Antonio Iriondo Ortega (born 3 November 1953) is a Spanish retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and is a current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He has managed teams such as

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

CD San Fernando Club Deportivo San Fernando was a Spanish football team based in San Fernando, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1940 it was dissolved on 16 June 2009, due a €2 million debt. The club's home ground was ''Estadio Ba ...

and Rayo Majadahonda in Spain.

Playing career

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to Spanish parents who, as children, had been sent to Russia in 1937 due to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Iriondo returned to Spain in 1957 at the age of four. He only played lower league football throughout his career, representing

CDC Moscardó Club Deportivo Colonia Moscardó is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the Community of Madrid, namesake community. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in , holding home matches at Estadio Román Valero ...

, CP Amorós,

RCD Carabanchel Real Club Deportivo Carabanchel is a Spanish football club in the Carabanchel district in the city of Madrid, Spain that plays in the . It is the third oldest team in the capital, after Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, and the thirteenth oldest i ...

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

, Valdemoro CF, and Tomelloso CF, retiring with the latter in 1982 at the age of 28.

Managerial career

Iriondo started his managerial career at AD Villaviciosa de Odón in the regional leagues and moved to

CD Móstoles Club Deportivo Móstoles was a Spanish football team from Móstoles, a city in the southern metropolitan area of Madrid. Founded in 1955 and dissolved in 2012 it played its last season in Tercera División, holding home matches at '' Estadio El ...

in 1991. He subsequently managed lower league sides in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, notably

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish professional football club in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with a capacity of 3,800 seats. ...

for two different spells, where he achieved promotion to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

in his third season. Iriondo subsequently managed

CD Manchego Club Deportivo Manchego was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Ciudad Real Province of Ciudad Real, in the namesake province, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1929 and dissolved in 2000, ...

before being appointed Rayo Vallecano B manager in 2002. On 14 April 2003, he replaced the fired Gustavo Benítez at the helm of the main squad in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. Iriondo remained in charge for nine matches, suffering relegation as dead last. After returning to the B-side in July 2003, he was named

UD San Sebastián de los Reyes Unión Deportiva San Sebastián de los Reyes, also known as Sanse is a Spanish football team based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Nuevo Mat ...

manager the following February. Subsequently, Iriondo was appointed at the helm of

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Toledo, Spain, Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Salto del Cab ...

(two stints),

, San Fernando CD (two stints) and Rayo Majadahonda. With the latter he achieved promotion to the third division in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and took the clubs to the play-offs for the first time in their history in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. On 27 May 2018, Iriondo achieved promotion to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

with the ''Majariegos'', after beating

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

in the play-offs. On 11 June of the following year, after suffering relegation, he resigned. On 26 July 2019, Iriondo was named manager of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

side

Jamshedpur FC Jamshedpur Football Club (, ) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football league system, Indian football. Founde ...

. After missing the playoffs in his

one year ''One Year'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of the Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes " Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Pr ...

at the

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

-owned franchise, he returned to Majadahonda on a one-season deal with the option of a second.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iriondo, Antonio 1953 births Living people Footballers from Moscow Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the Soviet Union Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Atlético Madrid C players AD Alcorcón footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Primera Federación managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers CF Rayo Majadahonda managers Rayo Vallecano B managers Rayo Vallecano managers CD Toledo managers San Fernando CD managers Atlético Sanluqueño CF managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate football managers in India Spanish people of Basque descent Jamshedpur FC managers UD San Sebastián de los Reyes managers Indian Super League managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen