José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born March 14, 1961 in Zaldibar, Basque Country) is a former Spanish football midfielder and the current coach of Real Valladolid.

Playing career

Mendilibar enjoyed an average career as a player, never representing a club in the first division; successively, he played for Bilbao Athletic, CD Logroñés, Sestao Sport Club and SD Lemona.

After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao, before being appointed head coach of UD Lanzarote, and then SD Eibar. His success with the latter, on a very limited budget, translated into a narrow miss on promotion in 2005.

Mendilibar then returned to Athletic, the club he supported as a child, but was sacked after just a few months, as the Basque ranked last with just one win in 10 matches.

In 2006-07, Mendilibar moved to Real Valladolid, achieving promotion in his debut campaign (with 88 points), and retaining topflight status from 2007-09.

References

1. Mendilibar gets Athletic chance; UEFA.com, 21 June 2005

External links

• BDFutbol player profile
• BDFutbol coach profile