Fathers and sons with a red-and-white past (and present)

It is more than likely that, at some point in their pasts, the footballers mentioned in this article said to their fathers: ‘Dad, I want to be like you!’, and they eventually were. The red-and-white history includes four examples of fathers and sons who got to play for Athletic Club’s first team in official matches.

Aside from the case of the González de Careaga saga (the father, Enrique, won the Cup in 1902 in his only game in the team before becoming president (1903-06), and his son Alfonso managed at the end of the decade of the 20 two Cups and two Leagues), four father-son couples have starred in the zurigorri family story:

Aitor Larrazabal

Gaizka Larrazabal

Aitor and Gaizka Larrazabal
Athletic Club’s first team player Gaizka Larrazabal, currently playing with the lions, and his father are the most recent example.

Aitor, Gaizka’s father, is one of the most historic names in our club. Being the eighth-highest appearance maker for Athletic Club, he played a total of 445 fixtures during the 14 campaigns in which he was part of the first team squad, from 1990 to 2004. The left back stood out because of his powerful set-pieces and managed to score nothing less than 43 goals playing as a defender.

15 years after Aitor retired (2004), Gaizka Larrazabal has taken the baton from his father, making his first-team debut against Getafe CF in the second league match this season (2019-20). From then on, Gaizka has appeared in ten official matches with Athletic, nine league fixtures and one Copa fixture.

Carmelo Cedrún

Andoni Cedrún

Carmelo and Andoni Cedrún
Coincidentally, they both not only had a place in Athletic Club’s first team, but also occupied the goalkeeping slot.

Carmelo Cedrún, born in Durango (December 1930), was one of the most illustrious goalkeepers in the country in the 50s and 60s, playing a total of 402 fixtures as a lion during 14 seasons between 1950 and 1964. Within those years, he clinched three Copa titles (1954-55, 1955-56 and 1957-58) and won a league championship (1955-56).

Carmelo is the footballer with the second-most consecutive fixtures played wearing the red-and-white shirt, 132, only behind Williams, with 146 and still counting. San Mamés paid a homage to him on December 1st, the day Williams surpassed his record.

17 years later, Andoni Cedrún (Durango, 1960) took the baton from his father as a red-and-white goalkeeper. Andoni appeared in 30 matches as a red-and-white player between 1980 and 1984, succeeding in winning the league title in the 1982-83 campaign and a double of league championship and Copa the following season, 1983-84.

Isidoro Urra

José Manuel Urra

Isidoro and José Manuel Urra
Isidoro had a longer and more fruitful career as an Athletic player than his son José Manuel, nine seasons and seven titles, as opposed to the two seasons played by the latter and a single title won by him, but both defended the badge playing in the first team.

Isidoro Urra (Sestao, 1906 – Santurtzi, 2006) appeared in 124 fixtures between 1935 and 1946 wearing the red-and-white shirt. As a midfielder, he scored 12 goals. He won two league championships (1935-36 and 1942-43), four consecutive Copas (between 1942 and 1945) and two Regional Championshipe (1938-39 and 1939-40).

In 1966, 20 years after his retirement, his son José Manuel made his debut with Athletic Club, where he played for two seasons. Despite his brief footballing career, Urra witnessed how the lions lifted the cup in the 1968-69 season. During the two campaigns he played for Athletic, Jose Manuel appeared in seven fixtures, all of them in La Liga.

Luis Uribe, eskuman, Pentland eta Chirri IIrekin batera

Ignacio Uribe

Luis and Ignacio Uribe-Echevarria
The Uribe-Echevarrias can be proud of having won a long list of titles with Athletic, reaped during five seasons played by Luis and ten by Ignacio, father and son respectively.

Luis Uribe-Echevarria (Urduliz, 1906-1994), also known as Volea, made his debut for Real Madrid in 1929, as he was studying medicine there. Once he had finished his studies, he returned to Bilbao to play for Athletic, under the management of Fred Pentland, appearing in a total of 46 matches between 1929 and 1934. During those years, he scored 26 goals and lifted two consecutive league trophies (1930-31 and 1932-33), three Copas in a row (1930-31, 1931-32 and 1932-33) and four Regional Championships, one after another (1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33 and 1933-34).

Nineteen years later, in 1953, his son Ignacio made his debut for Athletic Club’s first team, where he stayed until 1963, as a member of the legendary squad called ‘Los Once Aldeanos’ back in the 50s. During the ten seasons he defended the club’s badge, he appeared in 211 fixtures and scored 69 goals. His list of awards includes one LaLiga title clinched in 1956 and the three Copas Athletic lifted in 1955, 1956 and 1958.