José María Echevarría

José María Echevarría Ayestarán (30 October 1920 – 25 March 1966) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Athletic Bilbao and Spain in the early 1940s. Echevarría was one of Athletic's most important players in the post-Civil War period in which the club was rebuilding its squad. He was baptised in the following week, on 7 November, in the parish church of San Nicolás de Bari, Algorta.

Echevarría grew up as a fan of CD Getxo, founded in 1927, so he regularly attended the Campo Municipal de Fadura to watch the club's first team training sessions, and during the 1934–35 season, the team coach began to allow him to participate, always acting as ball boy or goalkeeper, blocking shots on goal from the likes of Luis Bergareche, who had scored the first-ever La Liga goal for Athletic Bilbao in 1929.

In the following season, in 1941–42, Echevarría started in all the matches, both in the league and the cup, playing a total of 36 consecutive matches, including the 1942 Copa del Generalísimo final on 21 June, which ended in a 3–4 loss to Barcelona after extra-time. Three months later, on 6 September 1942, in a friendly against Real Oviedo, he fractured his rib in a collision with Antonio Chas, and during the convalescence from his injury, he caught tuberculosis, so even though he was able to play a further three matches for the club in October 1942, the illness soon took its toll, even fainting once in the San Mamés locker room, and therefore, he never again stepped onto the field. He played alongside Bilbao teammate Juan José Mieza and Isaac Oceja.

Echevarría was also selected five times to represent the Biscay team.

Later life His illness got worse, so the club's doctor, Juan Arróspide Basabe, recommended him to the Tablada sanatorium, where he began his incessant attempts to heal himself, so that he could rejoin the Athletic team, but despite their best efforts, doctors were unable to cure him. In April 1943, while he was hospitalized in Tablada, Athletic was crowned league champions of the 1942–43 La Liga, and thanks to the three matches that he played at the start of the season, he was officially a member of the team's winning squad. His sanatorium was located in Madrid, which hosted the 1943 Copa del Generalísimo final between Madrid and Bilbao, who won the title with a goal from Telmo Zarra; Echevarría watched the game.

Death Echevarría died in Leza, Álava, on 25 March 1966, at the age of 88.

Legacy In 1948, the former national coach José María Mateos described him as a "formidable goalkeeper" who had a "short but brilliant career". His teammate Raimundo Lezama later stated that Echevarría's "main qualities were his blocking of the ball, his punching clearance, and the difficult, yet improbable, saves he made".

Honours Bilbao Athletic Biscay Championship Champions (1): 1939

Athletic Bilbao La Liga Champions (1): 1942–43 Runner-up (1): 1940–41 Copa del Rey: Runner-up (1): 1942