Andoni Iraola is latest member of Gipuzkoa elite coaching crew in Premier League

Gipuzkoa is the smallest of Spain’s 50 provinces, a rich, hilly stretch of land in the Basque country between the Bay of Biscay and the French border. Most of its 720,000 inhabitants live in the San Sebastian urban area, one of the most beautiful in Europe.

The province’s leading football team is Real Sociedad, whose manager Imanol Alguacil is from Gipuzkoa, just like his predecessor Asier Garitano. They worked with Xabi Alonso when he was manager of Real Sociedad B. Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Alonso is now in charge of Bayer Leverkusen and often linked with a move to England’s Premier League.

If he does move, he will be in familiar company: 20 per cent of the Premier League’s managers are from Gipuzkoa. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta started out at Antiguoko, a junior club who often practised on San Sebastian’s famous La Concha beach. Alonso also started out there where he played with legendary striker Aritz Aduriz.

Aston Villa’s Unai Emery is also from Gipuzkoa. He too started out at Real Sociedad, as did Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui, who rose to become Spain, and, briefly, Real Madrid manager. The latest Premier League manager from Gipuzkoa is Andoni Iraola, who was announced as the new Bournemouth coach following the parting of ways with Gary O’Neill, who had done an excellent job leading Bournemouth to survival.

Gipuzkoa-born Julen Lopetegui guided Wolves to Premier League safety last season. Getty

Iraola also played for the Antiguoko youth club before joining Athletic Club in Bilbao, where he was in the first team for 12 years. Leeds United tried to sign him in January but he was refused permission from his then club Rayo Vallecano, which he steered to promotion in 2021 before two highly creditable