His 17-year senior career was solely connected with Athletic Bilbao for which he appeared in 348 La Liga matches over 16 seasons, scoring ten goals.

He made his first appearance with the club's B side on 9 September 1984, aged only 16, due to a strike by the professional players, and lasted 67 minutes in a 3–1 home win over UD Salamanca in the second division.

[5] From the 1990–91 campaign onwards, Urrutia became a very important first-team member, being a valuable midfield element with tackling and stamina skills and a perfect complement for the more attacking Julen Guerrero.

After just 25 total appearances from 2001 to 2003 – he only played one Copa del Rey game in the latter season – Urrutia retired at the age of 35 due to recurrent problems in his right knee, having taken part in 401 official matches.

[11] In the early days of his tenure he had appointed former teammate José Ángel Ziganda to become the coach of the reserves,[12] and six years later, still under the former's presidency, the latter was promoted to first-team duties;[13] he replaced another playing colleague of both men, Ernesto Valverde.