Gaizka Garitano

Gaizka Garitano Aguirre (born 9 July 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of Athletic Bilbao.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Garitano and the second or maternal family name is Aguirre.
Gaizka Garitano
Personal information
Full name Gaizka Garitano Aguirre
Date of birth (1975-07-09) 9 July 1975
Place of birth Bilbao, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Athletic Bilbao (manager)
Youth career
1989–1993 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1998 Bilbao Athletic 112 (24)
1996–1997 → Lleida (loan) 14 (0)
1997–1999 Athletic Bilbao 0 (0)
1998–1999 → Eibar (loan) 18 (1)
1999–2001 Ourense 70 (8)
2001–2005 Eibar 146 (15)
2005–2008 Real Sociedad 81 (9)
2008–2009 Alavés 29 (2)
Total 470 (59)
National team
2003–2007 Basque Country 5 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2010 Eibar (assistant)
2010–2012 Eibar B
2012–2015 Eibar
2015 Valladolid
2016–2017 Deportivo La Coruña
2017–2018 Bilbao Athletic
2018– Athletic Bilbao
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Over 11 seasons, he amassed Segunda División totals of 315 matches and 37 goals, mainly with Bilbao Athletic and Eibar. In La Liga, he represented Real Sociedad during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 campaigns.

In 2009, Garitano entered coaching with Eibar, and became the first team coach in 2012. He won consecutive promotions in his first two years, and reached the top division with the club in 2014.

Playing career

Garitano was born in Bilbao, Basque Country. Grown through the ranks of Athletic Bilbao, he would however never make it past the reserves, his sole first team appearance being as a late substitute in a UEFA Cup win away to UC Sampdoria in 1997,[1] also serving loans with modest clubs including SD Eibar.

In the summer of 1999, Garitano joined Segunda División B team CD Ourense. He finally settled at Eibar in Segunda División – his second spell – and, in the 2004–05 season, as captain, led the side to a fourth place in the league, with chances of an historic La Liga promotion until the last matchday.[2]

Garitano would soon make his first top-flight appearances with Real Sociedad, already aged 30,[3][4] his debut coming on 27 August 2005 in a 0–3 away defeat in the Basque derby.[5] After three seasons in San Sebastián, during which he was an important first-team member but endured relegation in 2007, he joined neighbours Deportivo Alavés, retiring in June 2009 at 34 after their descent into the third division.[6]

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring, having appeared in more than 300 matches in Spain's second level, Garitano moved into coaching, serving as assistant at also freshly relegated Eibar. After a stint in charge of the reserves he was appointed first-team manager for the 2012–13 campaign,[7] which included the elimination of Athletic Bilbao – the previous year's finalists – from the Copa del Rey,[8] and ended in promotion.[9]

Garitano repeated the feat the following season, topping the table and leading Eibar to the club's first ever top flight promotion.[10] In June 2014, he renewed his contract.[11]

In 2014–15, the team collected 27 points from the first 19 games but, after only eight in the following 19, was finally relegated back in spite of a 3–0 home win over Córdoba CF in the last matchday (they would later be reinstated at the expense of Elche CF).[12] Subsequently, Garitano presented his resignation, stating he did not merit to continue.[13]

On 6 July 2015, Garitano was appointed at the helm of Real Valladolid, replacing fired Rubi.[14] On 21 October, as the side ranked dead last, he was sacked.[15]

On 10 June 2016, Garitano replaced Víctor Sánchez as Deportivo de La Coruña manager.[16] Eight months later, with the team inside the relegation zone, he was sacked.[17]

In summer 2017, Garitano was appointed head coach of Bilbao Athletic, replacing José Ángel Ziganda who had been promoted to manager of the first team.[18] He remained in that position until 4 December 2018, when it became his turn to be handed the senior role after Eduardo Berizzo, who had followed on from Ziganda's one-year stint, was also dismissed after an even shorter spell.[19][20]

On 4 April 2019, Garitano signed a contract extension at the San Mamés Stadium to run until 30 June 2020.[21] On 1 June of the following year, having led the side to their first Spanish Cup final since 2015, he further renewed his link.[22]

Personal life

During his playing spell with Eibar, Garitano studied to become a journalist before beginning his sports coaching courses.[23][24] He is the son of Angel Garitano (also known as 'Ondarru') who served for many years as assistant to Mané at managerial appointments including Alavés and Athletic Bilbao,[24][25][20] and the nephew of former Athletic and Real Zaragoza midfielder Ander Garitano;[23][25] they are distantly related to Juan Urquizu who also served Athletic as player and manager,[24] while Gaizka's mother's family members include another man who performed both roles, Koldo Aguirre.[24]

Garitano is not related to fellow Basque manager Asier Garitano, who also had playing spells with Bilbao Athletic and Eibar.[26]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 19 July 2020
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Eibar B 25 May 2010 6 June 2012 76 21 22 33 67 95 −28 027.63 [27]
Eibar 6 June 2012 9 June 2015 135 57 37 41 162 128 +34 042.22 [28]
Valladolid 6 July 2015 21 October 2015 10 2 3 5 10 15 −5 020.00 [29]
Deportivo La Coruña 10 June 2016 27 February 2017 27 5 9 13 32 44 −12 018.52 [30]
Bilbao Athletic 7 June 2017 4 December 2018 55 28 14 13 99 46 +53 050.91 [31]
Athletic Bilbao 4 December 2018 Present 72 31 20 21 88 69 +19 043.06 [32]
Total 375 144 105 126 458 397 +61 038.40 —

Honours

Manager

Eibar

References
  1. Tomati, Franco; Valente, Enrico; Grimaldi, Filippo (17 September 1997). "Samp, che brutto scivolone" [Samp, what a bad slip]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. De la Cuesta, Eneko (19 June 2005). "Un 'milagro' llamado Eibar" [A 'miracle' called Eibar] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. De la Cuesta, Eneko (21 June 2005). "Garitano, primer fichaje" [Garitano, first signing] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. "La Real ya llora en plata" [Real already cry in silver]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 18 June 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  5. "El Athletic arranca comiéndose a la Real" [Athletic start by eating Real up]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 August 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  6. Echaluce, Alberto (3 July 2009). "Gaizka Garitano negocia ser el segundo entrenador del Eibar con Viadero" [Gaizka Garitano negotiates being Eibar's assistant manager with Viadero]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  7. "Gaizka Garitano, nuevo entrenador del Eibar" [Gaizka Garitano, new Eibar manager]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 6 June 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  8. "El Eibar elimina al Athletic de la Copa del Rey" [Eibar eliminate Athletic from the Cup] (in Spanish). EITB. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  9. "El Eibar vuelve a Segunda cuatro años después" [Eibar return to Segunda four years later]. Marca (in Spanish). 30 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  10. "Un golazo de Jota Peleteiro lleva al Eibar a Primera división" [Jota Peleteiro wonder goal takes Eibar to First division]. Marca (in Spanish). 25 May 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  11. Chesters, Heath (21 June 2014). "Consecutive promotions earns manager Garitano a new deal at Eibar". Inside Spanish Football. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  12. "Official statement". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  13. "Garitano se marcha del Eibar: "Un entrenador que desciende no tiene potestad para seguir"" [Garitano leaves Eibar: "A coach that gets relegated does not have the right to continue"]. Marca (in Spanish). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  14. "Gaizka Garitano llevará el timón" [Gaizka Garitano will take the reins] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  15. Rodríguez, Héctor (21 October 2015). "El Valladolid oficializa la destitución de Gaizka Garitano" [Valladolid make dismissal of Gaizka Garitano official]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  16. "Gaizka Garitano, nuevo entrenador del Real Club Deportivo" [Gaizka Garitano, new manager of Real Club Deportivo] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  17. "Struggling Deportivo La Coruña sack coach Garitano after four straight defeats". The Indian Express. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  18. "Lezama technical chart". Athletic Bilbao. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  19. "Replacement of Eduardo Berizzo". Athletic Bilbao. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  20. Lowe, Sid (11 December 2018). "Athletic Bilbao would rather be relegated than compromise their values as battle at bottom looms". ESPN. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  21. "Gaizka Garitano's renewal". Athletic Bilbao. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  22. Velasco, Juanma (1 June 2020). "Athletic Club coach Gaizka Garitano signs one-year contract extension". Marca. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  23. "El sobrino de Ander es el capitán del mejor Éibar" [Ander's nephew captains best Éibar]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 12 April 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  24. Fernández, José M. (11 June 2016). "Alma de versolari, corazón de futbolista" [Soul of a wordsmith, heart of a footballer]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  25. Encinas, Mikel (25 January 2007). "Una familia con el corazón partido" [A family with a broken heart]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  26. Bosch, Josep (22 September 2016). "El gran duelo de los Garitano" [The great battle of the Garitanos]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  27. "Tercera División". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
    "Tercera División". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  28. "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2012–13". BDFutbol. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
    "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2013–14". BDFutbol. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
    "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2014–15". BDFutbol. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  29. "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2015–16". BDFutbol. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  30. "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2016–17". BDFutbol. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  31. "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2017–18". BDFutbol. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
    "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2018–19". BDFutbol. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  32. "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2018–19". BDFutbol. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
    "Garitano: Gaizka Garitano Aguirre: Matches 2019–20". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  33. "El Eibar, campeón de Segunda por primera vez en su historia" [Eibar, Segunda champions for the first time in their history]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 7 June 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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