Athletic Club de Bilbao

[Cule Angles]

I've started this thread to respond to a point raised in the talkshow during Beast's guest appearance. He wrongly states that Athletic is racist in its policy of only local players. It's a common misconception that only those who are racially Basque are allowed to represent Athletic when that it simply not true. Anybody born in the Basque country is eligible to play for the club, whatever their origins. The policy is about a club remaining loyal to its roots and representing a community and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

[Barcaman]

Agreed there. They got something real going on there and have a fantastic crowd. Also, according to the study I read few weeks back, finacially, they are the second most stable club in Spain (first is Barca). Ain`t that ironic?

 

[Cule Angles]

That's not a surprise given how shoddy the finances of most la liga clubs are. They bring most players through the cantera and whilst they overspend a bit on Basques from Osasuna and Sociedad etc. they've tended to recoup that by selling players such as Ezquerro, Zubizarreta et al. They also have an immensely loyal fanbase and solid relationships with local businesses.

 

[Metaphysical]

I love athletic.

their cantera policy is the shit.

they're my second team in spain off the basis of that alone, lol.

I hope some basque businessman gives them a financial booster so they can invest in better training and such and start producing more good players. right now they're running a little thin.

 

[Tomba11]

No they are not racists, they are part of a very strong Basque tradition of nationalism of 'let's do it ourselves'.
But they limit themselves and that's why they will never become one of the big teams of today's modern Spain.
It takes some international football stars to reach the top. Not every player could be 'home-grown'.

But historically, they are one of the best teams of Spain and they have never been relegated since the start of La Liga in 1928.
The more I read about Athletic Club de Bilbao the more I respect them and their policies.
In the Cup Final vs Barca a couple of months ago you could see the disappointment of their fans when they lost
and also how proud they are of their team. They are very serious about their allegiance.
The Super Cup is coming up and it will be a tough job to beat them again because any title to them is Gold worth.

 

[Beast]

I've started this thread to respond to a point raised in the talkshow during Beast's guest appearance. He wrongly states that Athletic is racist in its policy of only local players. It's a common misconception that only those who are racially Basque are allowed to represent Athletic when that it simply not true. Anybody born in the Basque country is eligible to play for the club, whatever their origins. The policy is about a club remaining loyal to its roots and representing a community and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Loyalty does not describe it.. it's a racial concept .
until they allow a Brazilian or a Nigerian who is not a native or considered a native (by Basque blood ) or by living in a basque country they will always be a race based club for me . until the basis of playing is simply Merit & skills they are a racial club that i cannot endorse or support the idea

it's like making a club of all Jews or all Muslims or all Christian. u can be a Pakistani /Arab or European Muslim but it's still a selection based on a criteria other than your own merit

and forget the "loyal " to their roots. Barca get whoever is good based ON MERIT and they are as loyal to their roots as the Basques

 

[Cule Angles]

I love athletic.

their cantera policy is the shit.

they're my second team in spain off the basis of that alone, lol.

I hope some basque businessman gives them a financial booster so they can invest in better training and such and start producing more good players. right now they're running a little thin.

Same here, they're certainly my 2nd team in Spain and that feeling was only strengthened by the comaraderie we culés experienced at the Copa final when fans of both sides were singing together before the game and shared a drink together afterwards. GORA ATHLETIC! GORA EUSKADI!

Loyalty does not describe it.. it's a racial concept .
until they allow a Brazilian or a Nigerian who is not a native or considered a native (by Basque blood ) or by living in a basque country they will always be a race based club for me . until the basis of playing is simply Merit & skills they are a racial club that i cannot endorse or support the idea

it's like making a club of all Jews or all Muslims or all Christian. u can be a Pakistani /Arab or European Muslim but it's still a selection based on a criteria other than your own merit

and forget the "loyal " to their roots. Barca get whoever is good based ON MERIT and they are as loyal to their roots as the Basques

Did you miss the photo of the black canterano I posted in the other thread? There is nothing racial about the policy, it's about being loyal to their community. Barça's policy has always been about embracing foreigners who had come to Barcelona and only later did we become the club of Catalunya.

 

[Beast]

Did you miss the photo of the black canterano I posted in the other thread? There is nothing racial about the policy, it's about being loyal to their community. Barça's policy has always been about embracing foreigners who had come to Barcelona and only later did we become the club of Catalunya.

i did not miss it nor did i miss "anybody born in the Basque country eligible to play for the club, whatever their origins "
it's still against all International laws of equality , the basis of getting a job should be your own skills , merit not your "place of birth " which has nothing to do with how good you are as a footballer..

u said they are loyal to their roots and i respond they are not less than Barca in being loyal to their roots but picking someone based on his place of birth or his religion or his ethnic background is RACIST and a clear discrimination .
and lets not play with words it's not a misconception about Bilbao here , the Black Canterano is the first one in their history .. it's an exception not a common practice

being loyal to your community (like barca per say ) means u have a majority of Basque but not the entire team

 

[Esteve]

Death to Javi Alonso.

 

[Jordzibob]

I have to agree with both of you. I think though, however odd this is going to sound, they are racist, but not in a negative way? I agree with Beast that the concept of choosing players based soley on their place of birth, and refusing players that are not Basque is racist, it is. However, the sole reason they use this selection process is because they want a team of homegrown players, they do not have a hatred of non basque players or any other race (obviously thats down to the people's opinions themselves). I respect them very much for that, they refuse to bend to the rules of football which say "You have to spend huge amounts of money to suceed", instead they focus on homegrown players, and its worked out very well for them so far. So yes, they are racist, but not in a negative, hatred racism, kindofway. =]

 

[Cule Angles]

I suspect that there is something of the green eyed monster about Beast's hatred of Athletic given how real madrid has lost all semblance of localness and become a harlem globetrotters type organisation. Athletic's policy is a fine and noble tradition, and if that makes me racist, well then racism can't be all that bad and I'm damned proud to be a racist.

 

[FlyLo]

I suspect that there is something of the green eyed monster about Beast's hatred of Athletic given how real madrid has lost all semblance of localness and become a harlem globetrotters type organisation. Athletic's policy is a fine and noble tradition, and if that makes me racist, well then racism can't be all that bad and I'm damned proud to be a racist.

+1 to that. Athletic is the club I respect most in La Liga after FCB

 

[Beast]

I suspect that there is something of the green eyed monster about Beast's hatred of Athletic given how real madrid has lost all semblance of localness and become a harlem globetrotters type organisation. Athletic's policy is a fine and noble tradition, and if that makes me racist, well then racism can't be all that bad and I'm damned proud to be a racist.

you don't seem to get it do you ?

your location or whereabouts can't be the only merit for getting a job or being picked as a footballer .. has nothing to do with localness (whoever invented that word ) .. u want to be local u can pick any player from anywhere in Spain not just those born in certain regions .. the moment u start classifying people based on difference u are racist not a noble tradition so i guess you are one Adam ..

hope one day you will understand what this means

 

[Tomba11]

I like to watch Athletic vs Real Madrid in Bilbao. It's a sure hate match with lots of fire if Athletic are in top form.
Bilbao is a place the castillian players of RM dread to go to because it's double trouble having the whole audience hate your shirt.
But the Kakas and Ronaldos of the team don't care much about it, maybe that's why RM have so few local players nowadays.

As of the accusation of racism, the team from Bilbao can choose to buy whichever players they want, they are not obliged to buy foreign players if they don't want it. And it's not racism, it's part of a policy which says 'this is a basque club and all the basque football players (the best) should get a chance to play here'. It's a community thing. Take a look back in history before the Basque country got rich and prosperous and see how it was back then to understand these emotions.

 

[Beast]

I like to watch Athletic vs Real Madrid in Bilbao. It's a sure hate match with lots of fire if Athletic are in top form.
Bilbao is a place the castillian players of RM dread to go to because it's double trouble having the whole audience hate your shirt.
But the Kakas and Ronaldos of the team don't care much about it, maybe that's why RM have so few local players nowadays.

As of the accusation of racism, the team from Bilbao can choose to buy whichever players they want, they are not obliged to buy foreign players if they don't want it. And it's not racism, it's part of a policy which says 'this is a basque club and all the basque football players (the best) should get a chance to play here'. It's a community thing. Take a look back in history before the Basque country got rich and prosperous and see how it was back then to understand these emotions.

I understand the history of the liga quite well ..
the problem without prolonging back & forth is this

'this is a basque club and all the basque football players (the best) should get a chance to play here'.

The fact is it's more

'this is a basque club and ONLY the basque football players (the best) should get a chance to play here'.

until very recent and i mean very recent history the case was the second one..which is IMO a clear discrimination and selection based on race and nationalism than "the best"
it's normal u feel close to the club due to similar idea's in terms of fighting the central government , but in terms of applying it Barca is doing it the right way.. the Basque are a bunch of Nationalist freaks (and i hate Nationalism )

their hate for RM is irrelevant to me Basques are tough by nature whether u play Socidad or Osasuna it's still a tough game /passionate crowd
Bilbao used to be a tough ground few years down the road now it's more a guaranteed 6 points