Erika Vázquez to hang up her boots

Erika Vázquez will retire at the end of the current season. The 39-year-old striker will bring an end to her 17-season career as a Lionesses with Athletic Club Women’s match against Sevilla CF on Sunday.

Erika added to her legend when broke Eli Ibarra’s record of 413 official appearances on 9 February against Atlético de Madrid. Right now, and with one game left in the season, she has played a total of 422 games for the Lionesses. Furthemore, she has three league titles to her name.

The versatile striker not only leads the ranking in terms of games played, but she is also the top scorer in Athletic Club Women history with 263 goals.  In fact across the entire club, only the great Telmo Zarra is ahead of her. What’s more, her 17 seasons of action at Lezama make her the longest-serving player in the Lionesses’ history.

She made her top-flight debut with SD Lagunak in 2002/03. Two years later, former Athletic boss Iñigo Juaristi signed Erika for the then reigning champions. Her first game as a Rojiblanca came in the Champions League against Irish side Newtownabbey Strikers. In fact, in that match she scored the first of her many goals in red and white. A year later she won her first league title at at Lezama (2004/05), she repeated the feat in 2006/07 and 2015/16.

She left Athletic to play for RCD Espanyol in the 2010/11 season but returned to Lezama a year later, being a pillar in the dressing room ever since.

After 20 seasons in the elite, this Sunday the Athletic fans will say goodbye to a club legend who became synonymous with goals over the past two decades. This weekend she has one final chance to add to her tally, a figure which is already out of reach for many players.