Atl Bilbao

[downendcity]

Just watched the excellent Bilbao stick 4 in at Schalke despite not actually playing that well. Got me thinking about them. They are directly comparable to us in a lot of ways.

Bilbao is a port with a similar population to Bristol, the largest city in an area similar in size and population to the West Country. Despite these similarities they have won La Liga 8 times and the Spanish Cup 23 times. They've done this almost exclusively with players from that area. Importantly, they are owned by their fans (Socios). Presidents are elected.

We've won no major honours and its 100 years since we came anywhere near. Maybe we have something to learn from them.

Seems to me that their policy of keeping things local has focused the whole culture of the club on making the most of what they have. Their player development must be superb.

We could do a lot worse than copying a lot of what they have done.

Will having tapas and sherry to replace pies and cider help?

[havanatopia]

Something points to the fact that our area is not a hot bed of football perhaps unlike the Basque country. Its not as if we have not been investing in youth at our club is it? So many schools in the area have at least an equal affiliation with teaching Rugby as Football. I would therefore assume it might take 4 or 5 generations for us to become a hot bed of football from a local production point of view, if ever.