José Luis Mendilibar

José Luis Mendilibar

Personal information
Full name	José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria
Date of birth	14 March 1961 (1961-03-14)
Place of birth	Zaldibar, Spain
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Osasuna (coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979–1982	Bilbao Athletic	105	(14)
1982–1985	Logroñés
1985–1993	Sestao	276	(34)
1993–1994	Lemona
Teams managed
1994–1996	Arratia
1996–1997	Athletic Bilbao (youth)
1997–1999	Baskonia
1999–2000	Bilbao Athletic
2000–2001	Baskonia
2001–2002	Aurrerá
2002–2004	Lanzarote
2004–2005	Eibar
2005	Athletic Bilbao
2006–2010	Valladolid
2011–	Osasuna
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Mendilibar and the second or maternal family name is Etxebarria.

José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961 in Zaldibar, Basque Country) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder, and a current coach.

Playing career

Mendilibar enjoyed an average career as a player, never representing a club in La Liga. Successively, he played for Bilbao Athletic, CD Logroñés, Sestao Sport Club and SD Lemona.

He was a key player in midfield for Sestao during the club's second division years - playing eight years with the Basque club in that level, and overall appearing in nearly 300 matches - narrowly missing out on promotion in 1987 under Javier Irureta.

Coaching career

After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao, before being appointed head coach of UD Lanzarote, and then SD Eibar. His success with the latter in the second division, on a very limited budget, translated into a narrow miss on promotion in 2005.

Mendilibar then returned to Athletic, the club he supported as a child, but was sacked after just a few months, as the Lions ranked last with just one win in 10 matches.

In 2006–07, Mendilibar moved to Real Valladolid, achieving top flight promotion in his debut campaign (with 88 points), and retaining division status from 2007–09.

On 1 February 2010, after a 1–1 home draw against UD Almería, Mendilibar was sacked from his post. Slightly less than one year later he returned to active, replacing sacked José Antonio Camacho at CA Osasuna. His first game in charge was a 4–0 home win against RCD Espanyol.

External links

• Osasuna official profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol player profile
• BDFutbol coach profile
• Transfermarkt profile