Javier Olaizola Rodríguez (born 28 November 1969) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently a

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 ...

. Most of his 13-year professional career was spent with

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, with whom he appeared in 333 competitive matches and won two major titles.

Playing career

Born in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Olaizola's first professional club was

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

in his native Basque Country, in the

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 ...

. Subsequently, he played two seasons with

Real Burgos CF Real Burgos Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1983, it ceased to compete in 1996 and returned in 2011, holding home games at ''Complejo Deportivo San Amaro'' ...

, going on to suffer two consecutive relegations and returning for a second spell with his previous team afterwards. In 1995, Olaizola signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

, immediately becoming an undisputed starter as well as their

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and helping the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

side to the 1998 edition of the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

against

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 ...

giants

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, as well as a second place in the following year's

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. His only goal in the top flight and as a professional came on 17 December 2000, as he scored a last-minute equaliser at

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

(2–2).

Coaching career

Olaizola totalled only 27 matches in his last two years, due to several injuries and age, and retired aged 34. He then had brief spells as manager, with Mallorca's youth teams and

Antiguoko Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea (Sport Club of Antiguo in English) is an amateur youth Spanish football club based in Antiguo, a part of San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, Spain. It acts as feeder club to Athletic Bilbao, previously having the sam ...

(also a youth club, in the Basque region). On 6 December 2016, following

Fernando Vázquez Fernando Vázquez Pena (born 24 October 1954) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently a manager. Managerial career Born in the village of Castrofeito, O Pino, Galicia, Vázquez was an English teacher in ...

's dismissal, Olaizola – who was in charge of the reserves – became coach of Mallorca, who now competed in the second tier. He was himself sacked the following 4 April, after his side was seriously threatened with relegation. Olaizola returned to reserve management on 6 March 2018, taking over

Atlético Levante UD Atlético Levante Unión Deportiva is a Spanish football team based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1962, it is the reserve team of Levante UD, and plays in the . History The club was founded on 10 November 1962 after a merge ...

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. Four months later, having won their group and then promotion on penalties against

UD Ibiza Unión Deportiva Ibiza is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in the town of Ibiza (town), Ibiza, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 2015, it pla ...

in the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, he left. In June 2019, Olaizola was appointed at

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in , holding home games at Campo Municipal de Gobela, with a 2,000-se ...

in the

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 summer 2022, after a very short spell with

CD Tudelano Club Deportivo Tudelano is a Spanish football team based in Tudela, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1935 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Ciudad de Tudela'', with a capacity of 11,000 seats. History Early His ...

, he returned to Arenas, now in the

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

Personal life

Olaizola's older brother,

Julio Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) * Julio (surname) * Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation al ...

(19 years his senior), was also a footballer and a defender. He played ten top-flight seasons with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Mallorca *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2002–03; runner-up: 1997–98 *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

runner-up: 1998–99

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olaizola, Javier 1969 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players SD Eibar footballers Real Burgos CF footballers RCD Mallorca players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Primera Federación managers Segunda Federación managers RCD Mallorca managers RCD Mallorca B managers Atlético Levante UD managers Arenas Club de Getxo managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen