Athletic Club: a unique goalkeeping dynasty
Athletic Club: a unique goalkeeping dynasty
Unai Simón’s nomination for the Ballon d’Or/Yashin Trophy is the perfect oppor-tunity to pay tribute to six other legendary Athletic goalkeepers: Ibarreche, Blasco, Lezama, Carmelo, Iribar and Zubizarreta
On 26 October, the prestigious magazine France Football will host its annual Ballon d’Or ceremony and announce the recipient of the Yashin Trophy, awarded to the world’s best goalkeeper.
Unai Simón, who was in the running for the accolade two seasons ago, is one of the 2026 candidates and his nomination provides the perfect opportunity to highlight the extraordi-nary number of excellent goalkeepers that have worn the Athletic Club shirt.
Athletic Club's history can be defined by its most outstanding shotstoppers. Between them Cecilio Ibarreche (1913–17), Gregorio Blasco (1927–36), Raimundo Pérez Lezama (1942–57), Carmelo Cedrún (1951–63), José Ángel Iribar (1962–79), Andoni Zubizarreta (1981–86) and Unai Simón (2018–present) have won a total of nine La Ligas (Lezama and Car-melo shared the 1956 title), 20 Copas del Rey, two Super Cups, one Copa Eva Duarte, 10 Regional Championships, six Zamora Trophies, one World Cup and two European Cham-pionships.
It's a truly unique goalkeeping dynasty – and we've not even mentioned other Rojiblanco goalkeepers (Vidal, Echevarria, Iraizoz, Aranzubia, Arrizabalaga...) who also stand out for outstanding achievements, such as decorated interna-tional careers or winning the Zamora Trophy for fewest goals conceded in a LaLiga season.
Unique in the Team, Unique in the World
Athletic Club is launching a campaign called 'Unique in the Team, Unique in the World' to link the Lions' exceptional goalkeeping dynasty and those shotsoppers' unique role within the team to the club’s own distinct identity.
After all, much of what can be said about a goalkeeper – “Unique in the Team” – is the same as what can be said about Athletic Club – “Unique in the World”:
He seems like just another player, but he isn’t.
He dresses differently, but he doesn't stand out.
He plays by different rules, but nobody notices.
He’s almost always alone, but he's still part of the game.
He's rarely the hero, but when he is, he is forever.
Because when it comes down to it, he's one of a kind.
And it's no accident that, in a position reserved just for one,
Athletic have had so many top goalkeepers.
Because being different doesn’t mean playing a different game.
