Which club is only allowed to sign Basque players?

I sound like a pub quiz host but I've just been offered a job with Athletic Bilbao and I know there is a club which is only allowed to sign Basque players. Is it them?

Yes.

........

Yeah don't know if they are the only ones though.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Makes my decision harder now though

Was going to say Real Soceidad as they are a basque club, but AFAIK they signed that Welshman from Crewe when Coleman took over.

Maybe some lower-league clubs Neji, I dunno.

Just checked around and it seems that Bilbao are the only team who have a policy to only have Basque players. Real Sociedad is a Basque club but they can sign anyone.

Also found out that there is a Basque Country national football team!

"The Basque Country national football team is the official football team for Basque Country, located in both Spain and France. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, because it is represented internationally by the Spanish National Football Team and French National Football Team. It only plays friendly matches."

Thanks for the extra info

I'm basically playing around with my current save just to put me on until 09 comes out. So, I'm not looking for a challenge which I think that may be. They are 17th in the league and want me to challenge for the title in 2 years, only signing basque players, I'm not confident so I think I will pass

I thought Bilbao had changed there policy now? I did here it being spoken about on sky last season.I'am probably wrong though.

I thought Bilbao had changed there policy now? I did here it being spoken about on sky last season.I'am probably wrong though.

Not in FM08, it seems.

Just checked around and it seems that Bilbao are the only team who have a policy to only have Basque players. Real Sociedad is a Basque club but they can sign anyone.

Also found out that there is a Basque Country national football team!

"The Basque Country national football team is the official football team for Basque Country, located in both Spain and France. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, because it is represented internationally by the Spanish National Football Team and French National Football Team. It only plays friendly matches."

There's a Catalan one, too.

I started a game with Bilbao once on 07 or 08.

After attempting to buy a player and being told of the rule I decided to run for the hills.

I thought Bilbao had changed there policy now? I did here it being spoken about on sky last season.I'am probably wrong though.

Nope. I'm pretty sure they've stuck to their policy of Basque only players.

Barakaldo are another team that have the Basque only policy, although they did sign someone from West Brom recently. Also, I think Aurrerá de Vitoria are another that have that policy although I'm not too sure on that front.

They've changed their policy on having a shrit sponsor, they still can only sign Basque players

speaking of Bilbao, anybody see that Joseba Etxeberria is playing for them for free for his last season before he retires, fair play to the bloke, we all know we'll never see this in an english team, the moaning little so and so's

Ok call me stupid if you wish but what the hell are Basque players, I've gathered it's something to do with France and Spain from further up but could someone please tell me what the hell this means!

The Catalan team are Barcelona, they are nicknamed the Catalans iirc and I only learnt this after reading Sir Bobby Robson's autobiography so hope I've shed some light for some people on that 1!

Catalonia is region in north Eastern spain, Barcelona is only one province of it. Has its own language and is autonomous if im not mistaken.

Basque region is fairly similar deal except its North western and the region also encompasses some of southern France.

So basically At. Bilbao can only sign Spanish and possibly French players? WOW! I will definitely have a go at this 1 when FM09 comes out!

Cheers for clearing that up mate

Only players with Basque second nationality which if you look on a map is a ludicrously small region, yet Bilbao have managed to be competative in top league for good number of years. Got to be something in the water.

Only players with Basque second nationality which if you look on a map is a ludicrously small region, yet Bilbao have managed to be competative in top league for good number of years. Got to be something in the water.

It's even better than that, they're the only club together with Barça and Real Madrid in the history of La Liga who've never been relegated. That's impressive to say the least, especially when you consider the stature of the the other 2 clubs.

Was going to say Real Soceidad as they are a basque club, but AFAIK they signed that Welshman from Crewe when Coleman took over.

Maybe some lower-league clubs Neji, I dunno.

For many years, Real Sociedad followed the practice of their Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao of signing only Basque players. They abandoned the policy in 1989 when they signed Irish international John Aldridge from Liverpool.

in the CM series (00-01 in particuar), soceidad could not sign any spanish players, which i think was a bug personally.

In the last 10-12 years Bilbao have relaxed their attitude towards players national heritage, while still trying to keep some form of Basque pre-requisite - if a player has Basque parentage for example. Another example being if a player has no Basque heritage but has progressed through the academy from a young age - Lizarazu, who is a French national played for them in his early career.

Edit- I just remembered, Sociedads first non-Basque signing was John Aldridge from Liverpool in 1989.

As far as I'm aware the policy for Bilbao is -

Players of Basque heritage only. It used to be players born in the basque region only but has now been relaxed to include players with basque parents (for example, they are now scouring South American countries for players with Basque heritage.)

Real Sociedad was players of Basque origin and foreigners, no players of Spanish nationality. A previous poster mentioned this was included in a previous CM/FM and thought it was a bug. It wasn't. I'm not entirely sure if Sociedad have relaxed this rule now and are willing to sign Spanish players or not.

In the last 10-12 years Bilbao have relaxed their attitude towards players national heritage, while still trying to keep some form of Basque pre-requisite - if a player has Basque parentage for example. Another example being if a player has no Basque heritage but has progressed through the academy from a young age - Lizarazu, who is a French national played for them in his early career.

Lizarazu was from the Basque region of France.

Lizarazu was from the Basque region of France.

Yeah, the first French Basque they signed.

In low league there appears to be two more teams that only have Basque players.

1. Real Unión Club de Irún: plays in Segunda División B - Group 1.

2. Arenas Club de Getxo: plays in Tercera Division-Group 4.

These two clubs only have Basque players in their current squad. Also as far as wikipedia lists famous players it's only Spanish and French Basques. Real Union has had one Argentinian player, but I presume he has Basque relations as his name was Juan Errazquin. Sounds Basque

I don't actually know if it's implemented in FM08, or if it will be in FM09. It doesn't really matter, as these clubs will never have means to sign anything but local players...

Ok call me stupid if you wish but what the hell are Basque players, I've gathered it's something to do with France and Spain from further up but could someone please tell me what the hell this means!

The Catalan team are Barcelona, they are nicknamed the Catalans iirc and I only learnt this after reading Sir Bobby Robson's autobiography so hope I've shed some light for some people on that 1!

Your statement that the Catalan team are Barcelona is slightly inaccurate. Any team from Catalonia is Catalan. The biggest two are Barcelona and Espanyol, but there are many smaller ones. There is also a Catalan national football team, which is not FIFA-affiliated, but does play matches.

Basque players are those from the Basque region, which incorporates an area of northern Spain and southwest France. There are many clubs from this region, including Athletic Bilbao, who will only sign Basque players. Again, there is also a Basque national football team.

However, players who play for the Catalan or Basque national teams can and do also play for the full Spanish national team.

In low league there appears to be two more teams that only have Basque players.

1. Real Unión Club de Irún: plays in Segunda División B - Group 1.

2. Arenas Club de Getxo: plays in Tercera Division-Group 4.

Barakaldo also only sign Basque players.

There is a top cycling team, Euskaltel - Euskadi who also operate the same policy - they only sign Basque cyclists, so it's common place.

There's a team in the lower leagues who also uses this policy - Cultural Durango. I don't think they are in a playable league in FM08 but they were a couple of years ago.

It's even better than that, they're the only club together with Barça and Real Madrid in the history of La Liga who've never been relegated. That's impressive to say the least, especially when you consider the stature of the the other 2 clubs.

It's akin to Liverpool deciding that from now on they'll only sign "Scouse" players, and then remaining in the EPL for decades.

It really is a remarkable achievement by Bilbao.

Barakaldo also only sign Basque players.

There is a top cycling team, Euskaltel - Euskadi who also operate the same policy - they only sign Basque cyclists, so it's common place.

Isn't that the Bilbao reserves?? Forgive me if i'm incorrect....

Reference regional teams like the Basque country and Catalonia, Andalucia have their own team. They consist of players who come from Sevilla, Almeria, etc... and from other areas of that region. One of the most famous players to play for them was ex-Real Madrid and ex-Bolton Wanderers defender Fernando Hierro who comes from Malaga. These regional teams normally play matches during the Spanish league winter break and is seen more as a celebration of regional identity.

Great thread - very interesting. Makes you want to start a game as Bilbao too.

Also - Bilbao play in red and white stripes due to the influx of miners from sunderland who created the club many moons ago (I think)

Know a couple of Sunderland supporters who wear a bilbao top at game sometimes

Great thread - very interesting. Makes you want to start a game as Bilbao too.

Also - Bilbao play in red and white stripes due to the influx of miners from sunderland who created the club many moons ago (I think)

Know a couple of Sunderland supporters who wear a bilbao top at game sometimes

I believe that is also the reason why they retain the English spelling "Athletic", not the Spanish "Atlético".

I believe that is also the reason why they retain the English spelling "Athletic", not the Spanish "Atlético".

I didn't know that

i just presumed it was Athletico

Has there ever been a better Basque than Xabi Alonso?

On another note, I know someone who speaks fluent Catalan.

I believe there are three clubs who sign only Basque players. Athletic Bilbao, Baracaldo and Sestao. There may be a couple of others. Real Sociedad dropped this practice in 1989 as they struggled to compete with their more illustrious neighbours. And yes, John Aldridge, tash and all was their first foreign signing. Mind you he did very well indeed.

Although Espanyol are from the Catalan region, isn't it true that they are seen as the Spanish team of this region? Hence the name.

Espanyol are seen as the Spanish team while Barcelona are seen as the Catalan team. However Espanyol has achieved it's success with local lads while Barcelona has managed it with "foreign" players. True Barcelona have a lot of great youth players but it's the foreigners who gave them that extra lift. Cruyff, Stoichkov, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Salinas, Hesp and a long etc.

in the CM series (00-01 in particuar), soceidad could not sign any spanish players, which i think was a bug personally.

I don't think that was a bug - they abandoned their only-Basque policy when they signed Aldridge, but they would only sign foreigners or Basque players. Defender Boris was the first non-Basque Spaniard they signed. I imagine they have abandoned any self-imposed restrictions now.

I think it's true about Sociedad having previously on Basque Spaniards (oxymoron?) but were allowed to sign foreign players. They used to be Basque only but then Bilbao broke an agreement not to poach each others players so Sociedad realised they had to change their tune to continue. I wouldn't be surprised if they have dropped the policy completely now.

Although Espanyol are from the Catalan region, isn't it true that they are seen as the Spanish team of this region? Hence the name.

They were formed in response to Barça's creation by a swis ex-pat (Gamper). Barça are stilled referred to as the 'Suizos' (swiss) by Espanyol fans.

As far as I'm aware the policy for Bilbao is -

Players of Basque heritage only. It used to be players born in the basque region only but has now been relaxed to include players with basque parents (for example, they are now scouring South American countries for players with Basque heritage.)

The current Athletic centre-back Amorebieta is a prime example of this - he was born in Venezuela.