Fidel Uriarte

Fidel Uriarte
Personal information
Full name	Fidel Uriarte Macho
Date of birth	1 March 1945
Place of birth	Sestao, Spain
Date of death	19 December 2016 (aged 71)
Place of death	Castro Urdiales, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1960–1962	Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years	Team
1962–1974	Athletic Bilbao
1974–1977	Málaga
Total
International career
1962–1963	Spain U18
1967–1970	Spain U23
1963–1964	Spain amateur
1968–1972	Spain
Managerial career
1978	Sestao
1990–1991	Athletic Bilbao (assistant)
1991	Bilbao Athletic
1991–1992	Athletic Bilbao (assistant)
1992–1993	Athletic Bilbao (youth)
1993–1994	Bilbao Athletic (youth)
1995	Villarreal
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fidel Uriarte Macho (1 March 1945 – 19 December 2016) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker.

Having spent most of his 15-year professional career with Athletic Bilbao, he was crowned La Liga's Pichichi in 1968, winning two Copa del Rey and scoring more than 100 official goals with his main club.

Club career

Born in Sestao, Biscay, Uriarte was promoted to Basque giants Athletic Bilbao's first team at only 17, making his La Liga debut on 23 September 1962 in a 2–0 away loss against CD Málaga.^[2] At the end of his fourth season, aged 21, he had already appeared in 100 league matches and scored 14 goals.

Uriarte scored a career-best 22 goals in only 24 league games (35/28 overall) in the 1967–68 campaign, helping Athletic to finish in seventh place; on 31 December 1967, he contributed five to an 8–0 home demolition of Real Betis.^[3] In the following year he conquered the first of his two Copa del Rey with the club, and left in 1974 with 389 competitive appearances and 121 goals.^[4]^[5]

In 1974, Uriarte joined Málaga. In his time with the Andalusian side, they were promoted once and relegated twice. He often played as a sweeper, and retired in 1977 at the age of 32.^[6]

Uriarte worked as a coach in the following decades, managing both Athletic's reserve and youth sides amongst others.^[2]

International career

Uriarte earned nine caps for Spain in four years, his debut coming on 28 February 1968 in a friendly with Sweden in Seville.^[7] In another exhibition game, a 2–1 away win over Italy on 20 February 1971, he scored his only goal.^[8]

International goals


#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	20 February 1971	Sant'Elia, Cagliari, Italy	Italy	0–2	1–2	Friendly^[9]

Personal life and death

Uriarte's younger brother, Gabriel, was also a footballer. A forward, he was mainly a reserve player at Valencia CF.^[10]

On 19 December 2016, Uriarte died in Castro Urdiales, Bay of Biscay, after a long illness. He was 71 years old.^[11]^[12]

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Copa del Generalísimo: 1969, 1972–73^[13]

Individual

Pichichi Trophy: 1967–68^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Uriarte". Worldfootball. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Luto por Fidel Uriarte: "Es un jugador inolvidable en la historia del Athletic"" [Fidel Uriarte mourned: "He's an unforgettable player in Athletic's history"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ Relaño, Alfredo (3 January 2016). "Uriarte ganó el pichichi en Nochevieja" [Uriarte won the pichichi on New Year's Eve]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2016.
^ "Urzaiz supera a Uriarte y se coloca como noveno goleador rojiblanco" [Urzaiz surpassed Uriarte and ranks ninth in red-and-white all-time scoring list]. Marca (in Spanish). 11 December 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
^ Ortiz de Lazcano, Javier (9 October 2015). "Los discípulos de Pichichi" [Pichichi's disciples]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2016.
^ Cortés, Sergio (20 December 2016). "Adiós a Uriarte, que debutó contra el Málaga y se retiró en el Málaga" [Farewell to Uriarte, who made his debut against Málaga and retired at Málaga]. Diario Sur (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ López Gimeno, Emilio (29 February 1968). "3–1: Frente a Suecia se hizo un fútbol sólido en el centro del campo y la zaga" [3–1: Solid display in midfield and defence against Sweden]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
^ Rovira, Ramón (21 February 1971). "1–2: ¡España, maravillosa!" [1–2: Spain, wonderful!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
^ "Uriarte". European Football. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
^ Lloret, Paco (27 October 2018). "Refuerzos bilbaínos en el Valencia de los 70" [Additions from Bilbao in 70s Valencia]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ "Obituary: Fidel Uriarte". Athletic Bilbao. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "Fallece Fidel Uriarte, una leyenda del Athletic" [Death of Fidel Uriarte, Athletic legend]. El Correo (in Spanish). 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
^ Calvo, J.A. (30 June 1973). "2–0: No tuvo rival serio en el Castellón" [2–0: Castellón were no serious match]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2016.
^ Bravo, Luis Javier; Sillipp, Bernhard; Torre, Raúl; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Spain – List of Topscorers ("Pichichi") 1929–2015". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.