Gaztelu (footballer)

Gaztelu

Gaztelu in 1981
Personal information
Full name José Agustín Aranzábal Askasibar
Date of birth (1946-07-23) 23 July 1946
Place of birth Bergara, Spain
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1963–1965 Vergara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1966 San Sebastián 27 (5)
1966–1981 Real Sociedad 257 (28)
Total 284 (33)
National team
1970 Spain U23 1 (0)
1969–1971 Spain 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Aranzábal and the second or maternal family name is Askasibar.

José Agustín Aranzábal Askasibar (born 23 July 1946), known as Gaztelu, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

He spent his entire career with Real Sociedad, playing 308 competitive games and scoring 32 goals.

Club career

Gaztelu was born in Bergara, Gipuzkoa. As a young child, he received his nickname, meaning castle in Euskera, after a farm owned by his aunt.[1][2] He signed with Real Sociedad in 1965 from his local club and, after just one season with the reserves, was promoted to the first team at the age of 20.

Gaztelu made his debut in La Liga on 8 October 1967, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 away draw against Sevilla FC.[3] He scored his first goal in the competition on 17 November of the following year, in another draw (1–1, at Deportivo de La Coruña);[4] in early 1970, whilst playing with the Spanish under-23 team in Italy, he suffered a serious injury that sidelined him for nearly two years.[1]

Gaztelu scored a career-best seven goals (from 29 games) in 1973–74, helping the Txuriurdin to the fourth position. On 5 December 1976, he was decorated by Real Sociedad to celebrate his tenth season and, shortly after, scored twice – once through a penalty kick – to help to a 5–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao in the Basque derby.[1]

Gaztelu contributed with one match in 1980–81,[5] as Real won its first ever national championship. In the process, he became the first player to achieve that feat as well as promotion from Segunda División in 1967, retiring at the end of the campaign at 35.[1]

International career

Gaztelu won two caps for Spain, in as many years. His first came on 15 October 1969, as he started in a 6–0 routing of Finland in La Línea de la Concepción for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[6]

Personal life

Gaztelu's son, Agustín Aranzábal, was also a footballer and a defender. He too played for Real Sociedad and Spain.[7]

Honours

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, January 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.