Xabier 'Xabi' Iruretagoiena Arantzamendi (born 21 March 1986), commonly known as Irureta, is 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He spent most of his professional career with

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

, representing the club in all three major levels of Spanish football while appearing in 229 matches in all competitions.

Club career

Eibar

Born in

Ondarroa Ondarroa is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. Main sights *Church of St. Mary, in late Gothic style (late 15th century) *Likona Tower, a ty ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Irureta made his senior debut with local

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

in the 2005–06 season, 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 2006, he moved to amateurs

CD Aurrerá Ondarroa Club Deportivo Aurrerá Ondarroa (Ondarroako Aurrera Kirol Elkartea in Basque) is a Spanish football team based in Ondarroa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1921, it plays in , holding home matches at ''Zaldupe''. Dev ...

also in his native Basque Country. In July 2007, Irureta joined

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 ...

, being initially assigned to the reserves in the

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 ...

. He played his first game as a professional on 30 May 2009, starting in a 3–0

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 ...

away loss against

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo S. A. D. is a Spanish association football, football club based in the city of Jerez de la Frontera. It was founded in 1947 and plays in . History Due to the link between Jerez de la Frontera and the United Kingdom created b ...

, and made a further three appearances during the campaign as the side suffered relegation after finishing in 21st position. Irureta was definitely promoted to the main squad in July 2009, being named first choice ahead of

Zigor Goikuria Zigor Goikuria Garmendia (born 16 June 1979), known simply as Zigor, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Zigor was born in Arrigorriaga, Biscay. His career was spent almost exclusively in the Segunda División ...

. In

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he appeared in 46 matches (34 in the league, 4,126 minutes of action) to help Eibar return to the second division after a four-year absence.Nueve jugadores del Eibar, de Segunda B a Primera en dos años (Nine Eibar players, from ''Segunda B'' to ''Primera'' in two years)
;

El Diario Vasco ''El Diario Vasco'' ( English: ''The Basque Daily'') is a Spanish morning daily newspaper based in San Sebastián, Basque Country. History and profile ''El Diario Vasco'' was founded in 1934 by the Sociedad Vascongada de Publicaciones, led by ...

, 27 November 2014 (in Spanish) On 20 February 2014, Irureta signed a new two-year deal with the club, which was promoted to

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 ...

for the first time ever. He made his debut in the competition on 24 August aged 28, in a 1–0 home victory over

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, ...

Zaragoza

On 20 July 2016,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Irureta agreed to a two-year contract at

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

of the second tier. On 1 September of the following year, after losing his starting position to youth graduate Álvaro Ratón, he left.

Delhi Dynamos

Irureta moved abroad on 4 January 2018, joining

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 ...

franchise

Delhi Dynamos FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

. He made his debut in the competition three days later, in a 2–2 away draw against

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

La Unión Atlético

On 22 June 2022, Irureta was announced at La Unión Atlético.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irureta, Xabi 1986 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Ondarroa Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Real Unión footballers SD Eibar B footballers SD Eibar footballers Real Zaragoza players UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Villarrubia CF players Racing Murcia FC players Indian Super League players Odisha FC players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India