Etxeberria signs to play for free

Joseba Etxeberria has signed a one-year contract extension with Athletic Bilbao which will see him play the final season of his career for nothing. BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Etxeberria signs to play for free

This really puts the likes of Bobo to shame. Great gesture by the player. Good on him

 

That's what i would do with Celtic if i was that age.

well in to the player, I'm sure Riquelme done this with Boca for a while.

 

Fair play to the lad although is it Loyalty or stupidity?

 

Loyalty.

 

Loyalty. He's made his money in the game.

 

If only more players were like that good to hear that.

 

Fantastic gesture, hope he has a great season!

 

That's the club that only has players from a certain area isn't it?

I can remember Etxeberria as a striker on my Sensible Soccer game years ago, yet he's only just turned 31...which is a pretty young age to retire really.

 

Yeh it is the basque country im almost sure. its a bit like barcelona and catalan, they dont see their self as spanish and want indepednence. Noone from outside has ever played for them yet they maintain a solid la liga team.
Its that green,red and white union jack thingy you sometimes see at CP

 

BAsque. Athletic only sign Basque players. They're very often escaping relegation by a baw hair.

Flag is called the Ikurriña. I think it was invented around 1975 or so. Could be wrong about that. Surprised at him retiring so young. Must ahve a good real job.



The TC member Trintxerpe is the best guy to fill us all in. He's from Vitoria, where Alavés are from. The province of Álava / Áraba.

 

Thats the one I was looking for

 

I read an article which said that Athletic fans in a survey would rather see their team relegated than sign a non-Basque player. Their thinking is that they would always be one of the strongest sides in the second division and they wouldn't have a hard time getting back up because their players are more loyal to their team.

 

I cant make head nor tail of it to be honest.
Some people have the cheek to say us and the huns live in the dark ages

 

They have been pretty * to watch for a number of years tbh. Real Sociedad, their hated Basque rivals from San Sebastian, dropped the Basque only rule a number of years ago and went down and didn't make it back up last season. Good rule or bad rule? Dunno. Certainly restricts your options. Admire Etxeberria though.

 

Hope hes brilliant for them man quite young to retire at 31 though

 

Yeah, although it was good when the orcs limited themselves to signing ONLY ugly orange *. Now they've got ugly * from abroad, it's not quite the same...

 

Did Paul Telfer not do this at Coventry or something when he got injured?

Felt guilty taking the money as he couldnt pay it back into the team and waived his fees?

Always liked Telfer, very profesional just not a very good player. Could be a lesson to the likes of Bobo

 

Some notes:

-Athletic does only sign basque players, or foreigners that learn to play football in a basque youth team. Both are valid nowadays.

-In recent times, the team has been escaping relegation, and the last time it qualified for CL was season 97/98 (2nd place). Last UEFA Cup qualification was in 2004 i think.

-The biggest problem for the club isn't the club philosophy itself. Basque players are good enough to mantain a club in La Liga. But Athletic's youth squads are in crisis and are not developing many good players. And the other clubs sell good basque players to Athletic at a high price because they know the team has less possibilities to choose.

Airdrie Onion: Basque Flag is a 19th century design by the founder of Basque Nationalist Party. It was official for the first time in 1936 (Basque Autonomy in the Spanish Civil War).


PS: I just realized the thread has been inactive for more than 2 weeks i answered because they linked this thread here .