Rafael Iriondo

Rafael Iriondo

Personal information
Full name	Rafael Iriondo Aurtenechea
Date of birth	(1918-10-24)24 October 1918
Place of birth	Guernica, Spain
Date of death	24 February 2016(2016-02-24) (aged 97)
Place of death	Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Gernika
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1939–1940	Atlético Tetuán
1940–1953	Athletic Bilbao	258	(79)
1953	Barakaldo	3	(1)
1953–1955	Real Sociedad	28	(9)
1955	Indautxu	1	(0)
Total		290	(89)
National team
1946–1947	Spain	2	(1)
Teams managed
1955–1956	Indautxu
1958–1959	Alavés
1961–1962	Barakaldo
1968–1969	Athletic Bilbao
1970	Español
1971–1972	Zaragoza
1972–1974	Real Sociedad
1974–1976	Athletic Bilbao
1976–1978	Betis
1980	Rayo Vallecano
1981–1982	Betis
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Rafael Iriondo Aurtenechea (24 October 1918 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish football player and manager. He played as a forward. He won a total of 286 games and scored over 88 goals over the course of 15 seasons. He played for Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. He became a manager, working for nearly 30 years and being in charge of both clubs.

Early life

Iriondo was born in Guernica, Spain.

Career

Iriondo began his career in 1939 with the football team Atlético Tetuán.

After 328 official games for Athletic with 115 goals, Iriondo moved to another team in the region, Barakaldo CF, in 1953. After a couple of months, however, he returned to the top division and joined Real Sociedad. He retired shortly after the end of the 1954–55 season.

Iriondo started coaching quickly after retiring, with modest SD Indautxu in the second division. He continued in his native Basque Country in the following years, with Deportivo Alavés and Barakaldo.

Iriondo retired in 1982 after coaching Real Betis.

Death

Iriondo died on 24 February 2016 in Bilbao, Spain from respiratory failure. He was aged 97.

Other websites

• National team data Archived 2012-03-14 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
• Rafael Iriondo at National-Football-Teams.com
• Spain stats at Eu-Football