A century since José Antonio Agirre’s Athletic debut

On November 27, 1921, José Antonio Agirre y Lekube (born in Bilbao on March 6, 1904) at just 17 years old, made his Athletic Club debut in a Regional Championship fixture against SD Deusto, the match ended 1-1.

In the Basque Country, Agirre is better known for his life as a politician rather than for his exploits as a footballer. On October 7, 1936, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, he became the first Lehendakari (president of the Basque government) in history.

However, before all that, José Antonio lived the dream of most young Bilbainos – he played for Athletic Club. From 1921/22 and 1925/26 seasons, he made 43 appearances in red and white, 11 of them official (seven in Regional Championships and four in the Copa), and in which he scored five times. In the other 32 friendlies he bagged another 12 goals.

He mostly played as a forward, with it being said he could play anywhere across the top. As a player, he had great vision and possessed a lot of skill, but he stood out most of all for his work ethic.

Aguirre was also part of Mr. Fred Pentland’s Copa winning squad in the 1922/23,  the tenth Copa in the Club’s history. Although he was not involved in the 1-0 victory over Club Deportivo Europa in the final, he did take part in the quarter-final against Real Madrid and the semi-final against Real Sociedad.

He also won the Regional Championship medals in 1922/23 (he did not make an appearance in the Championship that season, but was awarded a medal for being part of the squad that won the Copa), 1923/24 and 1925/26.

José Antonio made his final appearance for the Rojiblancos on the October 18, 1925, in a 2-0 victory against Acero Club de Olabeaga, a match in which he also managed to score.

Agirre had initially combined his footballing career with studying a law degree at the University of Deusto, but he was called up for military service upon graduating in 1925. This is when he decided to hang up his football boots in order to take over his family business, Chocolates Bilbainos, and become a fully-fledged lawyer.

His brief stint as a lawyer was followed by a move into politics. In 1931, at just 27 years old, Agirre became the mayor of Getxo. In 1933, he was elected to Spanish parliament representing his province Bizkaia and in 1936 he became the Basque Country’s first Lehendakari.

He remained in office for barely nine months, Francisco Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship forced the entire Basque government to go into exile, along with many other democrats and republicans.

Throughout his political career, football, and sport in general, were never too far from the Lehendakari’s thoughts. The most symbolic example of this was his help in forming the Basque national team during the Civil War. 

The side was set up to tour Europe and beyond in order to raise public awareness about what was occurring in the Basque Country during the Civil War and procure funds for the Basque refugees who were spread out across the world.

Lehendakari Agirre lived out the rest of his life in exile and died in Paris in 1960 having never returned home. He left behind a lasting legacy of commitment to democracy and freedom. Agirre’s experiences were described in his book ‘De Gernika a Nueva York pasando por Berlin’ (In English the book’s title is ‘Escape Via Berlin: Eluding Franco in Hitler’s Europe’).