Since 1912, Athletic Bilbao have employed a "cantera policy", which has come to be defined in an official (although not legally binding) signing policy whereby they will only recruit players with some link to the Basque Country. One of the main beneficiaries of the policy has been the Spain national team. Athletic has provided numerous players for it, second only to Real Madrid.
During the early 1920s, the Basque Country was a breeding ground of great Spanish players. It was the first area where the sport really became popular, and the influx of immigrants from all over Spain was also a factor in the region producing dozens of quality players. In 1920, Spain made their international debut and entered a team in the Olympic Games. Of the 21 players in the squad, 14 were Basques, among them Pichichi, José María Belauste, Domingo Acedo and Félix Sesúmaga.
Athletic were not the only club to have a cantera policy — fellow Basque club Real Sociedad operated a similar policy until 1989. Neither were Athletic the only Basque club that provided players for the 1920 Olympics squad. Real Sociedad, Real Unión and Arenas Club de Getxo also provided players. In 1928, these four clubs became founding members of La Liga, demonstrating further the strength in depth of the Basque canteras at the time. The saying "Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación", translated as "With home-grown teams and supporters, there is no need for imports", made sense during these early days.
Although Barcelona and Real Madrid are well known for regularly recruiting foreign players, both are renowned worldwide for producing local players. Along with Athletic Bilbao (see Bilbao Athletic), both clubs have notable reserve teams (Barcelona B and Real Madrid Castilla respectively) that are predominantly made up of Spanish players.
As well as producing players from their own regions, both clubs have also recruited young players from throughout Spain and internationally. Recent examples include Argentines Lionel Messi, Mauro Icardi and Esteban Cambiasso.
Poaching of players
Ever since the early days of football in Spain, one issue for cantera clubs is the poaching or recruiting of their players by other clubs. After the cantera has trained a player, another club will step in with a tempting offer and take them away. The potential of the Basque Country as a recruiting ground for players was recognised by the likes of Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid early on.
Athletic Bilbao, however, have also been regularly accused of poaching. The Athletic policy of recruiting only Basque-players has seen them frequently recruit from the canteras of other Basque clubs. In 1995, Athletic signed Joseba Etxeberria from Real Sociedad, causing considerable ill feeling between the two clubs.
By the 1990s, the poaching of players took on a new dimension. Real Madrid in particular have regularly produced quality players unable to establish themselves with their home club. Some critics have argued that this has partly arisen because these clubs continue to use "imports" at the expense of cantera players. As a result, many graduates of the canteras seek their fortune elsewhere and are willing to be poached. Initially, cantera players only moved to other Spanish clubs, but in more recent times, English Premier League clubs have begun recognizing the potential of the canteras. In 2003, Arsenal persuaded Cesc Fàbregas to leave Barcelona B with a much higher salary that Barcelona could not offer due to Spanish contractual law.
More recently, teenage star Fran Mérida followed Fàbregas' footsteps and played some time for Arsenal's reserve team before returning to La Liga in 2010 with Atlético Madrid. Another emerging Barça B player, Gerard Piqué, subsequently signed for Manchester United, though he has since moved back to Barcelona. Since then, Rafael Benítez, himself a product of the cantera, has recruited Luis García Sanz, Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres for Liverpool, while Mikel Arteta established himself at Everton. Luis García Sanz, Reina and Arteta all began their career at Barça; Alonso started out at Real Sociedad; and Torres developed in the Atlético system.
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The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club Athletic Bilbao is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
Since 1912, the Spanish football club Athletic Bilbao has had an unwritten rule whereby the club will only sign players who were born in the Basque Country or who learned their football skills at a Basque club. On occasion, youth players have also been invited to join due to ancestral links to the region, but no senior players have been signed based on Basque heritage alone.
The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club Real Sociedad is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club CA Osasuna is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
The term Basque derbies refers to the various local derbies between the football teams based in the Basque Country, Spain. This can also include the province of Navarre outside of the autonomous community. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans.
Athletic Bilbao is a Spanish football club from Bilbao, Biscay in the Basque Country.
The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions.
The 2020–21 season was the 122nd season in the existence of Athletic Bilbao and the club's 90th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Athletic Bilbao participated in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España. The season covered the period from 20 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, with the late start to the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
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