Praise for Athletic Club from ECA participants

The 45 clubs in the European Club Association (ECA) that participated in the congress held at San Mamés on Tuesday and Wednesday left with a great sense of satisfaction about how the conference went.

What’s more, they were also impressed with Athletic Club’s project, the structure and organisation of Lezama, the facilities at the training centre and the stadium, where many of them were able to watch our win against Levante UD. On top of that there was particular praise for the way in which the Lions’ philosophy has created a sense of belonging among players, fans and staff.

Beyond the interesting presentations given by other clubs at the event, such as Olympique Lyon’s and TSG Hoffenheim’s -two benchmarks in the world when it comes to producing young talent- Athletic Club shared its own known knowledge with president Aitor Elizegi, Andoni Ayarza (deputy director of sport), Andoni Bombín (head of methodology) and first-team player Oier Zarraga talking about their experiences. The latter gave a detailed account on what it was like to grow up at Lezama before going on to play elite-level football for Athletic.

In addition, Athletic Club interviewed four representatives from some of the clubs taking part in the congress. Here are some of their reflections on our club:

Jean-Francois Vulliez (Olympique Lyon):

“It’s an honour to be here today because Athletic Club inspires all the clubs in the world, in France too. I think we have similar values about our vision, about roots and about identity, because Lyon is a famous club for producing and training young players. I think you are a special club here. You have a very strong identity and your capacity to promote players to the first team is incredible.”

Jens Rasiejewski (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim):

“It was on my bucket list to one day get a chance to get to see Athletic up close because it’s so unique in the football world: how you think about things, how you think about the constraints you have made in your football club, how you work with that and how you develop young players. The sentence I’ll take away is ‘the sense of belonging’. We can feel that everywhere. San Mamés is one of the finest stadiums I’ve ever seen because it’s so pure.”

Vassilis Nanos (Olympiakos):

“We have a lot of things in common. Head coach Ernesto Valverde spent many years at our club, helping us to change our mentality and our winning culture. This was very important for us and also Bilbao is very similar to Piraeus. At Olympiakos, the community is also very close to the club. This sense of belonging is very important for the kids and for the academy, because it provides motivation for the kids to keep going, to keep training, and to achieve their goals. I found the atmosphere at San Mames incredible. It was amazing to see families and kids celebrating with their team.”

Pedro Mil-Homens (SL Benfica):

“Being an Athletic player means more than just playing football or having a contract. It’s a completely different way of living football to what we have at Benfica or other clubs, it’s a feeling. Athletic means something in Portugal, people recognise that you have a different approach, a more cultural approach to what it means to be a football player. Congratulations for that.