Javier Irureta

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Personal information
Javier Irureta
Full name	Javier Iruretagoyena Amianó
Date of birth	April 1 1948
Place of birth	Irún, Guipúzcoa, Spain
Position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Real Betis
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1965-67 1967-75 1975-80	Real Unión Atlético Madrid Athletic Bilbao	X(X) 208 (48) 139 (22)
National team**
1972-75 1979	Spain Euskadi XI	6 (0) 1(0)
Teams managed
1984-88 1988-89 1989-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-97 1997-98 1999-2005 2006- ?	Sestao SC CD Logroñés Real Oviedo Racing de Santander Athletic Bilbao Real Sociedad Celta de Vigo Deportivo de La Coruña Real Betis
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 5 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of August 5 2006.

Javier Iruretagoyena Amianó (born April 1 1948, Irún, Guipúzcoa), also referred to as Javier Irureta is a Spanish/Basque football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Real Betis. Irureta had a distinguished career as a forward with both Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Along with Adelardo, Luis Aragonés and José Eulogio Gárate, he was a prominent member of the successful Atlético Madrid team of the early 1970s. As a manager he has coached several La Liga clubs, most notably Celta de Vigo and Deportivo de La Coruña. In 1998 while at Celta he was awarded Manager Of the Year titles by both Don Balón and El País and in 2000 while at Deportivo he won the Don Balón award for a second time. Irureta guided Deportivo to five top three La Liga finishes and also established them as UEFA Champions League regulars. In 2000 he led Deportivo to their first ever La Liga title. He is the only person to have coached both the two major Basque clubs, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, and the two major Galician sides, Celta de Vigo and Deportivo de La Coruña.

1 Atlético Madrid
2 Athletic Bilbao
3 International career
4 Deportivo de La Coruña
5 Honours
6 External links

[edit] Atlético Madrid

As a player Irureta made his senior debut for his local team, Real Unión in 1965. In 1967 he helped them reach the Segunda División play-offs before joining Atlético Madrid later that year. During his time at Atlético he was part of a team that won two La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey. They also reached the European Cup final in 1974. After the winners, Bayern Munich, declined to participate in the Intercontinental Cup Atlético, as runners-up, were invited instead. Their opponents were Independiente of Argentina and, after losing the away leg 1-0, they won the return leg 2-0 with Irureta scoring one of the goals.

[edit] Athletic Bilbao

After eight seasons at Atlético Madrid, Irureta returned to the Basque Country and signed for Athletic Bilbao. The highlight of his career at Athletic was winning two runners-up medals in 1977 - one in the Copa del Rey and one in the UEFA Cup. Among his team mates were the veteran José Ángel Iribar and an emerging José Ramón Alexanko. Irureta returned to Athletic as coach during the 1994/95 season.

[edit] International career

Irureta also won 6 caps for Spain between 1972 and 1975. However this was not a successful era for Spain and he never played in a major tournament. Towards the end of his playing career Irureta also played one game for the Euskadi XI.

[edit] Deportivo de La Coruña

As a coach Irureta has managed several La Liga clubs. In 1991 he led Real Oviedo to 6th in La Liga and UEFA Cup qualification. He repeated the feat with Celta de Vigo in 1998. However his greatest successes came with Deportivo de La Coruña between 1999 and 2005. In 2000 he led Deportivo to their first ever La Liga title. They were also runners-up in 2001 and 2002 and finished third in 2003 and 2004. They were UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists in 2001 and 2002 and semi-finalists in 2004. In 2002 they also won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.

[edit] Honours

Player

Atlético Madrid

Spanish Champions: 2
- 1970 1973

Copa del Rey: 1
- 1972

Intercontinental Cup : 1
- 1974

Manager

Deportivo La Coruna

Spanish Champions: 1
- 2000
Copa del Rey: 1
- 2002
Supercopa de España: 1
- 2002

[edit] External links

Real Betis - Current Squad
1 Contreras \| 2 Melli \| 3 Romero \| 4 Juanito \| 5 Rivas \| 6 Lembo \| 7 Damià \| 8 Arzu \| 9 Fernando \| 10 Edú \| 11 Dani \| 12 Robert \| 13 Toni D \| 14 Capi \| 15 Nano \| 16 Vogel \| 17 Wágner \| 18 Rivera \| 19 Xisco \| 20 Assunção \| 21 Miguel Angel \| 22 Vega \| 23 Odonkor \| 24 Maldonado \| 25 Sóbis \| 26 Cañamero \| Coach Irureta