[7] Román Galarraga was born on 9 August 1921 in Deba, Gipuzkoa, and he began playing football for local teams, where he stood out as a forward, eventually having a contract to debut as a professional in Valencia in October 1936, aged just 15, but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War prevented this, being mobilized in 1938, playing football in the matches organized among the recruits.
Upon his return from military service in 1940, Galarraga was signed by SCD Durango of the Tercera División, with whom he played for one season before being signed by fellow third division side CD Logroñés, where he made his debut against Real Unión on 22 March 1942, which ended in a 5–1 win, and then left just three months later, playing his last match against SD Indautxu on 7 June, which ended in a 1–4 loss in the semifinals of the Amateur Cup.
[3] Galarraga began his managerial career in 1953 as a player-coach of Cultural, where he stood out for his bravery when it came to believing in youth footballers.
[5][6] He then signed for Logroñés, making his debut as the club's coach in a league match against Vitoria on 24 January 1960, which ended in a 1–3 loss.
[5] After brief second stints at Avilés (1971–72), Burgos (1972–73), and Alavés (1973–75),[5][6] achieving another promotion to the second division with the latter,[10] Galarraga returned to Logroñés for the third time, where he retired at the end of the 1975–76 season.