José Ángel Iribar

José Ángel Iribar

Iribar in 1978
Personal information
Full name José Ángel Iribar Cortajarena
Date of birth (1943-03-01) 1 March 1943
Place of birth Zarautz, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
Salleco
Zarautz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1961–1962 Baskonia 24 (0)
1962–1980 Athletic Bilbao 466 (0)
Total 490 (0)
National team
1964–1976 Spain 49 (0)
1979 Basque Country 1 (0)
Teams managed
1983–1986 Bilbao Athletic
1986–1987 Athletic Bilbao
1987 Bilbao Athletic
1988 Basque Country
1993–2010 Basque Country

* 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 Iribar and the second or maternal family name is Cortajarena.

José Ángel Iribar Cortajarena, nicknamed El Chopo ("the poplar") (born 1 March 1943), is a Spanish retired football goalkeeper and manager.

Having played almost exclusively for Athletic Bilbao, he appeared in more than 600 official games for the club over the course of 18 La Liga seasons, winning two major titles.

Iribar represented the Spanish national team in the 1964 Nations' Cup and the 1966 World Cup, winning the former tournament.

Club career

Iribar was born in Zarautz, Gipuzkoa. After only three La Liga games in his first professional season at Athletic Bilbao, he proceeded to become the Basques' undisputed starter for the following 16 seasons; his senior starts were made at CD Basconia in 1961, when the latter was still not the feeder team: they eliminated Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Generalísimo, and the keeper's stellar performance prompted his signing for a then-record 1 million pesetas.

At Athletic, Iribar profitted from injury to Carmelo Cedrún in October 1963 and never looked back, going on to conquer two Spanish Cups and finish second in the 1976–77 UEFA Cup, to Juventus FC. He retired in 1980 at 37, having played in 614 matches in all competitions as another club great in the position, Andoni Zubizarreta, would arrive in the summer; during the 1970–71 campaign, he kept a clean sheet at ten successive home games, which translated into a record of 1,018 minutes.

Subsequently, Iribar joined Athletic's coaching staff, taking charge of the goalkeepers. In 1983–84 he coached the reserve team Bilbao Athletic, leading them to the second place in the second division, a best-ever, although they were not eligible for promotion.

Iribar also managed the first team in the 1986–87 season – for the only time, the league had a second stage divided in three groups, and Athletic won the relegation one (ranking 13th overall). Since 1988 and for over two decades, he was in charge of the Basque Country national team.

International career

Iribar made his debut for Spain on 11 March 1964, in the first leg of the 1964 European Nations' Cup's last qualifying stage, a 5–1 home win against Republic of Ireland (7–1 aggregate). He was the starter during the finals, and the nation emerged victorious on home soil.

Iribar also represented Spain at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, playing all three group stage matches. He retained his position for a further ten years, his last game coming on 24 April 1976 in a 1–1 against West Germany for the unsuccessful UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying, and gained a total of 49 caps.[1]

Political views

On 5 December 1976, before a game against Real Sociedad, Iribar and the opposing captain, Inaxio Kortabarria, carried out the Ikurriña, the Basque flag, and placed it ceremonially on the centre-circle.[2] This was the first public display of the flag since the death of Francisco Franco, but it was still illegal.

He subsequently became involved in Basque local politics, and was a founding member of the independentist coalition Herri Batasuna.[3]

Honours

Club

Athletic Bilbao

Country

Individual

References

  1. ↑ José Ángel Iríbar – International Matches; at RSSSF
  2. ↑ Aquel histórico 5 de diciembre de 1976 (That historic 5 December 1976); Canal Athletic, 3 December 2010 (Spanish)
  3. ↑ Iribar se presentará a las elecciones con Herri-Batasuna (Iribar to present himself to elections for Herri-Batasuna); El País, 13 January 1979 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ "2–2: Los andaluces remontaron dos ventajas vascas" [2–2: The Andalusians countered Basques' advantage twice] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 26 June 1977. Retrieved 5 May 2016.

External links

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