José Antonio Arzak Iriondo was born on January 12, 1943 in San Sebastián. He made his first competitive appearance for Real Sociedad against Ourense. The game came on 16 September 1962, and ended in a 6-1 victory. At that time, Real played in Second Division and ‘Pela’, as he was affectionately known, was one of the stars of that era. He was among those heroes of Puertollano, an unforgettable moment in our history. He took the txuri urdin team into the European competition, but never played a game.
Until his retirement in 1975, Arzak played 340 games and scored 70 goals in the txuri urdin jersey. He was president of the Federación Guipuzcoana de Fútbol between 1979 and 1985. We say goodbye to one of our legends, a football player who helped build the team that we know today.
On Friday, a minute’s silence in memory of José Antonio Arzak will be held at the Reale Arena ahead of the meeting against Granada.
