Josu Urrutia

Josu Urrutia Tellería (born 10 April 1968) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Urrutia and the second or maternal family name is Tellería.
Josu Urrutia
Urrutia in 2014
Personal information
Full name Josu Urrutia Tellería[1]
Date of birth (1968-04-10) 10 April 1968
Place of birth Bilbao, Spain[1]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1977–1986 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1990 Bilbao Athletic 109 (13)
1988–2003 Athletic Bilbao 348 (10)
Total 457 (23)
National team
1990–2001 Basque Country 6 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

His 17-year senior career was solely connected with Athletic Bilbao for which he appeared in 348 La Liga matches over 16 seasons, scoring ten goals.[2] He later served a seven-year term as president of the club.

Playing career

Urrutia was born in Bilbao, Biscay, and was a product of the youth academy of Athletic Bilbao based at Lezama. He made his first appearance with the club's B-side on 9 September 1984, aged only 16, due to a strike by the professional players, and lasted 67 minutes in a 3–1 home win against UD Salamanca in the second division.[3]

Urrutia appeared once for the first team during the 1987–88 season, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Sporting de Gijón,[4] then amassed a further five La Liga games in the next while also experiencing a relegation followed by a promotion with the reserves. He began 1989–90 still registered with the latter but eventually broke into the former, scoring his first goal for them on 1 April 1990 to help to a 2–2 home draw to Real Valladolid which was played at neighbouring Real Sociedad's ground, Atotxa Stadium.[5]

From the 1990–91 campaign onwards, Urrutia became a very important first-team member, being a valuable midfield element with tackling and stamina skills and a perfect complement for the more attacking Julen Guerrero.[6] He appeared in 30 matches during 1997–98 as the Basques qualified for the UEFA Champions League, as runners-up.

After just 25 overall appearances from 2001 to 2003 combined – he only played in one Copa del Rey contest in the latter season – Urrutia retired from the game at the age of 35 due to recurrent problems in his right knee, having appeared in 401 official games.[7]

Presidency
Urrutia (far left) in the directors' box at San Mamés alongside Iñigo Urkullu (Lehendakari of the Basque Community), 2016

On 7 July 2011, Urrutia won the presidential elections at his only club (54,36% of the votes), becoming only the fourth former player to be chosen for the post.[8] He promised to bring in Marcelo Bielsa as head coach if he was elected, and this eventually came to fruition.[9][10]

In March 2015, Urrutia was re-elected to serve another four-year term after being the only candidate to stand.[11] In the early days of his tenure he had appointed former teammate José Ángel Ziganda to become the coach of the reserves,[12] and six years later, still under the former's presidency, the latter was promoted to first-team duties;[13] he replaced another playing colleague of both men, Ernesto Valverde.[14]

In November 2018, Urrutia confirmed he would stand down as the president of Athletic Bilbao. During a spell heading an 'interim board' until his successor was elected, one of his final acts was to dismiss head coach Eduardo Berizzo – only appointed a few months earlier in place of Ziganda – due to poor results (again it was the reserve coach, this time Gaizka Garitano, who was invited to step into the role).[15] On 27 December, new presidential elections were held, in which Aitor Elizegi won.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Josu URRUTIA Tellería" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  2. 300 rugidos (300 roars); Mundo Deportivo, 9 March 2000 (in Spanish)
  3. 3–1: La juventud se impuso en San Mamés (3–1: Youth won at San Mamés); Mundo Deportivo, 10 September 1984 (in Spanish)
  4. 1–1: Athletic y Sporting, plagados de bajas y de... errores (1–1: Athletic and Sporting, galore of absentees and... mistakes); Mundo Deportivo, 21 March 1988 (in Spanish)
  5. El Athletic pinchó en el exilio (Athletic fumbled in exile); Mundo Deportivo, 2 April 1990 (in Spanish)
  6. Historia de San Mamés: Exhibición de Julen Guerrero bajo la nieve (Story of San Mamés: Julen Guerrero show under the snow); Vavel, 22 January 2017 (in Spanish)
  7. "Mi trayectoria es más que un título" ("My career means more than an honour"); Mundo Deportivo, 13 June 2003 (in Spanish)
  8. "Josu Urrutia, new president". Athletic Bilbao. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  9. Josu Urrutia confirma a Marcelo Bielsa como su entrenador si es presidente (Josu Urrutia confirms Marcelo Bielsa as his manager if he is president); Cadena SER, 30 June 2011 (in Spanish)
  10. Bielsa: "Hay una proporción adecuada entre esfuerzo y creatividad" (Bielsa: "The proportion between effort and creativity is just right"); Marca, 7 July 2011 (in Spanish)
  11. "Urrutia será proclamado presidente el próximo 20 de marzo" [Urrutia to be proclaimed president the next 20 March] (in Spanish). El Correo. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  12. "'Cuco' Ziganda quiere imprimir en el filial el estilo 'comprometido' de Bielsa" ['Cuco' Ziganda wants to imprint Bielsa's 'committed' style on the reserves] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  13. "José Ángel Ziganda, Athletic Club's new manager". Athletic Bilbao. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  14. "Urrutia: "Ya lo dijo Valverde, de momento no hay noticias sobre su futuro"" [Urrutia: "Valverde has said it already, no news on his future for the moment"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  15. Lowe, Sid (11 December 2018). "Athletic Bilbao would rather be relegated than compromise their values as battle at bottom looms". ESPN. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  16. "Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic Club". Athletic Bilbao. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
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