José Antonio Irulegui

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Irulegui and the second or maternal family name is Garmendia.

José Antonio Irulegui Garmendia (born 1 April 1937) is a Spanish former football defender and manager.

José Antonio Irulegui

Personal information
Full name	José Antonio Irulegui Garmendia
Date of birth	(1937-04-01) 1 April 1937 (age 88)
Place of birth	Lasarte, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1955–1956	Eibar	15	(0)
1956–1965	Real Sociedad	177	(1)
1965–1971	Pontevedra	142	(0)
1971–1972	Murcia
Total		334	(1)
International career
1959	Spain U21	1	(0)
Managerial career
1974–1975	Deportivo La Coruña
1976–1978	Real Sociedad
1978–1979	Español
1980–1981	Murcia
1985–1987	Real Burgos
1987–1990	Xerez
1990–1991	Levante
1993–1994	Alavés
1995	Mallorca
1997–1999	Villarreal
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Irulegui played professional football with SD Eibar, Real Sociedad and Pontevedra CF, in a career that lasted 16 years. He amassed La Liga totals of 249 matches and one goal over 11 seasons.^[1][2]

Irulegui left the Galician club in June 1971 at the age of 34, after one final campaign in Segunda División. He retired after one year with Tercera División side Real Murcia.

Coaching career

Irulegui worked as a manager for nearly three decades, starting with second-tier Deportivo de La Coruña in 1973–74 (only five games in charge, team relegation followed by immediate promotion).^[3] He went on to coach Real Sociedad,^[1] RCD Español, Real Murcia,^[4] Real Burgos CF,^[5] Xerez CD,^[6] Levante UD, Deportivo Alavés,^[7] RCD Mallorca^[8] and Villarreal CF.

Irulegui led the last of those clubs to promotion to the top flight in the 1997–98 season, in the playoffs.^[9] He was relieved of his duties late into the following campaign, which ended in immediate relegation.^[10]