By Coruña Loyal
56 years have elapsed since the last time Rangers and Athletic Bilbao locked horns in European competition. A quarter-final of the Fairs Cup, the equivalent of the current Europa League.
In that season, both squads included players who would go on to become well known managers, Sir Alex Ferguson in the Ibrox team and Javier Clemente in the Athletic side – the man who fifteen years later would guide them to two consecutive league titles, their last league silverware up to date.
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Both clubs also had traditions for which they have been known around the world of football. All eleven players in the Spanish side were born in the basque country or at least were raised in their famous Lezama youth set-up.
That tradition though, has changed through the years from a simple and pure football heritage to a more political arm. In the pre-monarchy days in Spain, it would have been unthinkable of making use of that arm to distance themselves from the rest of the field in Spanish football. Now it is used as another excuse to protect and strengthen Basque nationalism.
Mind you, Athletic Bilbao are not classified as a plc company. they, alongside the big two, avoided the law that every top club in the country had to go through in 1992 and stayed simply a football club, with the chairman being elected by the members (socios) via a poll every four years. Av t this point things become interesting. The major political parties in the Basque country have always tried placing one of their members in the Athletic board. This ensues that the club always becomes part of the political life in the region.
Not that the club’s support fully enjoy their board’s ideas. Gone are the days where young fans stood as a club branch in a particular area of the old San Mamés stadium. The ongoing argument between the club and their infamous ultra group “Herri Norte Taldea”, publicly associated with the Basque extreme left, took another twist when missiles were thrown at the Olympic Stadium in Rome in their Europa League match in September 2024. This has led the club to expel two season-ticket members and try and charge fifteen identified club fans with the 30,000€ fine imposed by uefa.
Nor do all the fans enjoy at all the political side of it. The atmosphere at the San Mamés stadium, if electric and partisan at times, is composed of people from just the whole of the basque region, fans with very different backgrounds more inclined to support their team rather than show their ideology.
Remember that this is by far the best supported club in the region, well ahead of Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alavés, a club with a strong support in nearby regions like Aavarra or La Rioja, a club with almost 500 branches all around the Basque Country, Spain and even as far as the United States.
Just like it happened with Real Madrid and Barcelona, Athletic have managed to create an atmosphere where no ultra group presence is noticed throughout the stadium. In the eighties and nineties, those groups were clearly identified behind a goal, not only by their vocal support but also by some of their violent actions. That sort of presence has evaporated and you could barely spot the presence of any branch (let alone the “Herri Norte” lads) inside the San Mamés stadium.
One thing is absolutely sure to happen if, by May 21st 2025, Athletic Bilbao are crowned Europa League champions at their on own patch. Just like they used to do in the 1980´s when the club did the league and cup double, the team will parade the trophy on a boat throughout the River Nervion at the heart of the city in front of thousands of fans. It’s up to Rangers to stop that sailing adventure.