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In an era of big-money transfers, how does one club inspire lifelong loyalty? Journey to Bilbao to uncover the secrets of Athletic Club, whose Basque-only policy has forged a unique identity and a succession of homegrown legends who choose passion over paychecks.
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00:02The connection that you have as a team and a club with the fans.
00:07The connection that we have with our fans is a brutal thing.
00:11I've been in San Mames.
00:19You have to live it to know what it is.
00:22In the summer of 2025, after much speculation,
00:25Nico Williams turned down a big money move to sign a brand new 10-year deal at his boyhood club.
00:33It's the ultimate proof of concept for the club's basket-only player policy,
00:37where from the academy to the first team, the training pitch to the hallow turf of San Mames,
00:42the importance of Athletic Club is woven into the players' DNA at every level.
00:47So how do the club create this ethos of player loyalty?
00:50What part do the city, the fans, even the wider Basque region have to play in it?
00:54And how has it kept them competitive at the top level for their entire history?
00:59Welcome to Football Explored.
01:01This time we're in Bilbao where Athletic Club have forged a bond that money can't break
01:05to produce the most loyal players in world football.
01:33For many, the chance to join one of Europe's elite would be impossible to turn down.
01:38So the Nico Williams decision did raise a few eyebrows.
01:41But in all honesty, it shouldn't happen.
01:43Generation after generation of players have done the same thing.
01:46Nico Williams wasn't the first and he won't be the last.
01:51In the Athletic, there's a chain, there's a succession of captains,
01:55of players, of icons that decided to stay there.
01:58I'm from 1991, so my first great reference in that sense is Julen Guerrero.
02:06Julen Guerrero is a clear case.
02:08There were many elements that made him such an interesting player.
02:11He was a really popular player.
02:13He got an attention that was Beckham before Beckham,
02:15or the closest to Beckham that he ever had.
02:18He's this blonde guy, handsome.
02:20He was an icon in Spain.
02:22Teenagers would put his picture in their notebooks and stuff.
02:27When he had offers from Real Madrid,
02:30from great Italy teams,
02:31that the series at that time was a great, great league,
02:34Julen decided to stay.
02:35Obviously, as in the case of Nico Williams,
02:38there was a contract offer at the height of Julen Guerrero's quality.
02:41When he decided to stay in Athletic,
02:43he became an instant sim,
02:45and he still remembers to the day.
02:54But the great reference here is JosĂ© Ăngel Iribar,
02:58the player that marked a very long and successful time,
03:02and today he continues to be connected to the club,
03:04as an ambassador,
03:05and he's very present in all acts.
03:06They become one of the most beloved players in Bilbao,
03:11and they are icons.
03:15The same thing goes for Oscar de Marcos,
03:18current number one Unai Simon,
03:20and Nico Williams are with a brother in Iñaki.
03:23This then begs the question,
03:24why do they stick around?
03:25Long contracts, good money,
03:27top-level European football
03:28are something that loads of clubs can offer.
03:30What is it with Athletic Club,
03:32and where does this culture of loyalty begin?
03:36There's a phrase in euskera,
03:38which is
03:39Euskaldun en verbie,
03:41notaris oaren firmie.
03:44It comes to be something like,
03:46that the Basque word is as important
03:49or as reliable as the firm of a notary.
03:52This comes from behind,
03:53and we want to think that it's for something.
03:58You could say it starts here,
04:01at Lizarma,
04:01where the academy and training facilities
04:03that host every single team
04:05from the 11-year-olds to the first team,
04:07train side by side.
04:10When you get to be a junior,
04:12I think it's the moment
04:13that you have to take your classes seriously.
04:17There's a lot of proximity
04:18between the first player,
04:20the first player,
04:22or the third player.
04:24Whilst many players do begin their footballing journeys here,
04:28others often join the club having played
04:29for smaller local teams across the Basque region
04:32from younger ages.
04:33There's a whole scouting network set up
04:35to find every single potential diamond that they can.
04:39There is no other option.
04:40La cantera is actually the Spanish word
04:43for the youth academies in general,
04:46not only here in Bilbao.
04:48The policy is actually that only players
04:50born in the Basque country
04:51or educated in terms of football here
04:53call out to play.
04:55It may be a bit controversial topic,
04:59but without understanding the history of the Basque country
05:01it's hard to understand the philosophy
05:04and the history of the Athletic.
05:05It's an option,
05:06a decision
05:08that has taken a very particular society
05:10that is to fight with ours,
05:13to be represented by ours,
05:15plural, different, but ours.
05:18They have 180 grassroots clubs they finance
05:21because they need to obviously
05:23because of their policy
05:25they're not allowed to get the players from anywhere.
05:28And they invest a lot of money in those grassroots clubs.
05:30Development can go well in those clubs as well
05:32because they're funded by Athletic
05:34and they do a really great job.
05:36This means that there's a common ground
05:37between each player,
05:39whether it's their commitment on the pitch,
05:41whether it's their values off the pitch.
05:43It's all easier to get through
05:44if there's a red tape that ties together
05:47their culture, their identity,
05:48and their sporting ambition.
05:51Continuamente estamos hablando
05:53de valores, de identidad.
05:55A mĂ me gustarĂa identificar
05:57al jugador o jugadora del Athletic
05:59como una persona orgullosa
06:01y al mismo tiempo humilde.
06:06I was actually recently there at Lezama
06:08with the smallest ones in the academy.
06:11They did a thing I found quite remarkable.
06:13Before their games,
06:14they took photos with rival teams.
06:16Not because the rivals want it,
06:18but because they want it.
06:20They do the photos and they hang them up.
06:21The message behind that is
06:23there's no football without your rivals.
06:25You need the rivals,
06:26you need the referees and so on.
06:28So this is like the basic message they want to send.
06:30Respect.
06:33And they also say, if you're in the academy,
06:36you may leave at some point obviously
06:38for reasons of football
06:40because you're not good enough or whatever.
06:42Within the time you've been there,
06:44you have to have become
06:45or a better player or a better person.
06:48Or both things,
06:49which is even more important.
06:50And this is what they work towards.
06:54With so much talent nurtured for the first team,
06:57who, as we've seen, rarely leave the club,
06:59what happens when they actually do?
07:01Whether they're not at the required level
07:03or just fancy going somewhere else,
07:04what effect does it have on the incoming transfers as well?
07:09Athletic club are known for receiving huge sums
07:11in the player leagues.
07:12Their top five record sales
07:13stretched from Asia Del Orno in 2005
07:15at 12 million euros
07:16through Ander Herrera, Javi Martinez
07:18and Aymeric Laporte,
07:20all the way to Kepa Aretha Belaga
07:22at a whopping 80 million euros,
07:25giving a grand total of 253 million.
07:28Players that actually leave money
07:29are the players you don't want to leave.
07:32That's the paradox.
07:33When someone leaves,
07:34you need to give good use to the money
07:36because if not, you just feel that you lost something.
07:39Now, you'd think with this big chunk of money
07:41lying around,
07:42the club would go and spend it all
07:43or replacing the players that they just lost.
07:45But the club reinvests the money in some interesting ways
07:48alongside the dates they're running of the club.
07:51A lot of that money goes into the infrastructure.
07:54They also invest in players' wages.
07:57They offer very competitive salaries, actually.
08:00Just loyalty is not a factor.
08:02You need to activate that loyalty
08:03through a good financial position
08:05with an interesting project.
08:07And obviously you need money for that, too.
08:09That money has to be invested in
08:11canteras,
08:13in capturing networks,
08:14in Ogeo.
08:15We absolutely depend on the level
08:18of the football level
08:19that there is in the Basque country.
08:22And we know,
08:22as well,
08:23that if the level,
08:24specifically in Vizcaya,
08:26in our convenient clubs,
08:27is greater,
08:28it's easier for us to access
08:30to those potential players.
08:33So after taking all of this into account,
08:36the one big question still remains.
08:38Does it actually work?
08:39Does this club policy in places 1912
08:42allow the club not only to remain
08:44but to compete at the top of Spanish and European football?
08:47In short, yes.
08:49And the evidence for this is overwhelming.
09:00That's terrific.
09:01Go to the party
09:01Katherine League
09:02after several thousand years
09:05is incredible.
09:06That day for me
09:06was the day the most important time in my life.
09:08Both my friends and my family
09:10have been a full of kalian
09:11to dress the team
09:13with white boots
09:14and really the feeling of people
09:15being in Bilbao
09:16and was incredible.
09:17It was a great day
09:19Since La Liga's inception in 1929, they are one of only three clubs, the other two being
09:25Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have never been relegated. Eight La Liga titles, three Spanish
09:30Super Cups and an incredible 24 Copa del Rey victories, the latest of which in 2024 brought
09:37about one of the biggest celebrations the city has seen in recent years as they ended a 40-year
09:42weight for a major trophy.
09:48La victoria en 2024 en la Copa, no sé, fue paz, fue paz. Después del partido hubo mucha
09:56mĂĄs sensaciĂłn de alivio y de paz que de euforia, que es algo increĂble despuĂ©s de 40 años.
10:01It was an explosion for the whole region. You haven't seen that ship, you know the ship
10:07Gavarra, and they celebrate their victories under the titles on a ship that goes down
10:11an air beyond river.
10:12La Gavarra es como se llama ese tipo de barca que se utilizaba para transportar por la rĂa
10:18material cuando todo esto era una zona muy industrial. Entonces era algo bastante presente
10:23en el dĂa a dĂa de la sociedad vizcaĂna.
10:25La alegrĂa este es bordante. ÂżDe dĂłnde ha salido tanta gente? Las radios hablan de centenares
10:34de miles, medio millĂłn, de un millĂłn de personas que esperan aplaudir hoy al equipo
10:39campeĂłn.
10:44La Ășltima vez que celebramos tĂtulos, en el 83, el 84, se dice, se sacĂł la Gavarra
10:49y los jugadores remontaron toda la rĂa desde el mar, subidos en la Gavarra, saludando por
10:54todos los pueblos y ciudades de Vizcaya hasta aquĂ, hasta Bilbao. Estuvimos 40 años con
10:59esa imagen aquĂ. Entonces, por eso, la Gavarra que estĂĄ aquĂ guardada, ha estado durante
11:04muchos años, se ha seguido haciendo un mantenimiento para que pudiera flotar. Por fin, por fin.
11:10Fueron 40 años, fueron 40 años muy largos, de muchas dudas. Entonces fue una liberación.
11:17That proved that the project with the signing policy was doable. You can be successful without
11:24betraying that policy, without betraying your values. And I think that's the most important
11:30part.
11:31Y yo creo que para el futuro ha sido un hito muy importante porque ha dado gasolina a las
11:36nuevas generaciones.
11:42But in the meantime, when titles aren't on the line, there is always a match to look
11:46forward to more than any other. The Basque Derby against Real Sociedad. And what makes
11:54this match interesting is that on the pitch, they're rivals, but off the pitch, they share
11:58a lot of things in common, including the representation of the Basque identity.
12:04El derby especial es muy importante y para nosotros se habla mucho de fiesta, porque
12:10el dĂa previo en el PaĂs Vasco nos gusta comer, nos gusta beber, y nos gusta juntarnos
12:14para comer y beber. Entonces, eso ocurre. Y hay familias, hay parejas, hay grupos de amigos
12:19donde hay diversidad de camisetas de la Real Sociedad, camisetas de la Atleti, pero luego en el campo duro.
12:24You see these big groups of friends, de cuadrillas, where one guy with the Atleti jersey, or the
12:29other way around. Beyond that, those are teams that compete in a very small space. Real Sociedad
12:36also really values their academy players. There's a competition in a small market for the same
12:42players. And that leads to grievances, that leads to a little bit of tension.
13:00One massive reason this derby is so special is because of what it represents to the supporters
13:06on both sides, as part of an ever changing, developing Basque identity. The Williams Brothers
13:12in particular represents the modern face of Basque society, a tolerant, accepting and
13:18shifting culture beyond just the footballing world.
13:22The Williams Brothers are very special for the club for many reasons. The first of all,
13:27and I'm sorry to say that, but it's the fact that they are two black footballers
13:32who play for the Athletic, who have been born in Euskal Herria. There's already been
13:37some other footballers of black race before, but the Williams Brothers have been the most
13:41successful, the ones who have been in the first row, and just that was very
13:46heartbreaking. Iñaki is the first black captain in the history of the Atleti.
13:51If you look at the world outside in Bilbao, in the Basque country as a whole, it's a country
13:55of immigration. And they are an image of that, with their parents who took hardship to come here.
14:01A lot of young people that are in the same position actually see them as idols. So they're
14:06really invaluable for the club.
14:09If you look at Iñaki Williams and the Williams family life story, I think we are really positive
14:15role models. They are an example for new Basque people. They are an example for the sons and
14:22daughters of immigrants. They can become part of this Basque society, of this city of Bilbao.
14:28For me there is no better representation, no more symbolic representation.
14:33It's the open door that everyone has to Euskal Herria.
14:38And to have the opportunity to be accepted, to be one of the worst ones.
14:43And why not to be the guys who throw the goals that so many people have.
14:52In modern football, the lines of loyalty and identity are often blurred. An athletic club's
14:57success exists when the pride of a people collides with the ambition and the philosophy
15:02of a football club. Here, loyalty isn't just a choice, it's an honour.
15:07For me, the athletic club is all. It is family. It is all. It has given me
15:12both to me and my brother, to my family. I try to give everything that they have given me.
15:17I think it's all for me and I love it with my heart.
15:35Oh, you've got the cat?
15:37Nice.
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