José Luis Mendilibar

José Luis Mendilibar

150px Mendilibar in 2007
Personal information
Full name	José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria
Date of birth	(1961-03-14) 14 March 1961
Place of birth	Zaldibar, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Eibar (coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1982	Bilbao Athletic	105	(14)
1982–1985	Logroñés
1985–1993	Sestao	275	(34)
1993–1994	Lemona	28	(4)
Managerial career
1994–1996	Arratia
1996–1997	Athletic Bilbao (youth)
1997–1999	Baskonia
1999–2000	Bilbao Athletic
2000–2001	Baskonia
2001–2002	Aurrerá
2002–2004	Lanzarote
2004–2005	Eibar
2005	Athletic Bilbao
2006–2010	Valladolid
2011–2013	Osasuna
2014	Levante
2015–	Eibar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Mendilibar and the second or maternal family name is Etxebarria.

José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of SD Eibar.

Playing career

Mendilibar was born in Zaldibar, Basque Country. He enjoyed an average career as a player, never representing a club in La Liga and successively playing for Bilbao Athletic, CD Logroñés, Sestao Sport Club and SD Lemona.

Mendilibar was a key player in midfield for Sestao during the club's second division years – playing eight years with the club in that level and overall appearing in nearly 300 matches – narrowly missing out on promotion in 1987 under Javier Irureta.

Coaching career

After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao, before being appointed head coach of UD Lanzarote and then SD Eibar. His success with the latter in the second division, on a very limited budget, translated into a narrow miss on promotion in 2005.

Mendilibar then returned to Athletic, the club he supported as a child, but was sacked after just a few months, as the Lions ranked last with just one win in nine matches.

For the 2006–07 season Mendilibar moved to Real Valladolid, achieving top flight promotion in his debut campaign (with 88 points) and retaining division status from 2007 to 2009. On 1 February 2010, after a 1–1 home draw against UD Almería, he was sacked from his post.

Slightly less than one year later Mendilibar returned to active, replacing sacked José Antonio Camacho at CA Osasuna: his first game in charge was a 4–0 home win against RCD Espanyol. On 3 September 2013 he was relieved of his duties, after three losses in as many matches to kickstart the new season.

On 29 May 2014 Mendilibar was appointed at Levante UD, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second season. On 20 October, after only one win in eight games, and no goals scored and 14 conceded from four home outings, he was relieved of his duties.

On 30 June 2015 Mendilibar returned to Eibar, replacing Gaizka Garitano.

External links

• José Luis Mendilibar profile at BDFutbol
• José Luis Mendilibar manager profile at BDFutbol