Luis María López Rekarte (born 26 March 1962) is a Spanish former

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 mainly as a

right-back 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 amassed

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 ...

totals of 300 games and seven goals over 11 seasons, representing in the competition Deportivo (five years),

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(three apiece) and winning six major titles.

Club career

Born in

Mondragón Mondragón (in Basque: Arrasate) officially known as Arrasate/Mondragón, is a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa Province, Basque Country, Spain. Its population in 2015 was 21,933. Toponymy The current official name of the municipality is Arrasa ...

, Basque Country, López Rekarte's first sport was

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

(with a personal best of 10.05 in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

). He made his professional debut in football with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as 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 Basque ...

amidst the massive financial difficulties the club endured, culminating with the relegation to the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. Two years later, he signed with neighbouring

. Forming a defensive quarter with legendary Alberto Górriz,

Agustín Gajate Agustín Gajate Vidriales (born 23 March 1958) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Not a skilled player (he was nicknamed ''Zapatones'' (Big shoes)), he excelled in man-marking, and played for Real Soci ...

and

Juan Antonio Larrañaga Juan Antonio Larrañaga Gurruchaga (alt.spelling Ion Andoni; born 3 July 1958) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Larrañaga was born in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country. He started playing as ...

, López Rekarte started for a side that won 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 ...

in 1987. The following year, they emerged runners-up in both domestic competitions. López Rekarte joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

after losing the 1988 Spanish cup final to the

giants, alongside teammates

José Mari Bakero José María Bakero Escudero (born 11 February 1963) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently a manager. Having played mainly for Real Sociedad and Barcelona, he began his career as a forward (not being a prolific scorer) but was ...

and

Txiki Begiristain Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika (born 12 August 1964) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), left winger or forward (association football), forward. He was best known f ...

. Relatively used in his first two seasons, he featured rarely in ''Barças 1991 league conquest, all but one of his 13 appearances being as a used substitute. His greatest moment with the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

came in the final of the 1988–89 Cup Winners' Cup: brought in from the bench, he scored the decisive 2–0 to seal the win. Being a crucial member of a rising

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 ...

side soon dubbed ''Super Depor'' – he never played less than 25 matches during his spell at the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor () is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain which is the home stadium of Deportivo de La Coruña. Currently known as Estadio Abanca-Riazor for sponsorship reasons, its name derives from the nearby beach ...

– López Rekarte retired in 1997 at the age of 35 after another stint 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 ...

, now with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

International career

López Rekarte had four

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 1988, the first coming in a friendly against

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

on 27 January, 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 ...

(0–0).

Personal life

López Rekarte was the older brother of another professional footballer,

Aitor Aitor is a Basque masculine given name, created by Agosti Xaho for a Basque ancestral patriarch descending from the Biblical Tubal in his work "The Legend of Aitor" (published in French in the journal ''Ariel'', 1845). Koldo Mitxelena believes th ...

, who also played for Real Sociedad, also being a right-back and an international. His niece,

Maitane López Maitane López Millán (born 13 March 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chicago Stars FC of the American National Women's Soccer League and the Spain women's national football team, Spain national team. ...

, was also involved in the sport. After retiring, he worked as Aitor's agent. He later engaged in

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 1986–87 Barcelona *

: 1990–91 *Copa del Rey: 1989–90 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1988–89 Deportivo *Copa del Rey: 1994–95 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Rekarte, Luis 1962 births Living people People from Mondragón Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Deportivo Alavés players Real Sociedad footballers FC Barcelona players Deportivo de La Coruña players RCD Mallorca players Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen