To anyone who is paying attention, one of the most intriguing stories in the world of soccer for the past couple of years has been the increasing prevalence of Basque soccer, specifically Basque soccer managers. Last season, Xabi Alonso — head coach of Bayer Leverkusen — broke Bayern Munich’s 11-year Bundesliga winning streak in his second season as the Bayer Leverkusen coach. In North London, Mikel Arteta has also had a successful run as the Arsenal manager, winning an FA cup and challenging Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for the Premier League (EPL) title. Out of 20 teams in the EPL, four of them have Basque managers — Arteta, Unai Emery (Aston Villa F.C.), Julen Lopetegui (West Ham United) and Andoni Iraola (A.F.C. Bournemouth).
We also can’t ignore the tremendous impact that Basque footballers, both active and retired, have had throughout their careers. Currently, eight players on the Spanish national team were either born in, raised in or have heritage from the Basque Country. Notably, Mikel Oyarzabal from Eibar scored the winning goal at the Euros. It’s undeniable that these players have had a substantial impact on both their clubs and the national team.
To put that into perspective, the total population of the Basque Autonomous Region in Spain is 2.2 million, about four times the size of Baltimore City. To understand why the Basque region has become such a goldmine of soccer talent, I decided that the place to start was at the origin: youth academies. More specifically, I examined Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea (Antiguoko K.E.), a local youth club in Antiguo, a part of San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, Spain. This club kickstarted the careers of athletic greats like Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta and Andoni Iraola. I had the great honor of speaking to the vice president of the club, Roberto Montiel.
To start with, I asked him how the youth program was created and how it has evolved since its inception in 1982.
“In the 80s and 90s, here in San Sebastian, it was common to play [soccer] at the beach and play against other local teams or schools when the tide was low,” he began, in an interview with The News-Letter. “From there, we started spotting talented players and inviting them to join Antiguoko. It’s true that, from the very beginning, we became like a family. We worked to sign new players because we dreamt of competing against the best. Soon enough, we started traveling to local and international competitions.”
According to Montiel, this familiar and united environment has been crucial to the development of the club and for weathering change. I further asked him to discuss how the preparation for young players is structured and how this differs from the academies of first-division La Liga teams.
“We are a semi-professional club,” he explained. “We have incredible, very talented players, like Andoni Iraola, who played his first year in the [juvenile] category with Antiguoko and then went to Athletic [Bilbao], or Xabi Alonso, who went to Real Sociedad. In total, we have around forty alums who have joined the Spanish first division. So, we must be doing something right.”
In addition to their famous ex-celeste coaches, the club is also known for several talented players currently active in the Spanish first-division, such as Martin Zubimendi and Ander Barrenetxea (Real Sociedad), as well as Julen Agirrezabala, Yuri Berchiche and Gorka Guruzeta (Athletic Bilbao). Due to their convencionado agreement with Athletic Bilbao, the club also sends several of its players to Athletic’s academy.
He delved deeper into the organizational structure of the club, shedding light on how athletes are promoted through the academy.
“It’s clear we’re maintaining a high-level for our younger players. We have three juvenil [juvenile] categories; a player will start in the Liga Vasca Juvenil team, and if they do well, get promoted to the Liga Nacional Juvenil, and if they do well in that, then in their last year, they will be in the Division de Honor Juvenil,” Montiel stated.
I inquired about the challenges they face as a semi-professional club and how these are changing over time.
“Well, as I told you, the problem of field space is alarming, especially now as we are developing our structure for female athletes,“ Montiel said. “Our academy is growing, and we are having to train an ever higher number of boys and girls into [sic] limited field space. Large first division teams often don’t have this issue.”
In light of this discussion, I posed a question on how and when the club contributes to the local community and to the development of new generations.
“One of my projects for the club has been to try to bring back alums who are now in the second or third divisions as coaches, but it cannot be done because of how much training they have during the week,“ he commented. “After they retire, they can be coaches, but not during their careers. They have a lot of tactical abilities, so we would like it if they came back and trained our young groups.”
On the topic of coaching, we then turned our conversation to the Basque players-turned-managers who are achieving immense success in the top leagues and competitions in Europe. While it is not usual to see former greats of the game return in coaching positions, this extremely talented generation of new managers from the Basque Country has been the subject of a great deal of media attention. The fact that three of them grew up together in the same youth club, Antiguoko K.E., is even more impressive.
My next question centered on why this is the case, namely on what aspects of Basque culture and football he thinks contribute to this phenomenon.
“It makes us very proud,” Montiel affirmed. “I’ve gotten this question many times. What I always say is that the competitive level [of soccer] in Basque society is very high, in all of the categories. Also, the practice of sports in the Basque country, particularly in Gipuzkoa, is very prevalent. It’s impossible to find a soccer field to play in from the times of 6-9 p.m., and if you go to a gym during that time, it will be packed. I think that is the secret – the sporting culture and the competition.”
He goes on to describe, prompted by my question, how Antiguoko’s relationship with its alums continues to this day, as well as how these athletes contribute to the club nowadays.
“We try to bring in these jugadores leyendas [legendary players], bring together our youth groups and have conversations. Our former players visit, and sometimes I visit players like Mikel Arteta, with whom I have a very positive relationship,” Montiel revealed. “Andoni Iraola’s first coaching job after he retired was as one of Antiguoko’s managers. We continue our relationship with both professional and non-professional players.”
To wrap up our conversation, I asked him one final question. After reading more about the club on its website, I was interested in understanding how it incorporates its values and philosophy into training to ensure that players positively impact the sport.
“It is important to us that our athletes are not just good at the sport, but they are also good people,” Montiel emphasized. “When we travel to a tournament, we want to make sure they have a good impact on the locker room and that they are prioritizing teamwork. Soccer is a team sport, so we need them to be good teammates. Additionally, we also ensure that [our delegation] behaves respectfully during games, that they respect the other team and that they don’t yell at the referee, for example. Respectful behavior is very important to us.”
To learn more about Antiguoko K.E., you can visit their website or check out their Instagram page.
Editor’s Note, 2024: This article has been updated to correctly spell the club’s name, Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea, in the headline. The News-Letter regrets this error.
