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Rafael Iriondo
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea
Date of birth	24 October 1918
Place of birth	Guernica, Spain
Date of death	24 February 2016 (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
1939–1940	Atlético Tetuán
1940–1953	Athletic Bilbao
1953	Barakaldo
1953–1955	Real Sociedad
1955	Indautxu
Total
International career
1946–1947	Spain
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

Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea (24 October 1918 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish football forward and manager.

He amassed La Liga totals of 285 matches and 89 goals over 15 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad.^[1] He subsequently became a manager, working for nearly 30 years and being in charge of both clubs.

Club career

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.^[2]^[3]

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.^[4] He continued in his native region the following years, with Deportivo Alavés and Barakaldo.^[5]

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,^[6]^[7] but suffered top-flight relegation the following season.^[8] 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;^[9] he died in Bilbao on 24 February 2016, aged 97.^[10]

International career

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.^[11]

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

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao

La Liga: 1942–43^[12]
Copa del Generalísimo: 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950^[12]
Copa Eva Duarte: 1950^[12]

Manager

Athletic Bilbao

Copa del Generalísimo: 1969^[3]

Betis

Copa del Rey: 1976–77^[7]

References

^ "Athletic Club-Real Sociedad: jugadores en los dos bandos" [Athletic Club-Real Sociedad: players on both sides]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
^ Ortiz de Lazcano, Javier (9 October 2015). "Los discípulos de Pichichi" [Pichichi's disciples]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao – Iriondo" [Athletic Club de Bilbao legends – Iriondo]. El Correo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
^ Historia (History) Archived 6 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine; at SD Indautxu (in Spanish)
^ Entrenadores (Managers); at Barakaldo CF (in Spanish)
^ Rovira, Ramón (26 June 1977). "2–2: Los andaluces remontaron dos ventajas vascas" [2–2: The Andalusians countered Basques' advantage twice]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b Pina, Nivardo (26 June 1977). "Iriondo: Siento una gran alegria y... un poco de pena" [Iriondo: I am extremely happy and... a little sorry]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2014.
^ Ríos, Ricardo (8 May 1978). "1–0: El Real Betis, a Segunda" [1–0: Real Betis, to Segunda]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2016.
^ Sevillano, Jesús (30 May 2017). "Fallece Pedro Buenaventura Gil, historia del Betis" [Death of Pedro Buenaventura Gil, history of Betis]. ABC (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^ Romera, Abel (24 February 2016). "Fallece Rafael Iriondo" [Rafael Iriondo dies]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2016.
^ Lasplazas, José Luis (24 June 1946). "Irlanda venció a España en el Estadio Metropolitano por diferencia mínima" [Ireland beat Spain at the Estadio Metropolitano by the odd goal]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea" (in Spanish). Mi Athletic. Retrieved 15 January 2015.