Ignacio María Agirrezabala Ibarbia, nicknamed Chirri II (10 May 1909 – 11 September 1979) was a Spanish

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He played four times for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Career

At club level, he played for

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

for eight seasons, coinciding with the introduction of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

in 1929; he won three national titles ( 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34), three consecutive Copas del Rey (

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, 1932, also contributing to a fourth in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

although he did not take part in the final) and several editions of the regional

Biscay Championship The Biscay Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional de Vizcaya)'', also called the North Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional Norte)'' in its early editions, was an official association football, football tournament in Spain organised b ...

, all before he elected to withdraw from playing at the age of 26. Chirri II was an integral part of what became known as the 'first historic front line' of Athletic Bilbao, combining with

José Iraragorri José Iraragorri Ealo (16 March 1912 – 27 April 1983), nicknamed "Chato", was a Spanish footballer who played as an inside left. Career Club Born in Basauri, Iraragorri initially played for Athletic Bilbao between 1929 and 1936, during which ...

, Bata,

Guillermo Gorostiza Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes (15 February 1909 – 23 August 1966) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. In a 14-year professional career, he played for Athletic Bilbao and Valencia, amassing La Liga totals of 255 games and 178 goal ...

and Lafuente (as well as

Víctor Unamuno Victorio Unamuno Ibarzabal (21 May 1909 – 20 May 1988), also known as Unamuno I, was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. He amassed La Liga totals of 144 games and 101 goals, with Athletic Bilbao and Betis. Career Unamuno was bor ...

). He has been characterised as a playmaker whose focus was on the creative and technical aspects of the game, in contrast to most forwards of the era who relied mainly on physical power to overcome opponents. He is said to have initiated the practice of destroying the bowler hat worn by the coach

Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League ...

after victories, which became a regular ritual for the successful team. When the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

broke out in 1936, Agirrezabala joined the

Basque Country national football team The Basque Country representative football team (officially, in Basque, 'Euskal selekzioa') represents the Basque Country in football. It selects players from the Basque Country autonomous community, Navarre and the French Basque Country and ...

which toured Europe and Latin America in exile, remaining in Argentina when the rest of the squad moved on to Mexico where they founded a club team,

CD Euzkadi Club Deportivo Euzkadi was an association football team that played in the Primera Fuerza league in Mexico during the 1938–39 season. It was formed when the Basque Country national football team, which had been touring the world, was refused p ...

. He worked in an engineering and construction firm before deciding to return to Bilbao with his family after eight years, where he became a director of a company in the same industry. His elder brother

Marcelino Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). *San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zamb ...

, known as ''Chirri I'', also played for Athletic Bilbao and Spain; the siblings both played in one friendly match but never took the field together in a competitive fixture.

References

External links

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Chirri II
at '' SE Fútbol'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Agirrezabala, Ignacio 1909 births 1979 deaths Spanish footballers Spain international footballers Association football forwards Footballers from Bilbao Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Athletic Bilbao footballers La Liga players Basque Country international footballers 20th-century Spanish businesspeople Businesspeople from the Basque Country (autonomous community)