David Villabona Explained

David Villabona
Fullname:David Villabona Echalecu
Birth Date:5 December 1969
Birth Place:Irun, Spain
Position:Midfielder
Youthclubs1:Real Sociedad
Years1:1986–1989
Caps1:30
Goals1:3
Years2:1987–1990
Caps2:42
Goals2:1
Years3:1990–1993
Caps3:59
Goals3:1
Years4:1993–2001
Caps4:120
Goals4:11
Totalcaps:251
Totalgoals:16
Nationalyears1:1987
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:1986–1988
Nationalcaps2:10
Nationalgoals2:1
Nationalyears3:1988–1989
Nationalcaps3:3
Nationalgoals3:0
Nationalyears4:1989–1990
Nationalcaps4:5
Nationalgoals4:1
Nationalyears5:1990–1991
Nationalcaps5:5
Nationalgoals5:0
Nationalyears6:1991–1992
Nationalcaps6:5
Nationalgoals6:1

David Villabona Echalecu (born 5 December 1969) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mostly as a central midfielder.

He represented both Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao in his professional career, amassing La Liga totals of 221 matches and 13 goals over 15 seasons.

Villabona was a member of the Spain side that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[1]

Club career

Villabona was born in Irun, Gipuzkoa. In a career blighted by injuries, he started playing professionally with Real Sociedad, but only made seven La Liga appearances in his first three seasons, being an undisputed starter in 1989–90 as he helped the Basques to a final fifth place.

Subsequently, Villabona joined neighbours Athletic Bilbao,[2] being regularly used at the beginning but very little in his final campaign, 1992–93, facing stiff competition from Josu Urrutia and youngster Julen Guerrero. His most steady period was lived at Racing de Santander, being a very important midfield element for the Cantabrians; due to recurrent injuries, however, he only totalled 12 games from 1997 to 2001 (none in the latter season as they finished second-bottom), and retired at the age of 31.[3] [4] [5]

Honours

Spain U23

1992[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: La Roja de 1992, nuestra medalla de oro Olímpica. 1992's La Roja, our Olympic gold medal. Antena 3. Spanish. 3 July 2012. 13 July 2017.
  2. News: Athletic Club-Real Sociedad: jugadores en los dos bandos. Athletic Club-Real Sociedad: players on both sides. Diario AS. Spanish. 9 May 2014. 13 July 2017. 28 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170828143148/https://futbol.as.com/futbol/2014/05/09/album-02/1399644404_476184.html. dead.
  3. News: El esperado retorno de Billabona. Billabona's unexpected return. El País. Mauro. Muriendas. Spanish. 4 January 1999. 18 May 2023.
  4. News: La nueva vida de Billabona. The new life of Billabona. El Diario Montañés. Jon. Agiriano. Spanish. 20 January 2008. 18 May 2023.
  5. Web site: Billabona, el oro de Barcelona 92 que no mira el grupo de WhatsApp que tiene con Guardiola. Billabona, the gold in Barcelona 92 who does not check the WhatsApp group he has with Guardiola. Relevo. José Luis. Guerrero. Salvador. Fenoll. Spanish. 25 December 2022. 18 May 2023.
  6. News: Supervivientes de oro. Golden survivors. El País. Juan. Morenilla. Spanish. 25 February 2007. 24 May 2018.