Miguel de Andrés

Born in Ochagavía – Otsagabia, Navarre, de Andrés joined Athletic Bilbao's youth system, Lezama, in 1975, after reported interest from both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The Basques paid his previous club 400.000 pesetas, having to spend an additional 5 million if the player made his debut with the first team. De Andrés returned to his alma mater after two years with the reserves in the lower leagues and one season on loan to CD Castellón in the Segunda División, with the 21-year-old being awarded a chance in the main squad by Helmut Senekowitsch, formerly in charge of the Austria national side. He made his La Liga debut on 9 September 1979, in a 2–1 away defeat against UD Salamanca. Early into the 1980–81 campaign, the Austrian manager was fired after a 7–1 loss at Real Madrid, but de Andrés kept his place in the starting XI. He would eventually start in every league match he appeared for Athletic, although he rarely played in his preferred position, sweeper, being mostly deployed as a defensive midfielder; under Javier Clemente, he contributed 55 games and four goals as the team won back-to-back domestic leagues. On 9 February 1983, as Bilbao went on to win the first of its two leagues, de Andrés, who possessed a powerful shot with both legs, scored twice from long range in a 5–2 home win over RCD Español during a heavy snowfall at the San Mamés Stadium. The following year, he started in the Copa del Rey final as his team completed the double after the 1–0 win against…

De Andrés represented Spain at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, playing all the matches and minutes in an eventual group-stage exit (three draws). Manager José Santamaría used him in the defensive sector alongside Agustín Gajate of Real Sociedad. Even though he made the list of 40 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup on home soil, with Santamaría again as coach, de Andrés did not make the final cut. After Miguel Muñoz was appointed and Spain qualified for UEFA Euro 1984, he made his full debut on 18 January 1984 in a 0–1 friendly loss with Hungary in Cádiz; three months later, he appeared ten minutes in the match with Denmark (2–1 in Valencia), but was overlooked for the final squad which eventually finished second in France.

Athletic Bilbao

La Liga: 1982–83, 1983–84 Copa del Rey: 1983–84 Supercopa de España: 1984 (Athletic Bilbao were awarded the trophy as winners of the double)