Koldo Aguirre

Koldo Aguirre

Aguirre in 1978
Personal information
Full name	Luis María Aguirre Vidaurrázaga
Date of birth	27 April 1939
Place of birth	Sondika, Spain
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Sondika
	Getxo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1957–1969	Athletic Bilbao	231	(44)
1969–1970	Sabadell	3	(0)
1970	Alicante
Total		234	(44)
National team
1961	Spain B	1	(1)
1961–1965	Spain	7	(0)
Teams managed
1970–1971	Erandio
1971–1972	Villosa
1972–1973	Alavés
1974–1975	Basque Country (youth)
1975–1976	Bilbao Athletic
1976–1979	Athletic Bilbao
1979–1982	Hércules
1983	Valencia
1983	Mallorca
1985–1986	Logroñés
1988	Lleida
1993–1994	Bilbao Athletic
1995–1996	Barakaldo
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Luis María Aguirre Vidaurrázaga (born 27 April 1939), better known as Koldo Aguirre, is a Spanish retired football midfielder and coach.

He played 12 years for Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 297 official games (61 goals scored) and winning two major titles.

Club career

Born in Sondika, Biscay, Aguirre joined Athletic Bilbao in 1957 at the age of 18, from Basque neighbours CD Getxo, being immediately promoted to the first team. He made his La Liga debut on 19 January 1958 in a 1–2 away loss against Real Zaragoza, and finished his first season with only three matches played; the campaign ended with Copa del Generalísimo conquest.

In the following years, Aguirre was regularly played by Athletic, scoring a career-best 11 goals in 29 games in 1961–62 as the club finished in fifth position. Ironically, towards the end of his spell with the Lions, when he was again only a fringe player, he won his second domestic cup, against Elche CF.

In the 1969 summer, aged 30, Aguirre transferred to fellow league side CE Sabadell FC, retiring at the end of the season after only 115 minutes of action. He still played some amateur football with Alicante CF.

Aguirre began his coaching career in the lower divisions. He returned to his main club Athletic Bilbao as an assistant manager, after having been in charge of the reserves and also of neighbouring Deportivo Alavés; he was promoted to head coach for 1976–77 and, during his three-year spell, the team finished twice in third position, reaching the Spanish Cup final once.

Aguirre then worked three seasons with Hércules CF – also in the top flight – being relegated in his last year, 1981–82. In the following campaign, he was one of three managers for Valencia CF, being in charge for seven games (three wins, two draws and two losses) as the Che ranked in 15th position, being the first team above the relegation zone.

After another brief spell in the top division, with RCD Mallorca, Aguirre returned to the lower leagues, and again managed Bilbao Athletic amongst other sides.

International career

Aguirre played seven games for Spain during four years. His debut was on 19 April 1961, in a 2–1 away win against Wales for the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao

• Copa del Rey: 1958, 1969; Runner-up 1965–66, 1966–67

Manager

Athletic Bilbao

• Copa del Rey: Runner-up 1976–77^[1]

References

1. "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 February 2016.

External links

• Koldo Aguirre profile at BDFutbol
• Koldo Aguirre manager profile at BDFutbol
• National team data
• Athletic Bilbao profile
• Koldo Aguirre at National-Football-Teams.com
• Koldo Aguirre – FIFA competition record