Born in Alonsotegi, Biscay, Goikoetxea began playing football with local Arbuyo before joining Athletic Bilbao in 1973 where, after starting out at the reserve side, he soon established himself in the senior team squad.

[5] Maradona compared the sound he heard to that of wood breaking[6] and, in the aftermath, English journalist Edward Owen coined the phrase "Butcher of Bilbao" to describe Goikoetxea,[5][6] a nickname which stayed with him for the rest of his career.

[7] Two seasons earlier, Goikoetxea had severely injured Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster, leaving him with a serious right knee injury from which the German never fully recovered.

[14] Goikoetxea became a coach two years after retiring, starting to work at club level in 1996 and going on to be in charge of UD Salamanca (twice),[15][16] SD Compostela, CD Numancia (two spells),[17][18] Racing de Santander[19] and Rayo Vallecano.

[21] In June 2007, Goikoetxea joined Alicante-based Hércules CF in the second tier,[22] being released at the end of the campaign after being suspended by the club for implying its internal structures "stank".

[23] In late February 2013 he was appointed coach of Equatorial Guinea,[24] being dismissed in January 2015 just three weeks before the start of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations due to poor performance in friendlies, which included a loss to a lower league side in Portugal.