Francisco de Borja Agirretxu Barreiro

Francisco de Borja Agirretxu Barreiro (born 11 November 1971), known as Borja Agirretxu in Basque or Borja Aguirrechu in Spanish, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left back.

He began his career with Athletic Bilbao, and also had spells with Real Valladolid, Celta Vigo, and Compostela, amassing a total of 148 La Liga appearances, scoring once. Six years after leaving Compostela, he resurrected his career with two seasons at Leioa.

Career Athletic Bilbao

Agirretxu was born in Getxo in Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, and began his career in the youth teams of Basque giants Athletic Bilbao. He made his debut for Athletic Bilbao B during the 1986–87 Segunda División season, and was part of the team that was relegated the following season. However, he played a key role as they won their Segunda División B group in 1988–89 to earn promotion back to the second tier at the first attempt. Agirretxu helped the visitors keep a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw, and this performance convinced Rojo he should remain a member of the first team for the rest of the season, during which time he made 17 appearances. However, Rojo was sacked at the end of the season, and new coach Javier Clemente was unconvinced by Agirretxu's potential, so he was sent out on loan to Real Valladolid for the duration of the 1990–91 season. This proved to be something of a waste of time, as he was used just four times in all competitions during his loan spell. he tested positive for nandrolone, a banned anabolic steroid. He was immediately dropped by Celta, and at the end of the season was banned until the following December, meaning that he went almost a full year without playing. He started the match on the bench, being introduced as a substitute in place of Fabiano. He played 11 times that year, but couldn't prevent Compostela being relegated from La Liga.

Honours Athletic Bilbao B Segunda División B: 1988–89

Celta Vigo Segunda División: 1991–92 Copa del Rey runners-up: 1993–94

Career statistics