José María Igartua Mendizábal (born 6 March 1950) is a Spanish former

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 ...

. He competed in the men's tournament at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Career

Igartua emerged from the youth system at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

alongside

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

, with both players establishing themselves in the first team at the age of 18 after making their

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 ...

debut in the same match, against

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

in September 1968. After scoring a spectacular and important goal in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, Igartua started the

1969 Copa del Generalísimo Final 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, also against Elche, a 1–0 victory in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. In October 1970, he suffered a broken leg in a match against

Celta 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 foun ...

which kept him out of the game for seven months, and when he returned, he could not reach the same high levels of performance as before the injury and was no longer a first choice at Athletic; he missed out on their

1973 Copa del Generalísimo Final Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

success having featured in earlier rounds. By then, Clemente's playing career had also been ended prematurely due to injury. In 1975 Igartua opted to move down to the second tier with Celta (managed by former Athletic goalkeeper Carmelo Cedrun and assisted by Pedrito, the man responsible for the broken leg five years earlier), helping the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

win promotion in his first season, although they were relegated in the second. He moved on again, returning to his native Basque Country with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

, where he appeared regularly for four campaigns 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 ...

before being forced to retire altogether aged 31 due to

Spondylitis Spondylitis is an inflammation of the vertebrae. It is a form of spondylopathy. In many cases, spondylitis involves one or more vertebral joints, as well, which itself is called spondylarthritis. __TOC__ Types Pott disease is a tuberculous d ...

. He remained involved in sport despite his physical problems, returning to

Basque pelota Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronto ...

in which he had been heavily involved in his teens before focusing on football. At the

1986 Basque Pelota World Championships The 1986 Basque Pelota World Championships were the 10th edition of the Basque Pelota World Championships organized by the FIPV. Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * *Others Events A total of 12 events were disputed, in 4 playing ...

, he won a bronze medal in the ''Paleta cuero'' (wooden bat and leather ball) variant of the game.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Igartua, Jose Maria 1950 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Olympic footballers for Spain Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics People from Durangaldea Men's association football defenders RC Celta de Vigo players Athletic Bilbao footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish pelotaris Footballers from Biscay Pelotaris from the Basque Country (autonomous community) 20th-century Spanish sportsmen