Athletic Bilbao policy

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SAFC man

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Sep 28, 2020
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I was reading that Athletic Bilbao only use players from the Basque region.

What would people prefer, Man City's team or 11 North East players who were a yo yo club between PL and Championship?

I'm sure cheap tickets to watch a local team would be very popular for a lot of SAFC fans
 
SAFC man said:
I was reading that Athletic Bilbao only use players from the Basque region.

What would people prefer, Man City's team or 11 North East players who were a yo yo club between PL and Championship?

I'm sure cheap tickets to watch a local team would be very popular for a lot of SAFC fans
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Until they signed John Aldridge in 1989, Real Sociedad did the same. Both clubs managed to win La Liga (twice in the case of La Real and numerous times in the case of Athletic) following that policy. That suggests to me that we could be competitive just fielding NE players. Celtic, for example, won the European Cup with a team who had all been born within 10 miles of Celtic Park. Having said that, the Basque region is much bigger than the NE but with the right youth set up and good coaching, there's no reason why its not possible.
 
Oliver's Army said:
Is that sort of stuff legal these days?
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It has been criticised as discriminatory in some quarters but it extends to players who have been in the youth systems at other Basque clubs so, technically speaking, some players may not be of solely Basque origin. On the other hand, its been praised as an excellent way of promoting local talent.
 
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The Norton Cat said:
It has been criticised as discriminatory in some quarters but it extends to players who have been in the youth systems at other Basque clubs so, technically speaking, some players may not be of solely Basque origin. On the other hand, its been praised as an excellent way of promoting local talent.
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No doubt it's class for local lads to get their chance but these days people will complain about anything. It's a bit like only signing players under 25 for example. I think Chelsea only offer their players over 30 a 1 year deal or something like that. Surprised some money grabbing lawyer hasn't picked up on it and tried to cash in.

Saying that, Bilbao have always had a good side and done well so it can't be that bad a policy. :emoticon-0102-bigsm
 
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Oliver's Army said:
No doubt it's class for local lads to get their chance but these days people will complain about anything. It's a bit like only signing players under 25 for example. I think Chelsea only offer their players over 30 a 1 year deal or something like that. Surprised some money grabbing lawyer hasn't picked up on it and tried to cash in.

Saying that, Bilbao have always had a good side and done well so it can't be that bad a policy. :emoticon-0102-bigsm
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Yeah, I know what you're saying. You would think someone would come along and try and make some money out of challenging it. I don't know, maybe Spanish lawyers are more respectful of tradition.
 
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Staggers me how competitive they remain, if they even relaxed it to 3 outside they could be CL, easily.

There’s a much bigger pot than the North East though, huge areas of Spain, most of Latin America has basque areas (they’ve had several of those), there’s french basque.

It’s not nearly as small a pot as the idealism would have you believe.
 
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Nads said:
Staggers me how competitive they remain, if they even relaxed it to 3 outside they could be CL, easily.

There’s a much bigger pot than the North East though, huge areas of Spain, most of Latin America has basque areas (they’ve had several of those), there’s french basque.

It’s not nearly as small a pot as the idealism would have you believe.
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It spreads across the border into France as well I believe.
 
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Ideally I would like to see a team full of players who came through the academy or supported Sunderland win a major trophy but the logistics of the game today means something like that could never happen
 
Oliver's Army said:
It spreads across the border into France as well I believe.
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Yeah it does, famously Willy Sagnol who won the World Cup with France was a Bilbao player, they are quite notorious for stealing players from Sociedad as well <laugh>

Amazing the history though, I desperately tried to get to a game there before they rebuilt the San Mames but it was impossible.

The stadium now is a jaw dropper, but supposedly the old one was about the best atmosphere in Western Europe.
 
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Nads said:
Staggers me how competitive they remain, if they even relaxed it to 3 outside they could be CL, easily.

There’s a much bigger pot than the North East though, huge areas of Spain, most of Latin America has basque areas (they’ve had several of those), there’s french basque.

It’s not nearly as small a pot as the idealism would have you believe.
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https://en.eustat.eus/elementos/ele...ry-2019-with-2188017-people/not0016799_i.html

According to this the basque population is 2.1 million compared to the North East which is 2.6 million
 
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The Norton Cat said:
Does that include the French Basque country? There are about 250,000 of them. Plus, about 60,000 people identifying as Basque in the US and maybe 10,000 in Canada. There will be people outside of the Basque region but within Spain who are of Basque origin too, I'd imagine.
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I'm not sure but the total amount is probably similar to the North East

They have a partnership with a fourth division club to send promising youngsters to and have lots of scouts in the area.

I wonder if it could work if we invested millions in something similar
 
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SAFC man said:
I'm not sure but the total amount is probably similar to the North East

They have a partnership with a fourth division club to send promising youngsters to and have lots of scouts in the area.

I wonder if it could work if we invested millions in something similar
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I think its estimated at about 3 million in the Basque provinces, including France. So yeah, not dissimilar. I think it would be possible. Of course, it depends how you define north-eastern. Basque is an ethnic identity with distinct identifiable surnames, being from the NE isn't. Bilbao could probably draw on the 5 million people of Basque origin in Chile or about 10% of the Colombian population if needed. Would we count people with any connection to the NE?
 
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Sydney Greenstreet said:
Laporte if French and played for Athletic, Inaki Williams mam and dad are from Ghana
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Yeah, Aymeric Laporte was a bit of a controversial one apparently because his Basque connections were based on his great grandparents. Williams got in due to being born in Bilbao and having been through the youth system locally.
 
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Oliver's Army said:
No doubt it's class for local lads to get their chance but these days people will complain about anything. It's a bit like only signing players under 25 for example. I think Chelsea only offer their players over 30 a 1 year deal or something like that. Surprised some money grabbing lawyer hasn't picked up on it and tried to cash in.

Saying that, Bilbao have always had a good side and done well so it can't be that bad a policy. :emoticon-0102-bigsm
Click to expand...

It certainly seems better than putting all your basques in one exit.
 
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