Heart of Lions: What Football can learn from the success of the Basques

The Basque Region is one of the most unique in the entire world. A small region of people that settle from land in the Pyrenees Mountains in Northern Spain to a small section in Southern France have produced some of the best footballers on the planet. At the forefront of the footballing world today, players like Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martinez, Ander Herrera, Xabi Alonso, Aymeric Laporte, and Antoine Griezmann all hail from the Basque Country.

The Basque land has one of the most unique histories in the world. Their language is unattached or linked to any other. It bears no resemblance to even languages like Spanish or the other romance languages. This brings a sense of community and pride within themselves that is unparalleled in the whole world. Preserving their tradition and culture is of the utmost importance to the whole Basque community, which has caused tension with the Spanish government at times.

Athletic Bilbao, the forefront team of the Basque region, is one of three teams to never be relegated from La Liga with the other two teams being Real Madrid and Barcelona. Bilbao also have more Copa del Rey’s than Real Madrid, lifting the trophy 23 times. Looking at their gorgeous San Mamés Stadium, one can see the embodiment of Basque football. This season, it took until the final stretch of the season for Barcelona to have a better home record than Bilbao. With 13 wins, 4 draws, and only 2 losses at home, San Mamés is truly a fortress for the Bilbao faithful. The stadium is nicknamed, “La Catedral” as the stadium in named after a nearby church. Mammes was the name of a Christian Martyr. He was thrown to lions by the Romans, and legend goes that he was able to tame the lions and they became his companions. Basque footballers play with this same sense of confidence and demeanor, taming the beasts that come their way.

Football was actually introduced to the Basques by the creators of our beautiful game, the English when they migrated to the Basque region in the late 1800’s due to the rising steel industry in the region. The migrant workers plus the Basque elites who had studied in England founded Athletic Bilbao in 1898. The famous red and white kits of Bilbao were actually inspired by the red and white stripes of Southampton Football Club. A student from Bilbao brought back fifty Saints kits for club as they matched the flag of the city. Funnily enough, the English who brought football to the Basque country brought a short passing style of play. Bilbao were some of the forerunners to fluid passing, that would evolve into what is now known as “tiki-taka” and England has opted for the more conservative long ball approach at times.