Erika Vázquez: a record 16 seasons with Athletic

Last Saturday, Erika Vázquez became the first female footballer in Athletic Club history to pull on the red-and-white shirt for 16 seasons. After getting her first minutes of the Primera Iberdrola 2020-21 campaign at the Antonio Puchades, the striker surpassed the 15 seasons that Eli Ibarra, Iraia Iturregi and Ainhoa Tirapu had spent with the first team.

What’s more, thanks to her strike against Valencia FCF, she has also managed to score at least one goal in all of those 16 seasons. Although it hasn’t been completely consecutive -Erika spent one season at RCD Espanyol in 2010-11-, her record of 392 matches places her ever higher on the list of all-time club appearances.

The striker’s 392 official appearances puts her in third place on the all-time rankings for matches played. Iraia Iturregi, with 402 matches, is second and former captain Eli Ibarra is at the top of the list with 413 games. This means Erika Vázquez could possibly break the record at some point this season.

Th goal queen

When it comes to her goalscoring exploits, Erika has netted 261 times, meaning in the history of Athletic Club, only Telmo Zarra (335 goals) scored more times than her. The striker’s standout season came in 2008-09, when she hit the back of the net 33 times.

Erika made her Athletic debut in 2004, scoring once in a 10-3 Champions League victory over Newtonabbey Strikers. She went on to make her league debut against childhood club, SD Lagunak. Furthermore, she holds the distinct achievement of having scored seven times in one game, the feat coming against Maltese side Birkirkara in a Champions League match. Throughout her career, Erika has scored 14 hat-tricks and four hauls, and on top of that, she has grabbed a brace (41 in total) in every single of the 15 seasons she’s spent at Athletic. Coincidentally, her last double came against the lionesses’ upcoming rivals, Madrid CFF.