Tomas Agirre Lekube


Tomas Agirre Lekube , was a footballer from Bilbao in the Basque Country in northern Spain, who played as a midfielder.

Career

He began his football career at CD Getxo, a team which gained steady progression though the minor leagues of Basque football. In 1935 he joined Arenas Club de Getxo which was playing in La Liga where he played until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Some sources claim he then travelled to France where he played for the newly formed Nîmes Olympique.
In 1937, when the Basque Country was invaded by fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War, he joined in the Basque national team for its tour of Latin America from 1937 to 1938. Towards the end of 1938 he joined Club Deportivo Euzkadi which played the Primera Fuerza league in Mexico. The following year he joined Club Asturias also in Mexico, after which became a football coach.

Personal life

Agirre was the sixth of ten children born to his parents, Teodoro Agirre Barrenechea-Arando and Bernardina Lekube Aramburu. He got married in 1957 to Begoña Erkiaga Lejarraga. His brother José Antonio Agirre, also a footballer with Athletic Bilbao, went on to become the first President of the Basque Country.