Athletic Club Women debuts in 2020-21

Despite the 2020-21 season being long and challenging, there were some postives to take. As an academy-based side, Athletic Club can be pleased that in the women’s team several home-grown players made their debuts in 2020-21.

In the 2019-20 campaign, which was halted by the pandemic, three players from the reserve team made their debuts: Amaiur Sarriegi, Irene Oguiza and Naroa Uriarte. However, this season the number of debuts has doubled with six young players taking part with the first team. They are Paula Arana, Bibiane Schulze, Mariana Cerro, Clara Pinedo, Alejandra Estefanía and Naia Landaluze.

The first to get minutes was striker Arana, who played in season opener against Deportivo Abanca. Arana was substituted in the 57th minute and showed glimpses of her quality. She has since played in nine more games with the first team and, after Leyre Monente and Irene Oguiza, she’s been the most used youth player.

In the following fixture, Bibiane Schulze made her debut and became the 100th player to wear the first-team shirt. The left-footed player came on in the final minutes during the Lionesses 2-0 win over Sevilla back in October.

It would take several months before there was another debut. Mariana Cerro played her first minutes as a Lioness on April 4 in the win over Santa Teresa. The midfielder went on to play in two more matches, both against FC Barcelona. Mariana was the first player given her debut by Iraia Iturregi.

Clara Pinedo and Alejandra Estefanía made their debuts during the Matchday 32 fixture against Levante UD in Buñol. Just a few days before taking their university entrance exams, they played a few minutes of the second half. At 17, they were the youngest players to make the step up this season. Pinedo was the top scorer in the ‘B’ team (tied with Landaluze with 6 goals) and Estefa had more gametime with the reserves than anyone else, with almost 2000 minutes.

The most recent Lioness to make her debut was Naia Landaluze. The defender played almost the entire second half against FC Barcelona in Athletic’s last home game of the season. She showed a lot of intensity and grit on the pitch.

Istillart & Amaia Peña

Sophie Istillart, who joined Athletic last summer, made her debut against CDEF Logroño. It meant the midfielder became the first woman from the French Basque Country to play for the Lionesses. The Bayonne native, who suffered a muscular injury in pre-season, was one of the most consistent players of the season.

She has only missed two matches: the first Primera Iberdrola fixture due to injury and the match against Granadilla in Tenerife in which she was suspended for picking up five yellow cards. Sophie wore the number 15 in her first season as a Lioness, and played 2341 minutes.

The player from Portugalete made her debut on October 18 2020 against Real Betis at home and would go on to play four more full matches. During the last two home matches -against Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona- she was one of the standout performers.