Iraia: I’d like to live soccer intensively

At 22 years of age, Iraia Iturregi is one of our most beloved players. When she was just 18 years old, she won her first Superliga, and now, after a one-year break in the United States, she returns with the same strength and determination to help achieve a fifth title for our club.
We had the opportunity to speak to her in Lezama and this is what she had to say:

How did your interest for football come about?

At home, there’s always been an air of football in the atmosphere. It was always the subject of conversation; we watched matches on television, and my cousin, who is six years older than I, was always around playing soccer with his friends. So, as soon as I was able to, I signed up at Lauro Ikastola to play indoor football with the boy’s team.

Did you face any difficulties in order to play?

The truth is I didn’t. On the contrary, they were all classmates of mine and I was just one more. They passed me the ball as they would any other member of the team.
It is true that in one match the rival team made things difficult for me considering they too had a girl in their team; Idoia Fernandez, who until last season played for Athletic B, but she’s not been called-up. The law wasn’t very clear when this happened and they warned us that if I played, they were going to challenge the match.
My team mates, their parents, and even the coach told me that it didn’t matter. That I was just one more player on the squad and that if they challenged it was all the same, that what was important was to play and have fun. We drew, but the opponents challenged and the match was given as a loss.
I think I was about nine years old, so imagine what one could think. I was very proud of my team and team mates, but, at the same time, I was also quite sad because I felt somewhat guilty for the defeat.

How many seasons did you play at Lauro?

I played indoor football for four seasons. A girl’s team was formed and it was four wonderful years.

And you move on to Sondika at age 14; was it an abrupt change?

Well, I actually began training with them when I was twelve years old. I couldn’t play official competitions, but I did play friendlies and tournaments, so the change was not that great. It is true that I was only fourteen and there were girls on the team that doubled my age, but the environment was phenomenal and I adapted rather quickly. I was only there a year and later we went on to the Leioa.

A great first season in Leioa, right? 29 goals in 28 matches…

Well, when we moved on to Leioa we had to play in the regional category and we had a great team. Surely there must have been another player with more goals on the team. The truth is that we played brilliantly and with the great team we had we were able to climb.

In the second season at Leioa, promotion…and on to Athletic

Yes. Overall it was a wonderful season, but the icing-on-the-cake was to move on to Athletic. We had heard about it for some time, but in the last match of the play-off for ascension I remember seeing Iribar and other Board members in the stands in Leioa. That brought us a bit more pressure, but we had a great match; we won the match with authority and we were able to climb to the Superliga. We couldn’t ask for more. In two years, two promotions and on top of that we went on to become part of Athletic.

How did you handle going from just another team to suddenly becoming part of Athletic and all the media pressure this entails?

We were doing swell in Leioa, but to don the Athletic jersey is a difficult feeling to explain. Press at the presentation, an audience at the trainings, newspapers constantly writing about us and most importantly the excitement that was generated; so much in us, the team as a whole, as in the people that came to see us play.
Training in Lezama was special, but, for example, the first time we played an official match, against Torrejón, to see 2000 people in Lezama; well, that was extra special. I didn’t feel especially nervous, but I was on a cloud. My life changed mostly in the day to day. I was only 17 years old and was yet in school and everybody there congratulated me, they showed me press clippings, talked about the matches, about other players, etc. The truth is the best way to describe the way I felt… like on cloud nine.

Did you save a lot of mementos from that period?

I have more things (press clippings, magazines…) from before becoming an Athletic member than from later. The first season I also began to keep things, but eventually gave it up some.
Sometimes I have looked back at press clippings to see a picture of a game or something specific and it reminded me of when we had to change under the Sondika stands because they didn’t give us a changing room, of the mud-filled grounds, and at least one sees that the effort has had its compensation and now we are where we are.

What did sporting the Athletic jersey in their first match in history mean to you?
Well, obviously it’s a great pride. Only a few of us have had that privilege and the honour, and I believe, with the passing of time, we will come to realize and appreciate this even more. We now see a-hundred-year-old, black and white pictures in Ibaigane of Athletic’s first players and in twenty or thirty year’s time I’ll surely value having been one of those privileged ones even more.

Your first goal with Athletic, on the fifth matchday against Oviedo Moderno, do you remember it?
No way; I don’t remember how it was. Nor am I a goal scorer that scores so many goals that she can’t remember, but I don’t remember that one.

How do you recall the first match in San Mamés on 30 March 2003 against Puebla?

It was unbelievable, but not just that day. A few days earlier we went to train in San Mamés, to get used to the pitch, and get to know the field of play. I had already been on the field in plain clothes but to go out and train I felt a truly special feeling.
However, the day of the match was the greatest. We agreed to meet two hours before the match in the vicinity of the ground and we saw how people were starting to gather. But, when we went out for the warm-up and we saw the amount of people in San Mamés we just couldn’t believe it. During the warm-up, whenever we passed by the Grandstand people would rise and applaud and when the match got underway, I can’t even begin to describe how we felt. It was like a dream come true.

And 15 days later, once again in San Mamés and Champions…

It’s just that those were three weeks of continuous surprises. After the Puebla match, that already had a large audience, came this match and, well, we thought the same people would come. But, when we saw the over 30,000 spectators, we didn’t know which way to go. Thank goodness we were able to complete the match with few difficulties and we could celebrate the title with all our fans. It was wonderful!
In sporting terms, you’ve won other awards, but this title is very special.

It certainly is. In San Mamés, with your people, the first title… Everything was perfect. You are right in that, for example, I have won a European title and played an Under-19 World Cup in Thailand, but they’ve got nothing in common. From a personal view, to win a title at the ground I’d always dreamed of playing, with the team of my heart, in front of my people… one just can’t ask for more.

What can you tell me about your first appearance in a European competition?

We knew of the German teams’ potential. But, well, we wanted to reach the last match with options and that’s how it was. We won the first two and were hammered by Frankfurt. But we were happy. On the one hand, we fulfilled what we had set out to do. Most probably they would have beaten us on most occasions, but maybe on that day we could have won. It didn’t happen, but we did try until the end.
On the other hand, people had the opportunity to see a Women’s team like the German, a professional team, and realize that we can achieve a very high level of soccer. People pointed out to me that at a fan’s level they liked the experience and certainly at our level it was very positive.

Definitely, since after that experience it hasn’t happened again.

That’s right. The following year we drew against Arsenal. We lost against the Swedish champion and saw that we were taking giant steps. It’s very important to see that the work and sacrifice of some moments serve to progress.

The hardest elimination, this year’s perhaps?

For me, yes. Each player feels it differently, but this summer’s elimination has been very hard for me. We were eliminated in the first round by only one goal, seeing that in the second round we had to face Arsenal, but that two teams advanced to the quarterfinals. Quite hard for me because I honestly thought we could reach the quarterfinals. And quarterfinals are something else. To be able to play a Champions two-leg qualifying round, even if we were eliminated there, was a clear goal to obtain, but it didn’t happen.

In your second season you managed a hat-trick against Hispalis. Did you keep the ball?

No way! My teammates kept insisting that I ask for the ball, but back then Hispalis is not like nowadays, a Sevilla team. They were a very humble club and I was embarrassed to ask for the ball. I come from a humble soccer background and I know what a ball means. So, I didn’t ask for it, but I do remember that match perfectly. Hopefully, I can score another and then I’ll try to keep the ball.

Very few cards on your record

Yes, considering I go after the ball quite hard, but always looking for it. Certainly, I get hit more than I hit.

How did you live the second title?

We faced the season as champions and therefore as favourites to regain the title. But we also had a great desire to demonstrate that we were the best and that we wanted to win. And we did it. We defeated Sabadell in Barakaldo and later played the last Liga match in San Mamés with the Liga already won.
I remember that after losing that match Iñigo was quite upset. We were already champions and perhaps unconsciously we allowed ourselves to lose the match in La Catedral. But, well, the main goal had been achieved; Champions once again. It was different from the first but just as wonderful.

And you win the third in Barcelona…

Yes, and that made it different. We won it with the people that accompanied us, and it’s especially important because it meant keeping the trophy in property, which very few teams have.

The title celebration was certainly different.

Yes, that’s right. We visited institutions, travelled on the lorry, were at the Town Hall balcony; all unforgettable. So many people supporting us were unthinkable years ago.

No matter how many titles are won, you have been the first.
Yes, that is true. Those of us that have had the luck of living this experience will get together in a few years and shed some tears remembering all the wonderful things we’ve lived. Hopefully there will be many more victories, but I don’t think there will ever be anything like the first Liga. Certainly for me it’s the most important. I’m extremely proud to have lived all this.

Then summer comes and things start to get complicated.

Of course! We were totally abandoned. We didn’t know anything. Iñigo and his team resigned when they saw that the president didn’t want to opt for Women’s soccer, and we saw the same thing. It was a horrible season. I am not in favour of forgetting things, but we are better off doing so, keeping what we had learned in such a bad year, and look ahead so that things like that don’t happen again.

The season ends and you decide to go to Florida.

It was quite clear to me. It was the right moment. If I was to leave, it was to be then not when I was 28 years old. Besides the offer was very good at all levels, especially allowing me to continue studying; we’d had a year of suffering and it was quite clear that the people that managed the club didn’t want us there. So, I didn’t think it over twice and went to Florida.

How was the experience?

Quite well, though there were some difficult moments. You arrive, a different country, different language, but you get used to it. In the end, I am glad I made the decision to go and I would definitely recommend this experience to all players who have the opportunity to do so.
However, it is hard and one should know this before going. I had the opportunity to renew my scholarship, but I wanted to stay in Bilbao, and here I am.

At the training level, are there many differences?

The game there is quite different which calls for more physical trainings. Three days a week, training without the ball, with everything based on physical workout, then another four with the ball.
Here, if we could train seven times a week we would improve significantly, mainly on the physical aspect, but we have to understand that people do study, work, and it just can’t be.

Haven’t you considered staying in the USA and trying to play in the Professional League?

When I told my coach there that I was considering returning to Bilbao, he did mention this possibility to me. The Professional League returns the following season, but I honestly don’t see myself with possibilities. The maximum number of foreign players is four per team and the League will have six teams, more or less.
In the end, some 20 to 25 foreign players will be able to enter, but I don’t see myself as one of them. At my 22 years of age, I don’t have a high enough level. Maybe I could enter, but I probably wouldn’t play much, and my priority is to play. So, I’ve come home and I’m delighted.

You’re only 22 years old. There is yet time to become a professional.

Hopefully! I would love this, mostly in order to live soccer with total intensity. This past year, in addition to training and playing, I also had to study and that was very hard.
Besides, leaving the economic aspect aside, I would like to be able to do it to prove just how far we can get. I myself have seen that training seven times a week one is able to improve considerably. And it would be nice to be completely focused in soccer to see just how far we can reach. I have no doubt that if we could live soccer in a professional way, we could reach the level of the best European clubs, since we don’t lack either the quality or the desire.

You return to Bilbao and play in the Copa.

Yes. I had stopped training in the United States a month before and although I was doing so on my own, it’s not the same. It wasn’t the first time that Iñigo had aligned me as a winger, and I tried to do my very best.

But you couldn’t qualify in the heat-round …

No. I’ve asked myself so many times the reason we always go out first, and certainly the most important, is that we have faced the competition as Liga champions and, whether we want to or not, the main objective of the leading teams is the Liga, which is the regularity tourney and the one that gives one the right to play in Europe. For this same reason, our rivals give their all in the Copa, seeing as they have no other options.
Levante, for example, is a club that spends a lot of money on players and when we played against them, they needed to win the Copa to justify that effort.
Besides, they know us very well, or we know each other very well, I would say. So, any minimal detail makes us to stay out.
Even so, I will sign, anytime, for us to continue winning the Superliga and that they take the Copa.

Is Athletic and Biscayan soccer prepared for the bad moments?

Most of the fans are very faithful, but I think that, for now, we have to continue fighting on top to try to attract as many people as possible. The season we placed fifth we noticed a dramatic drop in spectators and it’s clear that the higher you are, and if possible fighting for the top, the better, but at an overall level; the fans, media, institutions and most importantly creating a fondness among girls so that they love to play soccer. We have come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go, and it’s important to not stop and continue working hard; for example, the agreement with Artea is quite good and it’s going to help us a lot. We have to thank all the Board members and everyone that has worked in obtaining this agreement which was presented last week with Juan Manuel Delgado and Artea executives.

What is you first memory of Athletic?

When I was ‘little’ at school we began to live soccer, it was the around the time of Alkiza, Garitano, Valverde, Kuko and especially Julen, who suddenly appeared, and I think everyone began to notice him.
Later, I always noticed Joseba, perhaps because he played in the same position as I did, and besides he also joined Athletic when he was 17 years old.
Though it is true that when I was younger the player that I most liked was Bakero, who playing for Barça and I loved the way he played.

One last question, what’s your opinion about the Club’s website?

I love it, and it’s not to butter you up as I’m here speaking to you. For me it’s by far the best. I like to browse through webs, mainly of Women’s soccer, and there is no comparison with the pages of other Superliga clubs. When we get together with players from other teams and we talk about the subject or we consult something, they always tell us that our website is fantastic. Also in the United States I would show my teammates the website and they would be flabbergasted. Despite the fact that over there they follow women’s soccer on internet it’s got nothing to do with our website. Complete player records, former players, all the matches, goal scorers, live matches, minutes played, cards…
I can assure you that it’s great and I think it’s the best by far.

Thank you, Iraia.