We are Bilbao

[Bill Johnson]

Just beat Barca with a worldly.
In many respects we are like Bilbao.
What matters is like them we are totally United and sweat blood for the cause. Ally that with a great management team and passionate fans and we can achieve great things.
Whatever happens we know the players will leave everything on the pitch. Plenty in this league won't.
Can't wait for Sunday.
Bet the lads can't either.
No Fear.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Just beat Barca with a worldly.
In many respects we are like Bilbao.
What matters is like them we are totally United and sweat blood for the cause. Ally that with a great management team and passionate fans and we can achieve great things.
Whatever happens we know the players will leave everything on the pitch. Plenty in this league won't.
Can't wait for Sunday.
Bet the lads can't either.
No Fear.

I was in Bilbao about 3 years ago. If you want to get to Spain cheaply, it’s not a bad place to fly to.

EasyJet from Manchester.

There, in the Basque Country, they’ve kept up a tradition for years. Favouring local kids from that region to play for their team.

Considering this they’ve done very well to compete against Spanish teams with the biggest budgets amongst the world’s elite. There are more than a few similarities with us. Not least they play in red n white stripes.

If you are considering visiting then the world famous Guggenheim museum is a must see. But probably best viewed from the outside. Unless you appreciate modern art? It consists of potato prints of a monkey’s head in one gallery and old vacuum cleaners in their original cardboard boxes, from the 1960’s in another.

The tapas is excellent. The nearby Picos de Europa mountains are stunning. It’s beautiful and green - because it rains a lot!

After a few days there and the forecast of thunderstorms for the next week, we cut and run and headed for Southern France to find some sun. Pity really as it is a very nice region and very different from the rest of Spain.

Just like their splendid football team.

Just like our splendid football team.

Sometimes it’s good to be different.

 

[Bill Johnson]

I was in Bilbao about 3 years ago. If you want to get to Spain cheaply, it’s not a bad place to fly to.

EasyJet from Manchester.

There, in the Basque Country, they’ve kept up a tradition for years. Favouring local kids from that region to play for their team.

Considering this they’ve done very well to compete against Spanish teams with the biggest budgets amongst the world’s elite. There are more than a few similarities with us. Not least they play in red n white stripes.

If you are considering visiting then the world famous Guggenheim museum is a must see. But probably best viewed from the outside. Unless you appreciate modern art? It consists of potato prints of a monkey’s head in one gallery and old vacuum cleaners in their original cardboard boxes, from the 1960’s in another.

The tapas is excellent. The nearby Picos de Europa mountains are stunning. It’s beautiful and green - because it rains a lot!

After a few days there and the forecast of thunderstorms for the next week, we cut and run and headed for Southern France to find some sun. Pity really as it is a very nice region and very different from the rest of Spain.

Just like their splendid football team.

Just like our splendid football team.

Sometimes it’s good to be different.

Ta.
Was there this March.
Did all that and second your advice.

 

[Berlin Blade]

It would be really interesting if we adopted a policy of ‘Yorkshire only’ in the same way they only have players from the Basque Country. The team would be pretty good if you had the best of the best. Cahill, Walker, Milner, mcburnie. It would be interesting to see how far they’d get. It would however, clash with the EU policy on discrimination in the work place and we’d be sued for that at some point. I’m not totally sure how Bilbao have got away with it but I do respect it.

 

[Bill Johnson]

It would be really interesting if we adopted a policy of ‘Yorkshire only’ in the same way they only have players from the Basque Country. The team would be pretty good if you had the best of the best. Cahill, Walker, Milner, mcburnie. It would be interesting to see how far they’d get. It would however, clash with the EU policy on discrimination in the work place and we’d be sued for that at some point. I’m not totally sure how Bilbao have got away with it but I do respect it.

They have none Basque players in this season's team

 

[Canterbury Blade]

Great steak in the fan club bar in the old town too and some excellent red and white history decorating the place.. but best food i found is an hour away in San Sebastián, simply world class though marks lowered as the team play in blue and white..

 

[Sean Thornton]

They have none Basque players in this season's team

Athletic Club sign players if they have a Basque Heritage - parents, grandparents - but were born outside the Basque regions in Spain and France. They also allow non basques who were at a Basque club from their early teens.

Have they now relaxed this policy?

Stadium Tour of San Mames is well worth it, although the old stadium one was better imo, more personal, better than paying to go into the Guggenheim where, as has been said, you're better off sat outside with a beer looking at it than going inside

Statue of Fred Pentland near the centre.

Some great bars and restaurants, impressive pinxtos and inexpensive Albariño. Fine oyster bar as well. Been going for years.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I was in Bilbao about 3 years ago. If you want to get to Spain cheaply, it’s not a bad place to fly to.

EasyJet from Manchester.

There, in the Basque Country, they’ve kept up a tradition for years. Favouring local kids from that region to play for their team.

Considering this they’ve done very well to compete against Spanish teams with the biggest budgets amongst the world’s elite. There are more than a few similarities with us. Not least they play in red n white stripes.

If you are considering visiting then the world famous Guggenheim museum is a must see. But probably best viewed from the outside. Unless you appreciate modern art? It consists of potato prints of a monkey’s head in one gallery and old vacuum cleaners in their original cardboard boxes, from the 1960’s in another.

The tapas is excellent. The nearby Picos de Europa mountains are stunning. It’s beautiful and green - because it rains a lot!

After a few days there and the forecast of thunderstorms for the next week, we cut and run and headed for Southern France to find some sun. Pity really as it is a very nice region and very different from the rest of Spain.

Just like their splendid football team.

Just like our splendid football team.

Sometimes it’s good to be different.

They are hugely wealthy as a club as well.

 

[Blade for Sale]

38yr old Arduriz scored the winner. Billy might have a few more seasons in him yet

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Bilbao are Sheffield United.

 

[Bill Johnson]

Athletic Club sign players if they have a Basque Heritage - parents, grandparents - but were born outside the Basque regions in Spain and France. They also allow non basques who were at a Basque club from their early teens.

Have they now relaxed this policy?

Stadium Tour of San Mames is well worth it, although the old stadium one was better imo, more personal, better than paying to go into the Guggenheim where, as has been said, you're better off sat outside with a beer looking at it than going inside

Statue of Fred Pentland near the centre.

Some great bars and restaurants, impressive pinxtos and inexpensive Albariño. Fine oyster bar as well. Been going for years.

Ganea a is an obvious example.
Back to your post Bilbao is an amazing city football, food, and cultur wise.
It's industrial heritage resonates with Sheffielld as well.

8tend on visiting San Sebastion in 2020.
Interested in recommendations if you've been.
Go from Bilbao by train or bus?

 

[stringjunior]

but best food i found is an hour away in San Sebastián,

More Michelin stars per capita than anywhere else

 

[sportinguista in Warsaw]

Bilbao is a fucking ace city. Athletic are a proper team.
Saw Smashing Pumpkins at the Guggenheim in 1998. Top gig.

 

[Stretch]

They are also the only other team (aside from Barca and Real) to never have been relegated from the top flight in Spain.

That in itself is some achievement when you consider the financial disparity between the big 2 and everyone else over there.

 

[dc_blade]

Wonderful goal, too.

 

[grafikhaus]

They have none Basque players in this season's team

From Martin Samuel yesterday:

'At Bournemouth last week, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder sent out a starting XI made up entirely of British and Irish players — it is the first time this has happened in three Premier League seasons.

It is also the reason a manager as innovative as Wilder has not been poached. Chairmen see this domestic fixation as problematic at a time when squads are made up of large numbers of foreign players.

They mistakenly think it makes Wilder insular. Similar logic has held back Sean Dyche at Burnley.'

Great AB kit as well. I'd swap:

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Great steak in the fan club bar in the old town too and some excellent red and white history decorating the place.. but best food i found is an hour away in San Sebastián, simply world class though marks lowered as the team play in blue and white..

Yep - went there after Bilbao. It's a really nice resort. And it has streets and streets of little tapas bars - supposedly the best tapas in the whole of Spain. Now, the thing I don't understand is this...

Why the hell am I going on about tapas? I bloody hate the stuff! What's the point of it? I mean, if you're hungry, have a bloody meal! Not a tiny little morsel of some meat or fish or cheese with a gherkin stuck to it. My mother used to tell me off if she caught me "snacking" before a meal, but the bloody Spanish have turned it into an art form. Mind you, they spend most of the afternoon asleep and they don't eat till really late at night, so I suppose they've got to have something to fill the gap, whilst the missus goes off down the shops to fetch some proper food back and cook it?

 

[Sean Thornton]

Ganea a is an obvious example.
Back to your post Bilbao is an amazing city football, food, and cultur wise.
It's industrial heritage resonates with Sheffielld as well.

8tend on visiting San Sebastion in 2020.
Interested in recommendations if you've been.
Go from Bilbao by train or bus?

Only been on day trips from Bilbao by bus, there's so much choice of places to eat it's really just a case of going somewhere that looks interesting. You don't have to go Michelin the choice is that good. Not a great deal of English spoken in places though, one restaurant a sixteen year old translated the menu for us!

Dare to be different - l had raw tuna belly, not realising it was raw when l ordered it. It was incredible - personally I'd save the pinxtos, not, tapas, for Bilbao and have the main meal of the day in SS. (That's not to say Bilbao isn't good, it is, but far more choice in SS).

You can get the train system from Bilbao to the coast if it's a nice day, dead easy journey to Plentzia. Flattish place, nice beach and some great cafes and bars serving nice food.

One of the really good things about Bilbao for those who haven't been, is the airport transfer to the town centre. The bus stop is bang outside, takes about thirty forty minutes and costs around two euros. Drops you in the centre, and near to the old town as well.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Ganea a is an obvious example.
Back to your post Bilbao is an amazing city football, food, and cultur wise.
It's industrial heritage resonates with Sheffielld as well.

8tend on visiting San Sebastion in 2020.
Interested in recommendations if you've been.
Go from Bilbao by train or bus?

Ganea's parents moved to the Basque Country when he was a child so fits into the "homegrown" idea they have. Similarly Williams parents are African, but he was born in Bilbao.

Man.City signed Frenchman Laporte from them. Again, not born in the Basque region of France, he qualified via grandparents.

 

[Boxer Blade]

Think I've clicked onto Thomas Cook's trip advisor page, Spanish holidays? Try one of our Bilbao specials, here are some of our customers comments on such things as tapas bars, restaurants, museums,football and best airport in England to fly from, more to come shortly I am sure,can someone recommend hotels? I mean what sort of service is it when they forget hotels?

 

[BladeInIreland]

Glad this has come up as I’ve been thinking a few weeks about this since I stumbled on a video about them( had no idea about there policy).

Is it just me who thinks this could be successful? Yorkshire would be a big talent pool and has shown can produce some of the greats. We could attract the best as the club most likely to give chances and greatly reduce outgoing cash to other clubs and agents. All that money could be reinvested in the club, the ground, training facilities and academies across the county. I know we won’t but a Yorkshire team could make a real go of it.

 

[KeyffSmyff]

Cheers folks a good read that.

 

[benn5712]

Did you know?
Bilbao adopted red and white stripes when 50 Southampton shirts were brought in by a student.

You're welcome.




I thought it was a Sunderland influence.

 

[gordoncharles]

Ganea's parents moved to the Basque Country when he was a child so fits into the "homegrown" idea they have. Similarly Williams parents are African, but he was born in Bilbao.

Man.City signed Frenchman Laporte from them. Again, not born in the Basque region of France, he qualified via grandparents.

They've relaxed their rules steadily over the years in order to remain competitive.

Children of Basques, grandchildren of Basques, kids who moved to the Basque region at some undefined age. And the definition of Basque is pretty fuzzy, many of their players have been from Navarra and most people there certainly do not consider themselves to be Basque.

Real Sociedad had a similar policy which they scrapped 30 years ago, but over the last few years they've had more locals in their side than Athletic have had in theirs. of their current squad 11 came through their own youth system.

 

[gordoncharles]

Did you know?
Bilbao adopted red and white stripes when 50 Southampton shirts were brought in by a student.

You're welcome.




I thought it was a Sunderland influence.

The truth is... nobody really knows, the initial history of practically every club is shrouded in mystery.

Their original colours were blue and white halves, like Blackburn Rovers. This has been put down to the sons of wealthy Basque industrialists at the end of the 19th century sending their kids to Stonyhurst College - the Basques having been the most devout Catholics in the iberian penisular, bringing the game back to Bilbao and adopting the English team's colours.

Then, the story goes, another student was meant to bring back more shirts, forgot to get them and so ended up buying Southampton shirts before boarding his ship back.

Probably apocryphal but it makes a nice story.

However...... Atletico Madrid was originally formed as a Madrid-based (natch!) supporters club of Athletic Bilbao. You're welcome

 

[gordoncharles]

Duplicate post.. sorry

 

[benn5712]

Duplicate post.. sorry

Satdeh mornin', two pages in and not one of these.

Just sayin'.

 

[Sean Thornton]

They've relaxed their rules steadily over the years in order to remain competitive.

Children of Basques, grandchildren of Basques, kids who moved to the Basque region at some undefined age. And the definition of Basque is pretty fuzzy, many of their players have been from Navarra and most people there certainly do not consider themselves to be Basque.

Real Sociedad had a similar policy which they scrapped 30 years ago, but over the last few years they've had more locals in their side than Athletic have had in theirs. of their current squad 11 came through their own youth system.

Navarre has Basque speaking regions .

 

[super_pig]

I was in Bilbao about 3 years ago. If you want to get to Spain cheaply, it’s not a bad place to fly to.

EasyJet from Manchester.

There, in the Basque Country, they’ve kept up a tradition for years. Favouring local kids from that region to play for their team.

Considering this they’ve done very well to compete against Spanish teams with the biggest budgets amongst the world’s elite. There are more than a few similarities with us. Not least they play in red n white stripes.

If you are considering visiting then the world famous Guggenheim museum is a must see. But probably best viewed from the outside. Unless you appreciate modern art? It consists of potato prints of a monkey’s head in one gallery and old vacuum cleaners in their original cardboard boxes, from the 1960’s in another.

The tapas is excellent. The nearby Picos de Europa mountains are stunning. It’s beautiful and green - because it rains a lot!

After a few days there and the forecast of thunderstorms for the next week, we cut and run and headed for Southern France to find some sun. Pity really as it is a very nice region and very different from the rest of Spain.

Just like their splendid football team.

Just like our splendid football team.

Sometimes it’s good to be different.

bloody savage .. those ‘vacuum cleaners’ are a masterpiece don’t you know!

 

[Brussblade]

It would be really interesting if we adopted a policy of ‘Yorkshire only’ in the same way they only have players from the Basque Country. The team would be pretty good if you had the best of the best. Cahill, Walker, Milner, mcburnie. It would be interesting to see how far they’d get. It would however, clash with the EU policy on discrimination in the work place and we’d be sued for that at some point. I’m not totally sure how Bilbao have got away with it but I do respect it.

Might have to extend it to north Derbyshire and Notts then!