One for all and all for one. Athletic Bilbao: sportive uniqueness, transversal identity
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Published
01-03-2020
Fernando Gutiérrez-Chico
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5491-0347
Abstract
This paper delves into the study of the construction of identity around the football team Athletic Bilbao. Its unique "philosophy", defined by the defense of "the local", is still in use in a context where football is becoming increasingly global. This research is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with 25 Athletic fans residing in Castilla y León (born and not born in the Basque Country), and addresses the reasons for joining and belonging to the club, their understanding of the team's policy on players and their positioning on the rising commodification of football. The study shows that belonging to Athletic Bilbao is defined by a traditional model, whereby clubs act as representatives of their surroundings. This model mixes with an appreciation of "the self" as a bastion against the market rules reigning over modern football. Consequently, Athletic Bilbao's identity is marked by a transversality of interpretations that fans highlight depending on the moment and the circumstances.
How to Cite
Gutiérrez-Chico, F. (2020). One for all and all for one. Athletic Bilbao: sportive uniqueness, transversal identity. Papeles De Identidad, 2020(1), papel 223. https://doi.org/10.1387/pceic.20604
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Keywords
Athletic Bilbao, fan, identity, resistance, transversality
References
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Alcaide Hernández, F. (2009). Fútbol. Fenómeno de fenómenos. Madrid: LID.
Anderson, B. (2006[1983]). Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Londres: Verso.
Aquino, M. (2017). A Panther Among Lions: Iñaki Williams, Race and Basque Identity at Athletic Club de Bilbao. Studia Iberica et Americana, 4, 119-136.
Athletic Club. (2018). Filosofía / Cuál es. Disponible en: https://www.athletic-club.eus/filosofia/cual-es. Última consulta: 05/09/2019.
Ball, P. (2010). Morbo. La historia del fútbol español. Madrid: T&B Editores.
Bauman, Z. (2005). Identidad. Madrid: Losada.
Castells, M. (2010). The Power of Identity. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Castillo, J. C. (2007a). Play Fresh, Play Local: The Case of Athletic de Bilbao. Sport in Society, 10(4), 680-697.
Castillo, J. C. (2007b). The concept of loyalty and the challenge of internationalisation in post-modern Spanish Football. International Journal of Iberian Studies, 20(1), 23-40.
Feixa, C. (2003). Un antropólogo en el fútbol. En F. X. Medina y R. Sánchez (Eds.). Culturas en juego. Ensayos de antropología del deporte en España (pp. 73-102). Barcelona: Icaria.
Giulianotti, R. (1999). Football. A Sociology of the Global Game. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Giulianotti, R. y Robertson, R. (2007). Recovering the social: globalization, football and transnationalism. Global Networks, 7(2), 144-186.
González San Martín, M. (2008). Crónicas del Athletic. Los años funámbulos 2005-2008. Bilbao: BBK.
Groves, M. (2011). Resisting the globalization, standardization and rationalization of football: my journey to Bilbao. Soccer & Society, 12(2), 265-278.
Gutiérrez-Chico, F. (2017). Identities at Play: Non-Basque Supporters' Reflections on Athletic Bilbao's Basque-Only Signing Philosophy. Studia Iberica et Americana, 4, 101-118.
Gutiérrez-Chico, F. (2018). Entre Asensios y Diarras: el Athletic Bilbao y la construcción de identidades. Revista Latina de Sociología, 8(3), 160-171.
Kuper, S. (2006 [1994]). Soccer Against the Enemy. How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Stops Wars, Fuels Revolutions, and Keeps Dictators in Power. Nueva York: Nation Books.
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Llopis-Goig, R. (2013). Identificación con clubes y cultura futbolística en España. Una aproximación sociológica. International Journal of Sport Science, 9(33), 236-251.
MacClancy, J. (2003). Nacionalismo en juego: los vascos de Vizcaya y el Athletic Club de Bilbao. En F. X. Medina y R. Sánchez (Eds.). Culturas en juego. Ensayos de antropología del deporte en España (pp. 137-158). Barcelona: Icaria.
MacClancy, J. (2007). Expressing identities in the Basque arena. Oxford: James Currey.
Quiroga Fernández de Soto, A. (2014). Goles y banderas. Fútbol e identidades nacionales en España. Madrid: Marcial Pons.
Reguera, G. (2008). La identidad de los clubes de fútbol. En L. Solar y G. Reguera (Eds.). Cultura(s) del fútbol (pp. 67-87). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Bassarai.
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Rodrigálvarez, E. (2014). Un soviético en la Catedral. Madrid: Libros del KO.
Rodrigálvarez, E. (2017). ¿Quién puede jugar en el Athletic? El caso Diarra agita la filosofía del club. El País. Disponible en: https://elpais.com/deportes/2017/07/02/actualidad/1499011376_333466.html. Última consulta: 15/02/2019.
Rojo-Labaien, E. (2013). The Media and the Construction of National Identities in Basque Football: Basques and Catalans Booing the Spanish Anthem in the 2009 Cup Championship Final. The International Journal of Sport and Society, 3, 31-42.
Segurola, S. (2008). La ley Bosman y el Athletic. En L. Solar y G. Reguera (Eds.). Cultura(s) del fútbol (pp. 185-189). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Bassarai.
Shulman, J. (2004). The last genuine local team: Athletic Bilbao surviving in the Spanish League. Dialogues@RU, 3, 57-71.
Spaaij, R. y Viñas, C. (2013). Political ideology and activism in football fan culture in Spain: a view from the far left. Soccer & Society, 14(2), 183-200.
Tuñón, J. y Brey, E. (2012). Sports and politics in Spain - Football and nationalist attitudes within the Basque Country and Catalonia. European Journal for Sport and Society, 9(1-2), 7-32.
Unzueta, P. (1999). Fútbol y nacionalismo vasco. En S. Segurola (Ed.). Fútbol y pasiones políticas (pp. 147-168). Madrid: Debate.
Vaczi, M. (2011). Subversive pleasures, losing games: Basque soccer madness. South African Review of Sociology, 42(1), 21-36.
Vaczi, M. (2013a). Bilbao Catch-22: passions and double binds in soccer madness. Sport in Society, 17(2), 190-203.
Vaczi, M. (2013b). "The Spanish Fury": A political geography of soccer in Spain. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(2), 196-210.
Villena Fiengo, S. (2003). Gol-balización, identidades nacionales y fútbol. En P. Alabarces (Ed.). Futbologías. Fútbol, identidad y violencia en América Latina (pp. 257-271). Buenos Aires: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.
Walton, J. K. (2011). Sport and the Basques: Constructed and Contested Identities, 1876-1936. Journal of Historical Sociology, 24(4), 451-471.
Agiriano, J. (2010). Una cuestión de orgullo. Las 24 Copas del Athletic Club 1902-1984. Bilbao: BBK.
Alcaide Hernández, F. (2009). Fútbol. Fenómeno de fenómenos. Madrid: LID.
Anderson, B. (2006[1983]). Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Londres: Verso.
Aquino, M. (2017). A Panther Among Lions: Iñaki Williams, Race and Basque Identity at Athletic Club de Bilbao. Studia Iberica et Americana, 4, 119-136.
Athletic Club. (2018). Filosofía / Cuál es. Disponible en: https://www.athletic-club.eus/filosofia/cual-es. Última consulta: 05/09/2019.
Ball, P. (2010). Morbo. La historia del fútbol español. Madrid: T&B Editores.
Bauman, Z. (2005). Identidad. Madrid: Losada.
Castells, M. (2010). The Power of Identity. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Castillo, J. C. (2007a). Play Fresh, Play Local: The Case of Athletic de Bilbao. Sport in Society, 10(4), 680-697.
Castillo, J. C. (2007b). The concept of loyalty and the challenge of internationalisation in post-modern Spanish Football. International Journal of Iberian Studies, 20(1), 23-40.
Feixa, C. (2003). Un antropólogo en el fútbol. En F. X. Medina y R. Sánchez (Eds.). Culturas en juego. Ensayos de antropología del deporte en España (pp. 73-102). Barcelona: Icaria.
Giulianotti, R. (1999). Football. A Sociology of the Global Game. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Giulianotti, R. y Robertson, R. (2007). Recovering the social: globalization, football and transnationalism. Global Networks, 7(2), 144-186.
González San Martín, M. (2008). Crónicas del Athletic. Los años funámbulos 2005-2008. Bilbao: BBK.
Groves, M. (2011). Resisting the globalization, standardization and rationalization of football: my journey to Bilbao. Soccer & Society, 12(2), 265-278.
Gutiérrez-Chico, F. (2017). Identities at Play: Non-Basque Supporters' Reflections on Athletic Bilbao's Basque-Only Signing Philosophy. Studia Iberica et Americana, 4, 101-118.
Gutiérrez-Chico, F. (2018). Entre Asensios y Diarras: el Athletic Bilbao y la construcción de identidades. Revista Latina de Sociología, 8(3), 160-171.
Kuper, S. (2006 [1994]). Soccer Against the Enemy. How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Stops Wars, Fuels Revolutions, and Keeps Dictators in Power. Nueva York: Nation Books.
Lertxundi, J. J. (2017). Riojanos en el Athletic. ¿Son futuribles? El Correo. Disponible en: https://athletic.elcorreo.com/riojanos-athletic-futuribles-20171108193137-nt.html. Última consulta: 11/02/2019.
Llopis-Goig, R. (2013). Identificación con clubes y cultura futbolística en España. Una aproximación sociológica. International Journal of Sport Science, 9(33), 236-251.
MacClancy, J. (2003). Nacionalismo en juego: los vascos de Vizcaya y el Athletic Club de Bilbao. En F. X. Medina y R. Sánchez (Eds.). Culturas en juego. Ensayos de antropología del deporte en España (pp. 137-158). Barcelona: Icaria.
MacClancy, J. (2007). Expressing identities in the Basque arena. Oxford: James Currey.
Quiroga Fernández de Soto, A. (2014). Goles y banderas. Fútbol e identidades nacionales en España. Madrid: Marcial Pons.
Reguera, G. (2008). La identidad de los clubes de fútbol. En L. Solar y G. Reguera (Eds.). Cultura(s) del fútbol (pp. 67-87). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Bassarai.
Reguera, G., y Olabarri, S. (2008). Fútbol y globalización. En L. Solar y G. Reguera (Eds.). Cultura(s) del fútbol (pp. 88-105). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Bassarai.
Rodrigálvarez, E. (2014). Un soviético en la Catedral. Madrid: Libros del KO.
Rodrigálvarez, E. (2017). ¿Quién puede jugar en el Athletic? El caso Diarra agita la filosofía del club. El País. Disponible en: https://elpais.com/deportes/2017/07/02/actualidad/1499011376_333466.html. Última consulta: 15/02/2019.
Rojo-Labaien, E. (2013). The Media and the Construction of National Identities in Basque Football: Basques and Catalans Booing the Spanish Anthem in the 2009 Cup Championship Final. The International Journal of Sport and Society, 3, 31-42.
Segurola, S. (2008). La ley Bosman y el Athletic. En L. Solar y G. Reguera (Eds.). Cultura(s) del fútbol (pp. 185-189). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Bassarai.
Shulman, J. (2004). The last genuine local team: Athletic Bilbao surviving in the Spanish League. Dialogues@RU, 3, 57-71.
Spaaij, R. y Viñas, C. (2013). Political ideology and activism in football fan culture in Spain: a view from the far left. Soccer & Society, 14(2), 183-200.
Tuñón, J. y Brey, E. (2012). Sports and politics in Spain - Football and nationalist attitudes within the Basque Country and Catalonia. European Journal for Sport and Society, 9(1-2), 7-32.
Unzueta, P. (1999). Fútbol y nacionalismo vasco. En S. Segurola (Ed.). Fútbol y pasiones políticas (pp. 147-168). Madrid: Debate.
Vaczi, M. (2011). Subversive pleasures, losing games: Basque soccer madness. South African Review of Sociology, 42(1), 21-36.
Vaczi, M. (2013a). Bilbao Catch-22: passions and double binds in soccer madness. Sport in Society, 17(2), 190-203.
Vaczi, M. (2013b). "The Spanish Fury": A political geography of soccer in Spain. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(2), 196-210.
Villena Fiengo, S. (2003). Gol-balización, identidades nacionales y fútbol. En P. Alabarces (Ed.). Futbologías. Fútbol, identidad y violencia en América Latina (pp. 257-271). Buenos Aires: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.
Walton, J. K. (2011). Sport and the Basques: Constructed and Contested Identities, 1876-1936. Journal of Historical Sociology, 24(4), 451-471.
Section
Single Topic Issue. Sport and National Identity
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