José Ramón Esnaola Laburu (born 30 June 1946) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

At that level, he appeared in 166 league matches with the first club and 303 with the second, for which he signed in 1973 for 12 million pesetas as it was in Segunda División;[1] with the former, he started initially as backup to Adolfo Arriaga, but won first-choice status as he became severely ill after shattering his pancreas during a game against UP Langreo.

[2] In Esnaola's first year, the Andalusians returned to the top division as champions, and with the best defensive record in the competition.

In the 1977 final of the Copa del Rey, against another Basque side, Athletic Bilbao, he conquered his only piece of silverware in an epic final: 2–2 after regulation and 8–7 in the penalty shootout, where he stopped three shots and scored the winner, beating counterpart José Ángel Iribar;[3][4] Betis were relegated at the end of the following campaign.

[6] Esnaola was never a Spanish international, only receiving one callup whilst at Real Sociedad.