Romantics Can Dream, but Athletic Bilbao Still Struggling to Find Vintage Crop

You have to go back as far as 1984 to find the last time Athletic Bilbao paraded the Liga trophy along the banks of the Nervion river that cuts through the city. Chances are it will probably be a long, long time before we get the chance to see it again.

Way back then, loud, proud and bleeding Basque blood, the tough, uncompromising sides built by the no-nonsense Javier Clemente went to war, in the process winning back-to-back La Ligas in 1983 and also 1984, when they achieved the league and cup double.

Since then nothing in terms of silverware—unless you count the Spanish Supercup they were awarded automatically for winning the double—although to be fair to them they got very close when Marcelo Bielsa took them to the final of the Europa League where they froze against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

They are also, as every sports quizzer knows, the only Spanish side other than Barcelona and Real Madrid never to have been relegated.

The flip side to that since the halcyon days of Clemente’s first stay at the club is that is it is difficult to find a time when they had two good seasons in a row and unfortunately for them and their coach, Ernesto Valverde, this time around the club is going to historical form.

And this is why.

First and foremost it doesn’t help when you have football’s giants stealing the family silver. Most recently, Bayern Munich (Javi Martinez), Juventus (Fernando Llorente) and Manchester United (Ander Herrera) have signed the club’s greatest players.

But even then it’s not as simple as that, especially when you can only replace them with other Basque players.

To be fair the rule has been relaxed somewhat since the early days. Llorente is in fact from Pamplona, although he was at Bilbao from the ago of 11, and Ismael Urzaiz—one of the club’s favourite sons who made 367 league appearances and scored 118 goals—was born in Tudela. Both towns are in the neighbouring province of Navarra. Not the Basque country last time I looked, even though some would claim so.

That said while the club might occasionally "bend" the rules to sign a player, there is no way they would ever break them.

Academies, like vineyards, have good, very good and vintage years. Unfortunately they also have very mediocre years; okay years but nothing sensational. When you are trying to replace something a bit special with something average, you will suffer.

There’s also more than a chance that when, for example, you lose a star forward the only thing you can replace him with that happens to be of star potential just happens to be a defender where, perhaps, you are more than covered at the moment.

With a policy that puts such limitations on their ability to sign players, the club are now also cleverly signing the best of second-generation immigrants born in the Basque country of non-Basque parents.

Inaki Williams, aged just 20, was born in Bilbao the son of a Liberian mother and a Ghanaian father. His spark impressed at the weekend despite the team being defeated.

At any club, not just Athletic, the older, established veterans of the side, especially as they find themselves approaching the twilight of their careers, not unnaturally do their level best to protect their seats at the top table.

This can be damaging at any club but at one that relies on youth coming through as the very lifeblood of its existence, it is potentially disastrous and requires a firm coaching regime to control the situation.

In addition, Athletic Bilbao is not the only Basque, or near to Basque country, side that is actively looking to recruit young local talent. San Sebastian’s Real Sociedad and Osasuna in Pamplona are always constantly searching for the stars of the future.

The only difference is that they are prepared to look elsewhere. Athletic aren’t and that’s why they are something of a yo-yo club albeit one that has, to date, limited its yo-yoing activities to the first tier of Spanish football.

Ah. And they are also, for the choice of philosophy, the most romantic club in the world.