Born in
Guernica,
Biscay, Iriondo arrived at
Basque giants
Athletic Bilbao in 1940, from
Atlético Tetuán. He made his
La Liga debut on 29 September in a 2–2 away draw against
Valencia CF and, during his 13-year spell with the club, would form an historic attacking partnership with
Agustín Gaínza,
José Luis Panizo and
Telmo Zarra, winning the
1942–43 league and four
Copa del Generalísimo trophies. Iriondo took part in 332 competitive games for Athletic and scored 116 goals, joining neighbouring
Barakaldo CF in 1953. After a couple of months, however, he returned to the top division with
Real Sociedad, retiring at the end of the
1954–55 season. He continued in his native region the following years, with
Deportivo Alavés and Barakaldo. In the
1968–69 campaign, Iriondo returned to Athletic Bilbao as head coach, helping the side to the 11th place in the league and the
domestic cup. He would also manage them for two full seasons in the mid-1970s, interspersed with stints at
RCD Español,
Real Zaragoza and
Real Sociedad. but
suffered top-flight relegation the following season. After 15 matches at
Rayo Vallecano in 1980 (
meeting the same fate) he returned to Betis for one final campaign in
1981–82, being one of three managers to help the club finish sixth in the top tier and
qualify for the
UEFA Cup for the first time ever. ==International career==