José Ramón Esnaola

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Esnaola and the second or maternal family name is Laburu.
Esnaola working with Betis.

José Ramón Esnaola Laburu (born 3 June 1946 in Andoain, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Football career

During his career Esnaola played for Real Sociedad and Real Betis, with 16 of his 20 professional seasons being spent in La Liga. In that level he appeared in 166 league matches with the former and 303 with the latter, for which he signed in 1973 for 12 million pesetas as the club was in Segunda División; in his first year the Andalusians returned to the top division as champions, and with the best defensive record in the competition.

In the 1977 final of the Copa del Rey, against another Basque side, Athletic Bilbao, Esnaola gained his only piece of silverware, in an epic final: 2–2 after regulation and 8–7 in the penalty shootout, where he stopped three shots and scored the winner, beating counterpart José Ángel Iribar;[1] Betis was relegated at the end of the following season.

Esnaola retired in 1985, at the age of 39. He then managed Betis in two brief spells, the first in 1990–91 which finished in top flight relegation. In 2007 he returned to the club, now as goalkeepers' coach; he was never a Spanish international, only receiving one callup whilst at Real Sociedad.

References

  1. ↑ "Iriondo: Siento una gran alegria y... un poco de pena" [Iriondo: I am extremely happy and... a little sorry] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 26 June 1977. Retrieved 22 February 2014.

External links