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Aitor Iruarrizaga Amarika (born 29 July 1968), known as Aitor Iru, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the goalkeeping coach of Athletic Bilbao.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aitor Iruarrizaga Amarika | ||
| Date of birth | 29 July 1968 | ||
| Place of birth | Bilbao, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Athletic Bilbao (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | Barakaldo | 57 | (0) |
| 1991–1993 | Bilbao Athletic | 45 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | Compostela | 75 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Mérida | 0 | (0) |
| 1996–1998 | Almería | 41 | (0) |
| 1998–2002 | SD Eibar | 47 | (0) |
| 2002–2006 | Amurrio | 18 | (0) |
| Total | 283 | (0) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2008–2009 | Bilbao Athletic (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2011–2017 | Athletic Bilbao (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Bilbao Athletic (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2018– | Athletic Bilbao (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Iru was born in Bilbao in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, and began his career with Biscayan club Barakaldo. After two seasons with Barakaldo in Segunda División B, he joined local giants Athletic Bilbao in 1991. He spent two seasons playing for the B team in the Segunda División, but never appeared for the first team, and left to sign for second tier rivals Compostela in 1993. In his first season, Compostela achieved promotion to La Liga for the first time in their history after winning a playoff. He continued to be first choice in 1994–95, making 37 top flight appearances as Compostela avoided relegation. He joined fellow first division club Mérida in the summer of 1995, but made only 4 appearances during his sole season with the club, all in the Copa del Rey.[2]
Mérida were relegated in 1996, and Iru left the club that summer to sign for Almería in the Segunda División. He spent two seasons with Almería, in the first of which they were relegated to Segunda División B. He joined Eibar in 1998, where he played in the second tier for four seasons before signing for Segunda División B side Amurrio in 2002, where he finished his career.[2]
Iru returned to Bilbao Athletic in 2008, becoming their goalkeeping coach,[3] a position he held for one season. He made another return to the club in 2011, this time becoming goalkeeping coach for the first team, replacing Luis Llopis.[1][4] In July 2017, Cuco Ziganda, who had until then been coaching the B team, replaced Ernesto Valverde as Athletic manager.[5] Ziganda brought Imanol Etxeberria with him as goalkeeping coach so he and Etxeberria swapped places, Iru returning to the B team.[6]
In December 2018, B team coach Gaizka Garitano followed Ziganda's path by being promoted to first team manager, replacing Eduardo Berizzo.[7][8] Like Ziganda, he chose to bring his goalkeeping coach with him, meaning Iru was promoted to the first team once again, replacing Carlos Kisluk.[1][9] As of March 2021, Iru remains in post,[1] now working under Marcelino, who replaced Garitano in January of that year.[10]
Iru's son Ander is also a goalkeeper, who has played for Bilbao Athletic since 2016.[11][12] Ander was coached by his father during the latter's tenure as Bilbao Athletic goalkeeping coach in 2017–18. Aitor's brother Patxi Iru, older by almost six years, was also a goalkeeper, representing both Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna in La Liga.[13][14] Patxi's son Jon is a midfielder,[15] currently playing for Haro Deportivo in Segunda División B.[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barakaldo | 1989–90 | Segunda División B | 19 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 44 | 0 | |||
| Total | 57 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | ||
| Athletic Bilbao B | 1991–92 | Segunda División | 8 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | 37 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
| Compostela | 1993–94 | Segunda División | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 1994–95 | La Liga | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 41 | 0 | ||
| Total | 75 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 82 | 0 | ||
| Mérida | 1995–96 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | |
| Almería | 1996–97 | Segunda División | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 37 | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | Segunda División B | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| SD Eibar | 1998–99 | Segunda División | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 24 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 16 | 0 | |||
| 2000–01 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2001–02 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Total | 47 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| Amurrio | 2002–03 | Segunda División B | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 283 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 307 | 0 | ||
- 1.^ Appearances in the 1993–94 Segunda División promotion playoff
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