Afternoon all 👍🏼
I'm not sure if anyone knows much about the Spanish lower leagues but former Derby player & coach Iñigo Idiakez has been appointed as head coach of Real Unión Club Irún. Obviously the club has connexions with Derby County as former player & top scorer Steve Bloomer once lead the club to win the Copa Del cup competition back in the day.
Unfortunately there seems to be no link between Derby & Real Unión anymore as the owner now seems to be Unai Emery, the Aston Villa manager (according to Wikipedia). He is from the area which is very close to the club's ground.
I didn't realise that Idiakez was at Villa before his now appointment.
Interesting move & I will try to keep abreast of Real Unión's progress as the season moves on
https://twitter.com/REALUNIONCIRUN/status/1740414024917864813?t=n-vuVY-coWgqHl79lnzPgw&s=19
Idiakez
posted on 12/1/24
🐏🐏🐏🐏
posted on 12/1/24
His brother Imanol is currently manager of Deportivo Coruña, who are also down in the third tier at the moment, just a few places above Real Unión.
One of my mates is a huge Depor fan, so I tend to keep tabs on them to see how they're getting on. He reckons Imanol's a useless chancer.
Irún is one of the oldest teams in Spain. I think they won the Spanish Cup about 100 years ago, and much more recently also scored a famous cup win over Real Madrid. Don't remember exactly when that was, but definitely this century.
posted on 12/1/24
Yup, here is, back in 2008.
https://www.diariovasco.com/20081111/deportes/mas-futbol/real-madrid-real-union-20081111.html
posted on 12/1/24
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 2 hours, 7 minutes ago
His brother Imanol is currently manager of Deportivo Coruña, who are also down in the third tier at the moment, just a few places above Real Unión.
One of my mates is a huge Depor fan, so I tend to keep tabs on them to see how they're getting on. He reckons Imanol's a useless chancer.
Irún is one of the oldest teams in Spain. I think they won the Spanish Cup about 100 years ago, and much more recently also scored a famous cup win over Real Madrid. Don't remember exactly when that was, but definitely this century.
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Steve Bloomer was the manager when they won the Copa Del Ray
posted on 12/1/24
Jorv
posted on 13/1/24
Irun (predictive text makes that iTunes) is the start of the Camino del Norte. I was going to walk it this year but doing the via Francigena instead as I prefer Italian food to rural Spanish which is probably the worst on the planet.
English managers had a lot of influence on Spanish football, especially in Northern Spain. Athletico Bilbao won the Championship under an English manager playing a short passing. The style of play has become typically Spanish now.
posted on 13/1/24
Spart, I assumed undertaking the various Camino's and their equivalent were a form of pilgrimage and penance, rather than a gastronomic tour. But perhaps things have changed?
posted on 13/1/24
Orient 3 up at Pompey
posted on 13/1/24
comment by Jorvik (U1369)
posted 1 day, 1 hour ago
Steve Bloomer was the manager when they won the Copa Del Ray
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I imagined that might've been what you referred to but I couldn't be bothered to look it up.
@Spart-Ho - dunno what parts of rurl Spain you're referring to, but generally speaking the food along Spain's northern Atlantic seaboard is great - though I suppose it depends on your particular tastes
On the manager side, you're not wrong that perhaps the most enduring influence was in the north, but they were heavily involved in the birth of the game all around Spain. The oldest club in the country is Recreativo de Huelva, in the far south, which was founded by British expats working for the Rio Tinto mining company.
Real Madrid's very first manager AND first ever goalscorer in a competitive game (coincidentally also the very first clásico) was an Anglo-Irish Irish bloke called Arthur Johnson.