Iñaki Sáez turns 77
Iñaki Sáez turns 77
One of the key professionals in the development of our youth football and player for 13 seasons turns 77 today
Today is the 77th birthday of Iñaki Sáez, one of the lions who has been a landmark both on the pitch as a footballer and on the benches as a coach of Athletic Club. The player from Bilbao is one of those who has worn the red-and-white shirt more times in official matches (338 matches in 13 seasons), and he has also been a coach in 18 seasons, either in the first team (107 matches) or in lower categories and amongst the youngest players.
As a player, Sáez joined Athletic Club in 1962, from Barakaldo. He made his debut on 16 September of that year. Among his achievements, two Cups won in 1969 and 1973 stand out, being in this last one the one in charge of raising the trophy as captain. The 1969 title, in his words, ‘served to change our generation. We began to believe in ourselves. Saez, a right back, was known for his speed and positioning, as well as for his crosses that reached the back line. He scored eight goals in the campaigns that the red-and-white wore.
After his retirement, Athletic offered him the chance to be in charge of the youth team, starting his great work on the bench, which led to the vast majority of players who were later champions in the 80s. Sáez soon became coordinator of Lezama and coached Bilbao Athletic on different occasions: 1976-1980, 1982-83, 1987-1991. These stages placed him right now as the coach with most matches (290) in the history of Bilbao Athletic (290 in 8 campaigns).
He was the coach of the first team in three different times. In the first of these, replacing Senekowitsch in the 1980-81 season, he left the team in seventh place in the league. Then, in the 1985-86 season, he achieved his best position, qualifying the team for UEFA, after replacing Javier Clemente. In the last stage (1990-91) he managed to save the team after taking charge of it in a difficult situation.