The world’s most unique football club living in the 1900s.

On the 21st of May in a couple of months, two of Europe’s elite will compete for the UEFA Champions League’s little brother, the UEFA Europa League. Europe’s secondary competition has the possibility to pair unique matchups, ranging from the part-time footballers of the Faroe Islands to Kazakhstani sides playing in -11 degrees Celsius. The final will be played in the Estadio San Mamés, built in the centre of Bilbao alongside the Nervión River. Built in 2013, the over 50,000-seater stadium hosts arguably the most traditional football club in the world, Athletic Bilbao. 

British migrant workers brought football to the Basque region, inspiring the creation of Athletic Club, commonly known as Athletic Bilbao, in 1898. At the start of football, teams were made up of players from their surrounding areas and didn’t transfer often; even if they did, moving aboard was extremely rare. For example, the 1967 “Lisbon Lions”, in which all but two of the European Cup winning squad was born within 10 miles of Celtic’s Celtic Park. But as football evolved, especially with the football economic boom of the Premier League, the game became international - not Athletic. 

Europe’s elite splashed the cash of foreign players, meaning that clubs rarely had home grown players staring in their squads. The 2023 Champions League final winning squad for Manchester City only had three players who had come from the academy. Athletic stick to their principles, with their Cantera policy of bringing players only from the Basque region of Spain. The Basque Country is predominantly in Spain but crosses into France in the north. It has its own distinct language, culture and even sports. Politically, the region has called for independence from Spain in the past: in 2018 a human chain by Basques distanced 202km.  

So, for Athletic abiding by their Cantera rule is nothing but vital to uphold the cultural importance of the Basque region while showing the footballing world that the “beautiful game” can be successful without spending bazillions of pounds. 

This has brought unforeseen significant success. Last year “the Lions” won their first Copa del Rey (Spain’s equivalent to the FA Cup) for the first time in 40 years. Astonishingly, the red-and-white outfit has never been relegated from the first division, a feat no English club can share, sitting on a pedestal with Real Madrid and Barcelona. 

You could say that the nationalism is similar in the UK. In the 21st century, we are seeing more and more devolution to separate parts of the union. The 2014 Scottish Independence referendum is similar to the unconstitutional Catalan independence referendum in 2017. While the West Midlands shares its own regional culture, shown by the recently formed West Midlands Authority, it doesn’t have the drive for independence like certain regions of Scotland and the Basque region. A West Midlands team could be as successful, with the likes of Birmingham-born Grealish and Stourbridge’s own Bellingham brothers. Yet they can’t boast the quality of players, due to most academies being outsourced across the country, a modern phenomenon of most large clubs, unlike the Basque counterparts.  

Athletic Bilbao may not share the endless trophies of their Spanish rivals or have the superstar foreign players in their shirt but can be proud to call themselves the world’s most unique club. They have defied football’s economic structure and still achieve success. In their own words, the club are “characterised by a steadfast belief in a set of values which are becoming increasingly uncommon in football and 21st century sport”. 

English sides can learn a lot from Athletic Club. With rising ticket prices and a gap which is widening between fan and club, a system like the Basques could revitalise the game. Bringing a closer connection between football clubs and their roots, with the West Midlands being the perfect place to start.