Euskal Non-League Day: CD Santurtzi

Location: Santurtzi
Ground: Campo de San Jorge
Division: División de Honor (Sixth tier)
Match: CD Santurtzi vs CD Getxo (Friendly) (Sept 9. 17:30 CEST)

The first edition of Euskal Non-League Day brings together two iconic teams from Bizkaia. CD Santurtzi will take on CD Getxo at San Jorge (Saturday, September 9 at 17:30 CEST) in a friendly which has been specially organised for the event.

Founded in 1952, Santurtzi have always placed a special focus on community and youth development. Like so many other clubs in the region, the Purples work every single day of the year with the aim of getting academy graduates into their senior side, and eventually, into Athletic's.

The club have spent most of their history between the Tercera División and the División de Honor. But their biggest triump came in the 1988/89 campaign when they won the Tercera and jumped into the Segunda B, where they stayed for four seasons.

From the Urras to Nerea Nevado

If there are two players who personify the academy work done in the town of Santurtzi, it is father and son duo Isidoro and José Manuel Urra - both of whom played for Los Morados before wearing the red and white of Athletic.

Isidoro Urra made 124 appearances as a Lion between 1935 and 1946, winning two LaLiga championships (1935/36 and 1942/43), three consecutive Copas (between 1942 and 1945) and two Regional Championships (1938/39 and 1939/40) -a brilliant record which very few players achieve. In 1966, 20 years after retiring, his son José Manuel made an Athletic Club after coming up through the ranks at Santurtzi.

The other players who to have lined up for both clubs are Francisco Javier Luke, Crescencio Cuéllar, Gontzal Rodríguez and Unai Expósito.

Nerea Nevado, and under-17 world champion, also hails from Santurtzi, spending time with the outfit before joining Bizkerre FT and finally moving on to Athletic Club. She played for Santurtzi between 2008 and 2015, where she was the captain and only female player in a mixed team. Curiously, another Lion, the aforementioned Unai Expósito, was one of her coaches.

CD Santurtzi KE are planning to donate part of the proceeds from the prize raffle (two Athletic tops plus double VIP tickets for Athletic vs Cadiz) to Ama, Txo!, a charity that campaigns for accessibility, the right to work and the right to a healthy life for people with disabilities.