[6] The first account of him playing an official match is for North Durham against Sunderland (which had two future internationals) in February 1901 at Ashbrooke ground, which ended in a 31–3 loss, with Arzuaga scoring the three penalty points for his club.
In January 1902, he was decisive in a 5–5 draw against the powerful Northern of Northumberland, scoring all the points and achieving a try by taking the ball from the defender and crossing the line at full speed.
[6] The same reporter also noted that the Rockliff crowd, bewildered by his name, gave him the nickname "XYZ", the name of a famous racehorse still remembered in an annual race at Newcastle's Gosforth Park.
[6] In the club's annual dinner at the end of April 1902, his departure from the North East was imminent and as a result, he was presented with a gold medal for his efforts on the rugby field.
[5] When he returned to Bilbao, settling in San Sebastián, he did so with great knowledge about football, which was only beginning to take shape in Spain.
[9] In 1907, the best players from Athletic and Unión Vizcaino came together to form Bizcaya, which was specially created to take part in the 1907 Copa del Rey, and Arzuaga was elected into the team, forming a defensive partnership with his former Recreation Club teammate, Alfonso Sena of Vizcaino, which played a very important role in helping Bizcaya reach the final, and this time he started and nearly kept a clean-sheet, but they lost to Madrid once again, courtesy of a late goal from Manuel Prast.
On 25 May 1913, the 33-year-old Juan Arzuaga went down in history as one of the eleven footballers who played in the very first unofficial game of the Spanish national team at Estadio de Amute in Hondarribia.
[13] They faced a French national side represented by the USFSA, and it was Arzuaga (playing as a forward on the day) who netted an 85th-minute equalizer to salvage a 1–1 draw.