%2c_Bestanddeelnr_929-1073_(Churruca).jpg) Churruca in 1977 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Ignacio Churruca Sistiaga | ||
| Date of birth | (1948-01-28)28 January 1948 (age 77) | ||
| Place of birth | Zarautz, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1964–1967 | Zarautz | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1976 | Sporting de Gijón | 274 | (51) |
| 1967–1968 | →Ensidesa (loan) | ||
| 1976–1980 | Athletic Bilbao | 85 | (19) |
| 1980–1982 | Hércules | 60 | (17) |
| 1982–1983 | Lorca | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 428 | (87) | |
| International career | |||
| 1971–1977 | Spain | 16 | (0) |
| 1975–1976 | Spain Olympic | 2 | (0) |
| 1978 | Basque Country | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1983–1984 | Arenas | ||
| 1989–1990 | Chiclana | ||
| 1990–1991 | Portuense | ||
| 1991–1992 | Cádiz B | ||
| 1992–1993 | Algeciras | ||
| 1993–1994 | Peña Deportiva | ||
| 2004–2005 | Portuense | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
José Ignacio Churruca Sistiaga (born 28 January 1949) is a Spanish formerfootballer who played as aforward.
He played 336La Liga games and scored 73 goals, representingSporting Gijón,Athletic Bilbao andHércules. With Athletic, he was a runner-up in theCopa del Rey andUEFA Cup, both in 1977. He wascapped 16 times bySpain between 1971 and 1977.
Born inZarautz in theBasque Country, Churruca began his career atSporting de Gijón. He was part of their team that won theSegunda División in 1969–70, in a forward line also featuring the likes ofQuini.[1] On 29 December 1974, he scored ahat-trick in a 5–1La Liga win at home toGranada, with Quini getting the other two goals; Churruca's opener came after 30 seconds with his other goals in the 6th and 24th minutes.[2]
In August 1976, after Sporting's relegation, Churruca transferred back to his home region to joinAthletic Bilbao, having played an important part in their elimination from the previous season'sCopa del Generalísimo.[3] The transfer fee was 22 millionSpanish pesetas, with Sporting also having options to buy or loan certain Athletic players.[4] The fee went towards the construction of Sporting'sMareo academy, which was completed in 1978.[5] In his first season, he helped the club to thefinal of theUEFA Cup, scoring in a 2–1 home win over compatriotsBarcelona in the quarter-final first leg, and away toMolenbeek of Belgium in the semi-final;[6][7] however, the final was lost toJuventus on theaway goals rule. Athletic also reached thefinal of the newly renamed Copa del Rey, with Churruca scoring in a 5–0 win overSevilla atSan Mamés in the quarter-finals;[8] he played the full 120 minutes of the final againstReal Betis and scored his attempt in thepenalty shootout, though his team lost it 8–7.[9]
Churruca signed for a two-year deal for free forHércules in May 1980.[10] At its expiration and with his club relegated, he moved toLorca Deportiva in theSegunda División B.[11] In December 1982, he publicly called manager Jesús Moreno Manzaneque an autocrat for coming to a restaurant where he was dining with his wife to inform him that he had broken curfew by 15 minutes, subsequently being dropped from the team and made to train alone.[12]
Churruca made his international debut forSpain on 20 February 1971 in a 2–1friendly win away toItaly inCagliari. He was praised for his performance byMundo Deportivo, who highlighted his duel with fellow debutantAldo Bet.[13] He totalled 16 appearances over the next six years, with no goals or major tournaments, though he played both legs of the 3–1 aggregate loss toWest Germany in theUEFA Euro 1976 quarter-finals, which formed part of thequalification.[14][15]
On 2 March 1978, Churruca played in the first match of the unofficialBasque Country team since theSpanish transition to democracy. The game finished as a goalless draw against theSoviet Union inBilbao, with the opponents fielding the likes ofOleg Blokhin.[16]