José María Echevarría

Early career

In 1935, the 15-year-old Echevarría played for the San Ignacio Catholic Action team in a tournament that was contested by several religion-related teams, such as the Catechesis de Santurce, or the Catholic Action teams of Las Arenas and Erandio; he helped his side to a third-place finish after having led until the sixth matchday. He then played in another tournament, which was only contested by teams from Getxo and Leioa, and which used a single-match elimination system, with Echevarría going on to change teams up to eight times, playing the final with Puerto, which he helped to a 4–1 win over Arsenal de la Cadena. In the following year, he once again joined the San Ignacio Catholic Action team, this time in the youth category, but his career there was interrupted by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July. In November 1937, shortly after Francisco Franco's troops took over Biscay, Athletic Bilbao organized an amateur tournament that was only open to local teams composed of players aged between 15 and 19, as a means to showcase the best young players in the region, so that Athletic could rebuild their squad, which had been hindered by the War. In order to enter the tournament, Echevarría and his friends formed a team named Getxo, but the new municipal authorities did not allow them to register independently and forced them to join the already existing SEU de Guecho team, which they did, although they ended up not wearing its uniform, as they…

On 12 January 1941, Echevarría earned his first (and only) international cap in a friendly match against Portugal in Lisbon, coming off the bench in the 38th minute and conceding two goals in an eventual 2–2 draw. He played alongside Bilbao teammate Juan José Mieza and Isaac Oceja. Echevarría was also selected five times to represent the Biscay team.

José María Echevarría was born on 30 October 1920 in Getxo, Biscay, as the third and only son of the four children of Hilario Echevarría y Goitia (1888–1940), a native of Bermeo, and Eugenia Ayestarán y Arrieta (1894–1950), a native of Algorta. He was baptised in the following week, on 7 November, in the parish church of San Nicolás de Bari, Algorta. From the age of 6 to 14, Echevarría attended the San Ignacio schools, where he completed his primary education, after which he began studying accounting. He began to play football with his friends at the San Ignacio school, where he gradually developed into a goalkeeper, playing against teams from other schools, such as Lamiako and La Plaza de Algorta, and where he quickly earned the nickname 'Pellejoduro' ("Hard skin") due to his courage and disregard for his physical integrity. Echevarría grew up as a fan of CD Getxo, founded in 1927, so he regularly attended the Campo Municipal de Fadura to watch the club's first team training sessions, and during the 1934–35 season, the team coach began to allow him to participate, always acting as ball boy or goalkeeper, blocking shots on goal from the likes of Luis Bergareche, who had scored the first-ever La Liga goal for Athletic Bilbao in 1929.

His illness got worse, so the club's doctor, Juan Arróspide Basabe, recommended him to the Tablada sanatorium, where he began his incessant attempts to heal himself, so that he could rejoin the Athletic team, but despite their best efforts, doctors were unable to cure him. In April 1943, while he was hospitalized in Tablada, Athletic was crowned league champions of the 1942–43 La Liga, and thanks to the three matches that he played at the start of the season, he was officially a member of the team's winning squad. His sanatorium was located in Madrid, which hosted the 1943 Copa del Generalísimo final between Madrid and Bilbao, who won the title with a goal from Telmo Zarra; Echevarría watched the game.