Rafael Iriondo

Rafael Iriondo

Personal information
Full name	Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea
Date of birth	(1918-10-24)24 October 1918
Place of birth	Guernica, Spain
Date of death	24 February 2016(2016-02-24) (aged 97)
Place of death	Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Gernika
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1939–1940	Atlético Tetuán
1940–1953	Athletic Bilbao	257	(80)
1953	Barakaldo	3	(1)
1953–1955	Real Sociedad	28	(9)
1955	Indautxu	1	(0)
Total		289	(90)
International career
1946–1947	Spain	2	(1)
Managerial career
1955–1956	Indautxu
1958–1959	Alavés
1961–1962	Barakaldo
1965–1968	Bilbao Athletic
1968–1969	Athletic Bilbao
1970	Español
1971–1972	Zaragoza
1972–1974	Real Sociedad
1974–1976	Athletic Bilbao
1976–1978	Betis
1980	Rayo Vallecano
1981–1982	Betis
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He amassed La Liga totals of 285 matches and 89 goals over 15 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. He subsequently became a manager, working for nearly 30 years and being in charge of both clubs.

Born in Guernica, Biscay, Iriondo arrived at Basque giants Athletic Bilbao in 1940, from Atlético Tetuán. He made his La Liga debut on 29 September in a 2–2 draw at Valencia CF and, during his 13-year spell with the club, would form an historic attacking partnership with Agustín Gaínza, José Luis Panizo and Telmo Zarra, helping Athletic to the 1942–43 league and four Copa del Generalísimo trophies.

After 328 official games for Athletic with 115 goals, Iriondo moved to another team in the region, Barakaldo CF, in 1953. After a couple of months, however, he returned to the top division and joined Real Sociedad, retiring shortly after the end of the 1954–55 season.

Iriondo started coaching immediately after retiring, with modest SD Indautxu in the Segunda División. He continued in his native region the following years, with Deportivo Alavés and Barakaldo.

In the 1968–69 campaign, Iriondo returned to Athletic Bilbao as head coach, helping the club to the 11th place in the league and the domestic cup. He would also manage the team for two full seasons in the mid-1970s, interspersed with stints at RCD Español, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad.

Iriondo's last coaching job was with Real Betis: he led the Andalusians to the 1977 Spanish Cup, but suffered top-flight relegation the following season. After 15 matches at Rayo Vallecano in 1980 (meeting the same fate) he returned to Betis for one final campaign in 1981–82, being one of three managers to help the team finish sixth in the top tier and qualify for the UEFA Cup for the first time ever; he died in Bilbao on 24 February 2016, aged 97.

Iriondo earned two caps for Spain in as many friendlies, his debut coming on 23 June 1946 in a 0–1 loss to the Republic of Ireland in Madrid. This was the first national team game attended by general Francisco Franco.

Seven months later, in Lisbon, he scored against Portugal who won 4–1.

Player

Athletic Bilbao

• La Liga: 1942–43
• Copa del Generalísimo: 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950
• Copa Eva Duarte: 1950

Manager

Athletic Bilbao

• Copa del Generalísimo: 1969

Betis

• Copa del Rey: 1976–77