against
UP Langreo Unión Popular de Langreo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Langreo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1961, it plays in , holding its home games at ''Estadio Ganzábal'' in La Felguera, with a ...
. In Esnaola's
first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...
, the
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
ns returned to the top division as champions, and with the best defensive record in the competition. In the 1977 final of the
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 ...
, against another
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 ...
side,
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 ...
, he conquered his only piece of silverware in an epic final: 2–2 after regulation and 8–7 in the
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
, where he stopped three shots and scored the winner, beating counterpart
José Ángel Iribar José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Populus, Poplar"), is a Spanish former professional association football, football goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and Manager (association football ...
; Betis were relegated at the end of the following campaign. Esnaola retired in 1985, at the age of 39. He then managed Betis in two brief spells, the first in 1990–91 which finished in top-flight relegation. In 2007 he returned to the club, now as goalkeepers' coach, retiring altogether six years later.


International career

Esnaola was never a Spanish international, only receiving one callup whilst at Real Sociedad.


See also

* List of La Liga players (400+ appearances) * List of Real Betis players (+100 appearances)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esnaola, Jose Ramon 1946 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Sociedad footballers Real Betis players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Betis Deportivo Balompié managers Real Betis managers Real Betis non-playing staff 20th-century Spanish sportsmen