Josu Urrutia

Urrutia was born in Bilbao, Biscay, and was a product of the youth academy of Athletic Bilbao based at Lezama. He made his first appearance with the club's B side on 9 September 1984, aged only 16, due to a strike by the professional players, and lasted 67 minutes in a 3–1 home win over UD Salamanca in the Segunda División. Urrutia appeared once for the first team during the 1987–88 season, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Sporting de Gijón, then took part in a further five La Liga games in the next while also experiencing a relegation followed by a promotion with the reserves. He began 1989–90 still registered with the latter but eventually broke into the former, scoring his first goal for them on 1 April 1990 to help to a 2–2 home draw with Real Valladolid which was played at neighbouring Real Sociedad's ground, Atotxa Stadium. From the 1990–91 campaign onwards, Urrutia became a very important first-team member, being a valuable midfield element with tackling and stamina skills and a perfect complement for the more attacking Julen Guerrero. He appeared in 30 matches during 1997–98, as the Basques qualified for the UEFA Champions League as runners-up. After just 25 total appearances from 2001 to 2003 – he only played one Copa del Rey game in the latter season – Urrutia retired at the age of 35 due to recurrent problems in his right knee, having taken part in 401 official matches.