Classic Players: Joseba Exteberria – Dedicated to the Athletic Bilbao cause

Continuing with our look at the classic aspects of Spanish football, Richard Martin focuses on a man who dedicated himself to a cause – a Basque cause – one which ran through his veins each and every day.

“I assumed that there were going to be emotional moments today,” said Athletic Bilbao’s Joseba Etxeberria after he played his last game for the club. He wasn’t wrong. Upon leaving the field against Deportivo La Coruña after being substituted with twenty minutes to go, the balding winger went up and hugged each and every one of his team mates individually (including goalkeeper Armando, who came out of his goal to the halfway line to perform the embrace) and then broke into tears as he left the San Mamés pitch for the very last time. There was no kissing of the badge, it wasn’t needed – the love he felt for the club was plain to see, and the reaction he got from the crowd showed that the feeling was mutual. On 15^th May 2010, Athletic didn’t say goodbye to just a talented player, but to a true club legend.

Although an Athletic fan as a boy, Exteberria grew up not in the region of Vizcaya (where Bilbao is the capital) but in Elgoibar, a small town in the Basque region Gipuzkoa. He started his fledgling footballing career in the Real Sociedad youth team, progressing to the first team in 1995. He played just seven games that season, but attracted enough attention to make the Spain team for the 1995 under-20 World Cup in Qatar, in which he was the top scorer. His awesome pace, dribbling ability and eye for goal attracted transfer interest from Real Betis and Athletic; he subsequently signed from Sociedad for Athletic that same summer for 550m pesetas (around €3m), an unprecedentedly high price for a player of his age – 17 years old – in that era. It was not the first time that Athletic had poached the most promising players from their Basque neighbours, though there was a gentleman’s agreement between the two clubs that neither would do such a thing. That was, until now, and it only deepened the rift between the two rival clubs to such a level that relations between them were broken off all together for years.  Games between the two sides saw Sociedad’s fans wave fake money and throw bottles at Exteberria.

Some of Joseba Exteberria’s goals while with Athletic

He got off to a dream start on his debut, scoring in a 4-0 routing of Racing Santander at home, his first of ten goals in an otherwise forgettable season for Athletic, in which they just survived relegation on the last day of the season. Things picked up the following season and, lead by a formidable partnership between Etxeberria and Julen Guerrero, Athletic qualified for the UEFA cup. They went one better the following season in 1997/98 and came second in La Liga, qualifying for the Champions League thanks to a 1-0 win against Real Zaragoza on the last day of the season, the decisive goal being scored by Etxeberria. Incredible scenes in San Mames and Bilbao followed, and on an open top tour through the city, the goalscoring hero announced to an adoring crowd: “I am proud to be Basque, but prouder to be Athletic.”

Since then Athletic have never quite scaled the same heights, and although Etxeberria retired from football with his head held high, he also did so without a trophy. His best opportunity came in the 2009 Copa del Rey final, which Athletic lost 4-1 to Barcelona. Never one to hide his emotions, he was in tears as he went to collect his runners-up medal, knowing that his best remaining chance to win anything had gone.

But a lack of trophies still does not take the gloss off being a true legend at one of Spain’s greatest clubs. Joseba Etxeberria was to Athletic what Ryan Giggs is to Manchester United, what Alan Shearer was to Newcastle, what Pep Guardiola (as a player) was to Barcelona – a long standing servant to a club whose spirit ran through his veins.

The man known as El Gallo (the rooster) played for Athletic for fifteen seasons, racking up 514 appearances and netting 104 goals, but it wasn’t just his skills as a footballer that endeared him to fans, it was the way he conducted himself off the pitch, too. In October 2008 he announced that he would play the entirety of season 2009/10 – his last at the club and as a professional footballer – without receiving a wage, as a way of saying thanks to the club that had treated him so well. In an era where money is the domineering force in football, Etxeberria’s gesture was as surprising as it was heart warming.

Footage of the Joseba Exteberria testimonial, in which 11 Athletic players faced 100 children!

Yet it wouldn’t have surprised anyone who knew the player or the club involved. After all, Athletic Bilbao isn’t any old club, but one which has a true connection with its fan-base and local community. In an interview with radio station SER the day after that final game against Deportivo, Etxeberria signed off with the words: “This has been a dream that has lasted 15 years.” It’s not uncommon for professional footballers to make grandiose statements about the love they feel for their club, but on this occasion, you knew that these words were coming from a man who meant them.

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Tags: Athletic Bilbao, Joseba Exteberria, Richard Martin, San Mames