Basque football teams

The Basque Country has had a football team of its own since

Association football has been a part of Basque Country culture since the end of the 19th century. Modern football was introduced to the Basque Country in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers, visiting sailors and Spanish students returning from Britain. Clark on 22 April Interest in the sport continued to grow among the local citizens, who began to practice it, and they even went as far as to challenge the British team in to a match at Lamiako , [4] [6] [7] and naturally, the much advanced British won by a resounding score 0—5 , but the result did not discourage the enthusiastic locals who were quick to play another match as the sport was sparking high interest in the area. The new Bilbao FC was officially established shortly after its foundation since its regulations were approved by the civil governor and printed in

Basque football teams

For those that don't know the story, or perhaps missed the headlines, then perhaps I can recap. Joseba Etxeberria, a long-serving player for Athletic Bilbao has offered to play for the club for free next season, which it is believed will be his last before retirement. Etxeberria is believed to be aiming to reach the landmark of games played for Athletic Bilbao. While much of the focus following this generous achievement has undoubtedly been on Etxeberria and his sincere act of goodwill, I thought that the act itself illustrated perhaps a bit more, beyond Joseba's generous nature. The act itself spoke volumes for Athletic Bilbao as a club, for its principles, its fan and the very nature of the club itself. For FC Barcelona, the motto of the club is "more than a club". For those who don't know, this motto is itself perhaps bigger than the club itself. For the club itself is not merely a football club, but they are in fact a nation, or rather the hopes of a nation--the Catalan nation. For the past century FC Barcelona have been one of the key vehicles for Catalan nationalism, fostering a sense of unity and identity in times of persecution under Franco and always allowing Catalan nationalism an international stage on which to show itself. Yet perhaps the motto "more than a club" could be applied to another club very much in a similar position to FC Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao.

Youth football in the region overseen by both the Basque Federation has basque football teams own traditions and advanced style of play. In the summer of a team calling itself 'the Basque team' Equipo Vasco was sent to South America. Estadio Municipal de Altamira.

Our Basque football guide heads deep into the heart of a region that was in many respects the birthplace of football in Spain with Basque clubs playing a vital role and enjoying considerable success during those formative years. Despite only accounting for just 1. Pamplona-based Osasuna are another top flight side that largely identifies as Basque and does fall within the wider Basque Country which also extends into France. However seen as we are dividing these Spanish football travel guides up by the 17 different autonomous communities of Spain — Osasuna will be featured in the Navarre guide. This is a compact and quite densely populated region in the far northwestern corner of Spain. Many towns and cities have separate names in Spanish and Basque — an extremely unique language that is totally unrelated to Spanish or indeed any other European language.

Journalist Ian Hawkey has published an interesting article in the Irish daily The National in which he states that not all Basque soccer is limited to Athletic Bilbao. He says there are four clubs, leaving out the one club in all of the Premier League whose name is in the language of the Basques: Osasuna. The idea that the Navarrese are not Basque was invented at the end of the s by the heirs of the Francoist governors of Navarre. The real story is quite different. For motorists, days like Sunday in the town of Eibar, northern Spain, are a long grumble. For the local minority not in proud wonder at the fact that little Eibar are playing in the top flight of Spanish football, there have been mutterings that drivers would be better off if the club got relegated.

Basque football teams

But for hundreds of years the Basque people have also engaged in their own traditional sports. There are many different traditional Basque sports, but they all typically originate from the rural areas and farms, where the workers added a competitive spin to mundane everyday tasks. Pelota Mano HandBall is perhaps the most basic form of the sport.

Oxford valley regal theater

The club followed the Basque-only homegrown player policy for years, but diverted from it in when it signed Irish international John Aldridge from Liverpool. Rumours suggest that TV footage of this ceremonial defiance inspired disgruntled army captain Antonio Tejero to launch his ultimately unsuccessful attempted coup in In the autumn of the team crossed the Atlantic to play in Mexico where FIFA had given them permission to play clubs and the national side. At the final whistle, some Sociedad players wept. In , in Vitoria , they lost 1—5 to Hungary. Archived from the original on 15 July These tables provide the winners of the competitions administered by the Basque Football Federation each season. Retrieved 20 July In however, although there was still no agreement between players and federation, the players agreed to play the match to be played on 29 December in San Mames, between the Basque Country and Venezuela, which ended 3—1. Archived from the original on 27 March Athletic Bilbao are very much the club of the Basque country.

Association football has been a part of Basque Country culture since the end of the 19th century. Modern football was introduced to the Basque Country in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers, visiting sailors and Spanish students returning from Britain.

Diario AS in Spanish. Retrieved 8 September Danok Bat CF Topic. Retrieved 18 March Pulisic scores as Milan double up Slavia Prague. Spanish first round —08 [o] []. It is against this background that football in the region exists. If you have any questions about visiting the Basque Country for football reasons, feel free to get in touch. Also in the Bilbao area, you will find Barakaldo , another historic club with over years of history. Article Talk. Scheduled ten days after the —19 La Liga season had ended but prior to the second division 's conclusion, various factors meant experienced players were reluctant to put themselves forward for the long trip across the Atlantic, and the small squad was augmented with promising youngsters, including four who had never played at a higher level than the regional third tier with Athletic Bilbao's reserves. Real Sociedad 5 L, 16 T. The only thing it lacks is great weather which is often wet and blustery with even the summer months a bit unpredictable. This local rivalry was very strong in such a small town, but the success of these teams was important. After Franco's death in , the team was reformed using the name Euskadiko selekzioa and from the early s began playing regular friendly matches, usually during La Liga 's Christmas break.