Xabi Irureta

Not to be confused with Javier Irureta.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Iruretagoienaand the second or maternal family name is Arantzamendi.

Xabi Irureta

Personal information
Full name	Xabier Iruretagoiena Arantzamendi
Date of birth	(1986-03-21) 21 March 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth	Ondarroa, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Real Unión
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2006	Real Unión	2	(0)
2006–2007	Aurrerá
2007–2009	Eibar B	48	(0)
2009–2016	Eibar	205	(0)
2016–2017	Zaragoza	17	(0)
2018	Delhi Dynamos	7	(0)
2018–2020	S.S. Reyes	48	(0)
2020–2021	Villarrubia	12	(0)
2021–2022	Racing Murcia	34	(0)
2022–2023	La Unión Atlético	31	(0)
International career
2014	Basque Country	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:52, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

Xabier 'Xabi' Iruretagoiena Arantzamendi (born 21 March 1986), commonly known as Irureta, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

He spent most of his professional career with Eibar, 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, Biscay, Irureta made his senior debut with local Real Unión in the 2005–06 season, in the Segunda División B. In summer 2006, he moved to amateurs CD Aurrerá Ondarroa also in his native Basque Country.

In July 2007, Irureta joined SD Eibar, being initially assigned to the reserves in the Tercera División. ^[1] He played his first game as a professional on 30 May 2009, starting in a 3–0 Segunda División away loss against Xerez CD, ^[2] and made a further three appearances during the campaign as the side suffered relegation after finishing in 21st position. ^[3]

Irureta was definitely promoted to the main squad in July 2009, ^[4] being named first choice ahead of Zigor Goikuria. In 2012–13, 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. ^[5]

On 20 February 2014, Irureta signed a new two-year deal with the club, ^[6] which was promoted to La Liga for the first time ever. ^{[7] [5]} He made his debut in the competition on 24 August aged 28, in a 1–0 home victory over Real Sociedad. ^[8]

Zaragoza

On 20 July 2016, free agent Irureta agreed to a two-year contract at Real Zaragoza of the second tier. ^[9] On 1 September of the following year, after losing his starting position to youth graduate Álvaro Ratón, he left. ^[10]

Delhi Dynamos

Irureta moved abroad on 4 January 2018, joining Indian Super League franchise Delhi Dynamos FC. ^[11] He made his debut in the competition three days later, in a 2–2 away draw against Chennaiyin FC. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of match played on 15 March 2018 ^{[13] [14]}

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Real Unión	2004–05 [15]	Segunda División B	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
Eibar	2007–08 [15]	Segunda División	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2008–09 [15]	Segunda División	4	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2009–10 [15]	Segunda División B	26	0	1	0	0	0	27	0
	2010–11 [15]	Segunda División B	32	0	1	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	37	0
	2011–12 [15]	Segunda División B	33	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	35	0
	2012–13 [15]	Segunda División B	34	0	6	0	6 [lower-alpha 1]	0	46	0
	2013–14 [15]	Segunda División	39	0	0	0	—		39	0
	2014–15 [15]	La Liga	33	0	0	0	—		33	0
	2015–16 [15]	La Liga	4	0	4	0	—		8	0
	Total		205	0	12	0	12	0	229	0
Zaragoza	2016–17 [15]	Segunda División	17	0	0	0	—		17	0
Delhi Dynamos	2017–18 [16]	Indian Super League	7	0	1	0	—		8	0
Career total			231	0	13	0	12	0	256	0

1. Appearances in Promotion Play-offs

References

1. La permanencia y que algún jugador suba al primer equipo, objetivos del Eibar B (Survival and promotion of the odd player to the first team, Eibar B's objectives); El Correo, 5 August 2007 (in Spanish)
2. El Xerez se paseó y acaricia el ascenso a Primera división (Xerez went sightseeing and caress promotion to Primera); Marca, 30 May 2009 (in Spanish)
3. "Una regeneración completa, o casi, para una nueva etapa" [Complete regeneration, or nearly, for a new spell] (in Spanish). Gara. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
4. «Lo mejor de los porteros del Eibar es su gran predisposición al trabajo» ("The best of Eibar's goalkeepers is their willingness to work"); El Correo, 30 July 2009 (in Spanish)
5. 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, 27 November 2014 (in Spanish)
6. Xabi Irureta renueva por dos temporadas (Xabi Irureta renews for two seasons); SD Eibar, 20 February 2014 (in Spanish)
7. Borja Viguera, Xabi Irureta y Garitano, los tres triunfadores (Borja Viguera, Xabi Irureta and Garitano, the three winners); Marca, 9 June 2014 (in Spanish)
8. Lara seals dream start for Eibar; ESPN FC, 24 August 2014
9. Xabi Irureta defenderá la portería zaragocista (Xabi Irureta will defent the zaragocista goal); Real Zaragoza, 20 July 2016 (in Spanish)
10. Xabier Irureta y el Real Zaragoza ponen fin a su relación contractual (Xabier Irureta and Real Zaragoza end their contractual relationship); Real Zaragoza, 1 September 2017 (in Spanish)
11. "ISL 2017: Stuttering Delhi Dynamos rope in Spanish keeper Xabi Irureta". News18 India. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
12. "ISL 2017–18: Chennaiyin FC 2–2 Delhi Dynamos – Late strike by Guyon Fernandez denies win for Super Machans". Yahoo! News. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
13. Xabi Irureta at Soccerway
14. Xabi Irureta at FootballDatabase.eu
15. "Irureta: Xabier Iruretagoiena Artzamendi". BDFutbol. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
16. "Xabi Irureta". Flash Score. Retrieved 26 April 2018.

External links

• Xabi Irureta at BDFutbol
• Xabi Irureta at Futbolme (in Spanish)