Football on the beach with Arteta and love of reading – Iraola in his own words

The Football Interview is a new series in which the biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for bold and in-depth conversations about the nation’s favourite sport.

We’ll talk about defining moments, career highs, and personal reflections, as well as motivation and mindset. The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player.

Andoni Iraola is now one of the most popular properties in football after taking over as manager of Bournemouth in June 2023.

Iraola started his football education at renowned Basque club Antiguoko alongside Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta – now managers of Real Madrid and Arsenal respectively.

He reached two Copa del Rey finals, a Europa League final, and qualified for the Champions League during his four seasons as Athletic Club captain.

After moving into management, he worked at AEK Larnaca, Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano before moving to England and guiding Bournemouth to their highest Premier League points tally in a season.

In recent months, the 43-year-old has been linked with Real Madrid, Tottenham, and Manchester United, which highlights how much his stock has grown.

Andoni Iraola: Football was my hobby and it has become now a professional thing. Although I still adore the game, I believe a small amount of it changes once you start working. You see football like an ideal world when you are out of the game and you would love to work there, and when it becomes your everyday work, it’s just a workhorse.

Kelly, do you still adore it?

Andoni: Yes .

What is your earliest football-related memory, Kelly?

Andoni: I think probably my best memories are on the beach in San Sebastian. We used to play there alongside our classmates. I don’t know if we started five, six or seven years old, and you can play every two weeks]because of the tide]. Because there isn’t a beach nearby, you can’t play on one weekend. And the next one there is the beach, and you can. We used to play there every time. It’s lovely memories.

Kelly, do you recall the first team you played for?

Andoni: I started with the school team and then the first proper team was a neighbourhood team. I then moved to Athletic Club when I was 16 to prevent my parents from believing that I would play football. It came quite late. Evidently, I was decent. I was good, but until I was 16, I didn’t really realise that this can be a little bit more than just your hobby and maybe I have a chance.

Kelly, do you recall the time you said, “Yes, I can have a chance”?

Andoni: Yes . It’s incredible because I played with Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta when we were seven, eight, and nine. We are more or less the same age, playing sometimes against each other because I was in a school and they were in other schools when we were playing on the beach. Then, almost 40 years later, after we played together in a small club in Antiguoko, we are still able to see each other on the same fields of play.

Kelly: Are there any managers in particular that have had a big impact on your career?

Andoni: Yes, Ernesto Valverde is especially important in my situation because he was the one who brought me to Athletic Club when I was 16 years old. In the under-18s he was the manager, and he was also my manager when I was in the second team at Athletic Club. He was the first to offer me the opportunity to make my debut. Even after that, he was my manager when I left the club around 13 years later – he came back after managing other clubs and has been really influential in my career and today still is our manager. My team, Athletic Club, is one of which has had the biggest impact on my career.

Kelly: You’ve mentioned Valverde. Who else would I ask for three if I could?

Andoni: I’ve had very good managers. I’ve had Marcelo Bielsa for two seasons, and a lot of people have gotten in touch with him right now. He is someone that watches the game in a different way, and I think it’s very useful when you are going to transition to the managerial career. Although I’ve never had the experience of Carlo Ancelotti as a manager, I’ve always enjoyed it. For someone who has been so brilliant, has won so many things in big clubs, he is very normal when you speak with him, when you face him. I’ve always felt good about this person.

Kelly: You’ve managed and played in a number of different countries, but which one would you say had the biggest impact on you as a manager?

Andoni: I’ve been taking the train to San Sebastian alone since I was 10 or 11 years old. After school, I took a bus to training, and after I finished training my father came to take me. My parents have always been working, both of them. I am used to moving myself since I was young, which has been good for my independence. I was 16 when I moved, and I had to relocate. I was living alone which is not the easiest thing. But I believe it has helped me.

Kelly: Did you have any brothers or sisters?

Andoni: No .

Kelly: Who did you play football with growing up?

Andoni: When you attend school, you have breakfast, lunch, and then have two hours of free time in Spain. Some people go home, and then they come for the afternoon and evening classes, so it was two halves of the day. Between, I used to play football constantly. I couldn’t go back home so I stayed there playing football.

What would you have done if you hadn’t played football professionally or managed one?

Andoni: I started two careers. I’m not finished yet! I started engineering – too ambitious because I was already playing football. I completed my career, but I didn’t get to the end.

Kelly: How do you escape football?

Andoni: It’s quite simple for me. I have my wife and two kids and they are not much into football. When I leave my job, I return home, where we occasionally discuss football. It’s very good for me. My wife makes many plans when I take a day off!

Kelly: Your family have travelled around with you. Do they matter if you have them with you?

Andoni: My family is very important. They make a lot of sacrifices. I am going from country to country to the best clubs I have the opportunity to go, and they have to come with me. I am very clear that they couldn’t help me accomplish this. If they tell me one day ‘ I want to go back home’, I am leaving. We’ll return to our homes. I know there will be a moment in my career when I will have to not be the protagonist, when my kids are older and I won’t be the boss any more. I’ll be content and we’ll return home, and I’ll be the back-up man. I know this moment will arrive.

What would you do for yourself if your wife didn’t make plans for your day off? Kelly

Andoni: I live in a place for nature and walks – Bournemouth is one of the best places in the country.

Kelly, I’ve read you enjoy reading a lot. Is that a way you escape?

Kelly: What are you most proud of?

Andoni: Probably related to how well-educated I am right now in all the clubs I’ve attended. As a player, as a manager, if I go back to every club it would be a lovely moment to see good people. I’ve had a good fortune. The most important thing when I come to a new club is this. I hope everyone has positive things to say about me when I leave. When I come back 10 years later, I still have relationships with people inside the clubs. I hope this will continue in all the clubs where I’ve been.

Kelly: You want to be known as a good manager, but a good person first?

Andoni: Yes, you won’t always succeed. Even in places that it’s not going to work, I hope I leave with good relationships.

Kelly, tell me something about yourself that will surprise me.

Andoni: This is the most difficult one. I engage in fairly routine activities. People get surprised with how I go on holiday, for example. We rent a car and travel in the city whenever we go on vacation, but occasionally we don’t know where to stay. We go day to day, with my wife and the kids. I like traveling to these places with less of a fixed plan and a little more open mind.

Kelly: So you like living a normal life?

Andoni: Quite a bit normal.

Kelly: If you could only achieve one more thing in your career, what would it be?

Andoni: Football-wise?

Kelly: Whatever… go where you want with it.