David Villabona

David Villabona Echalecu (born 5 December 1969) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as a central midfielder.

He represented both Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao in his career, amassing La Liga totals of 221 matches and 13 goals over 15 seasons.

Villabona was a member of the Spain side that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Club career Villabona was born in Irun, Gipuzkoa. In a career blighted by injuries, he started playing professionally with Real Sociedad, but only made seven La Liga appearances in his first three seasons, being an undisputed starter in 1989–90 as he helped the Basques to a final fifth place.

Subsequently, Villabona joined neighbours Athletic Bilbao, being regularly used at the beginning but very little in his final campaign, 1992–93, facing stiff competition from Josu Urrutia and youngster Julen Guerrero. His most steady period was lived at Racing de Santander, being a very important midfield element for the Cantabrians; due to recurrent injuries, however, he only totalled 12 games from 1997 to 2001 (none in the latter season as they finished second-bottom), and retired at the age of 31.

Honours Spain U23 Summer Olympic Games: 1992