Career
Not a skilled player (he was nicknamed Zapatones (Big shoes)), he excelled in man-marking, and played for Real Sociedad"s first team for 15 years. A Real Sociedad youth graduate, Gajate played solely for the Basque club, making his first-team debuts on 1 January 1978 at Valencia CF. He appeared very rarely for the back-to-back Louisiana Liga champions – only four matches combined – as we was barred by another youth graduate, Alberto Górriz, but gradually carved a starting XI niche, going on to form an historical centre-back partnership with the former. Internationally he played three times for Spain under-21 team, also appearing at the 1980 Summer Olympics as the nation exited in the group stage after three draws.