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Iribarren’s coaching experience includes serving as technical director and head coach for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL1/USL2) from 2003-05 and head coach of Chatham College’s (Pa.) women’s team from 2001-03, as well as a number of posts at the high school and youth levels. Iribarren’s Riverhounds teams went 35-16-4 overall, including a USL2-best 17-2-1 regular-season mark in 2004.
Iribarren enjoyed an 17-year playing career that included stints in Argentina, Ecuador an the U.S. He began his career in 1986 with Estudiantes (Argentina), which he helped to the Torneo Metropolitano championship in 1888-89 and the SuperCopa title in 1990.
He spent the 1991 season with Liga Deportiva Universitaria in Ecuador and helped that club to the Tomeo Ecuatoriano championship that season. He then returned to Estudiantes for three more seasons (1991-94), when it again won the Tomeo Clausura championship in 1992, before moving on to Belgrano (Argentina) from 1994-96. While with Estudiantes, Iribarren played against current Crew star and reigning MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who was then with cross-town rival Gimnasia.
Iribarren joined the Crew for his first stint with the club during the inaugural 1996 season and recorded one goal and two assists in 19 appearances. He then returned to Argentina for the 1997 season, where he played for Almagro.
He returned to play for the Black & Gold in 1998 and notched two assists in 30 appearances, while also helping the Crew to a runner-up finish in the 1998 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Iribarren joined the Milwaukee Rampage (A-League) in 1999, then spent the 2000 season with the Dallas Burn (MLS) before concluding his playing career with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (A-League) from 2001-03.
He retired upon being named Pittsburgh’s head coach in July 2003 and led the Riverhounds to a 10-2-0 record over the course of the rest that season.
“I am very excited to be back with the Crew,” Iribarren said. “It has been 10 years since I last played there and now they are champions. I’m really looking forward to working with Robert and the rest of the staff toward another great season.”
Iribarren holds coaching licenses from the U.S., Argentine, and Mexican federations and graduated with a degree in Economics from Universidad Nacional de La Plata in 1990.
Founded by American sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, the Columbus Crew is Ohio's Major League Soccer club, anchoring a diverse sports and entertainment enterprise. One of the league's Charter Members, it is currently the reigning MLS Cup Champion and it has also won the 2002 U.S. Open Cup championship and MLS Supporters’ Shield titles in 2004 and 2008.
It will open its 14th season and defense of its MLS Cup championship on Saturday, March 21, at the Houston Dynamo and will open its 11th season in first-of-its-kind Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday, March 28, against Toronto FC.
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