Luis Urquiri

Luis Urquiri Uraín (1 September 1906 – 1 May 1979) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Deportivo Alavés and Atlético Madrid,

He later became a manager, achieving 4 promotions to the first division with four different clubs, Deportivo de La Coruña, CD Málaga, Real Zaragoza, and Real Oviedo, doing it so in just five years (1947–1952).

Playing career Luis Urquiri was born on 1 September 1906 in Deba, Gipuzkoa, and began his footballing career at in 1923, at the age of 17, with whom he played for two years until 1925, when he was signed by Deportivo Alavés. With Alavés, he played a total of 50 top division matches in three seasons between 1930 and 1933, the year in which the club got relegated back to the second division. including in the decisive match against Valencia CF in the last day of the league on 28 April (2–0). In the following season, Atlético won league again, but this time Urquiri did not play a major role in this triumph as he only played four La Liga matches before being replaced by Manín of Racing de Santander.

In 1940, Urquiri joined Imperio CF, which at the time served as a subsidiary of Atlético Aviación, and he then went on to play for both Alicante CF and Hércules CF before retiring in 1943, at the age of 37. He also returned to Imperio of Tercera División for one season in 1943–44, in which the club participated in the Copa del Rey for the first time, beating CD Toledo (9–0), RSD Alcalá (1–2), and CD Acero in the previous qualifying rounds to be eliminated by Albacete Balompié in fifth round (1–4 on aggregate).

As a coach, Urquiri specialized himself in achieving promotions to the first division, doing so in back-to-back seasons with Deportivo de La Coruña (1947–48) and CD Málaga (1948–49). At the beginning of the 1948–49 season with Málaga, he hired to play as goalkeeper, Manuel González as a defender, who went from the most insulted player in La Rosaleda Stadium, "González, the criminal defender of Granada", to become "the honorable Gonzalez"; and the third on the list of reinforcements for Urquiri was Castor Elzo, a veteran who had helped him in the promotion of Coruña. A defeat to the very modest Gimnástica de Tarragona ended up complicating things more because it served as a direct promotion to Gijón, so everyone became nervous due to the colossal economic effort made. In total, Urquiri coached 27 matches in Zaragoza, 16 wins, 5 draws, and 6 losses for an unbeaten ratio of 22.22%, which is the fourth best among Zaragoza coaches only behind Arsenio with 21.05% (1977–78), Rafael Iriondo with 18.75% (1971–72), and Marcelino García Toral with 16.67% (2008–09), all of which also went on to achieve promotion to the first division. The then Zaragoza goalkeeper Candi later described the coach Urquiri as a "serious, practical, he did not like nonsense. He worked hard to make such a different squad get along, something that is fundamental in football then and now".

Real Oviedo and Celta de Vigo On 15 August 1951, Urquiri replaced De las Alas to take charge of Real Oviedo, which he guided to a streak of 563 minutes without conceding a single goal in the 1951–52 Segunda División, the club's second-best record only behind the 578-minutes in 1971–72 season. This streak proved to be crucial in leading his side to yet another promotion to the first division in 1952 (this time as champions), his fourth promotion in just five years, and this time he remained as coach to finally return to La Liga for the first time since his days at Hércules. On 5 April 1953, Oviedo scored its 700th goals in La Liga in a 6–3 win over Real Valladolid.

In 1953, Urquiri took a break in his career with Oviedo to briefly coach Celta de Vigo, which was immersed in the relegation zone to the Second Division.

For the 1955–56 season, Urquiri was once again hired by Celta after Antonio Barrios, who already had an agreement with Celta, left for Atlético Madrid. In total, he coached 105 La Liga games with a balance of 35 wins, 17 draws, and 53 losses, with his teams scoring 165 goals, but conceding 222.

Outside of football In October 1950, Urquiri appeared as a petitioner to the industry delegations of Alava in respect of setting up an industry of engine rectifications.

Death Urquiri died on 1 May 1979, at the age of 72.

Honours Player Deportivo Alavés Segunda División: 1929–30

Atlético Aviación Campeonato Regional Centro: 1939 La Liga: 1939–40, 1940–41 Spanish Super Cup: 1940

Coach Real Oviedo Segunda División: 1951–52