One Club Award

The One Club Award is a football award established in 2015 by the Spain-based club Athletic Bilbao to reward footballers whose careers in a single team represent values that the club considers linked to its identity. These values are those of loyalty, commitment, responsibility, sportsmanship and respect. The award is presented at halftime during an Athletic Bilbao home match by club ambassador José Ángel Iribar.

One Club Award
Presented byAthletic Bilbao
First awarded2015
WebsiteOfficial site

It is one of the few awards given out by an individual club that celebrates players from other teams. For that reason, the award has been described as rare point of non-tribalism in the modern game.[1] The male award, The One Club Man, has been awarded since 2015, while also awarding a female award, known as One Club Woman, from 2019.

The Award

The prize exists to honour players who have demonstrated a "real" connection to region of their club. Athletic Bilbao place particular importance on player loyalty and promotion from within,[2] with the majority of their players graduating from their youth academy system based at the Lezama Facilities outside Bilbao;[3][4] they have a self-imposed limitation where they will only field players that have a connection to the Basque region where they are based.[2][5] As such they have a small pool of potential players to choose from compared to other large clubs, and their players are encouraged to agree to long-term contracts to remain.

According to the club, up until the 21st century "the association between clubs and the territory they belonged to was a football club’s most important identifying feature".[6] This feature is what they call the Principle of Origin - "which boils down to: I support the team of where I come from because their players represent me and share my origin. They are “our players”.[6] In recent years, the club believes that the principle of origin has been superseded by success at all costs with clubs often featuring teams without any players from the city the club represents.

Values

Athletic Club define the club's values as:[7]

  • Loyalty
    • Towards the club that placed their trust in a young, promising player and developed that player into an elite footballer.
  • Commitment
    • To fostering a football culture that encourages a mutual sense of belonging among fans and players.[8]
  • Responsibility
    • Towards the cultural identity of the club, the place it belongs to and its fans.[6]
  • Sportsmanship
    • Ensuring that the sporting spirit of the game always prevails and that the equality between participants is protected.
  • Respect
    • For all fans, whose passion is the raw material that enriches football.

Winners
Edition One Club Man One Club Woman
Player Club Period Player Club Period
2015[9] Matthew Le Tissier Southampton 1985-2002

(17 seasons)

 Not Awarded
2016[10][11] Paolo Maldini A.C. Milan 1984-2009

(25 seasons)

2017[12] Sepp Maier Bayern Munich 1966-1979

(13 seasons)

2018[13] Carles Puyol Barcelona 1999-2014

(15 seasons)

2019[14][15] Billy McNeill Celtic 1957-1975

(18 seasons)

 Malin Moström Umeå IK 1995-2007

(12 seasons)

2020[16][17][18] Ryan Giggs Manchester United 1991-2014

(23 seasons)

 Pia Wunderlich FFC Frankfurt 1993-2009

(16 seasons)

See also

References
  1. Bloor, Seb Stafford (5 September 2019). "Celebrating a rare Corinthian flourish in Bilbao..." Football News -. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. Neil Stacey (15 January 2016). "This is Athletic Bilbao: the club whose loyalty to local talent is not negotiable". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. Tariq Panja (9 January 2019). "Athletic Bilbao Is Flush With Cash and Facing Relegation". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  4. Alex Clapham (30 October 2018). "How does Athletic Bilbao's academy manage to produce 85% of their team?". Caño Football. Retrieved 5 February 2021 – via The Guardian.
  5. Pete Jenson (26 August 2014). "Pete Jenson: Athletic Bilbao's locals-only transfer policy shows success does not need to be bought". The Independent. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  6. "One-Club man, the principle of origin | Official Athletic Club Website". www.athletic-club.eus. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  7. "One-Club Award | Official Athletic Club Website". www.athletic-club.eus. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. "One-Club man, glory against fame | Official Athletic Club Website". www.athletic-club.eus. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. "Le Tissier in San Mamés". Athletic Bilbao. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  10. "Paolo Maldini at San Mamés". Athletic Bilbao. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  11. Lucas Navarrete (1 May 2016). "Paolo Maldini receives 'One Club Man' Award from Athletic Club". Marca.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  12. "Award to Sepp Maier at San Mamés". Athletic Bilbao. 14 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  13. "Carles Puyol in Bilbao". Athletic Bilbao. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  14. "Celtic: Billy McNeill awarded Athletic Bilbao honour". BBC Sport. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  15. "Billy McNeill and Malin Moström, awarded by Athletic as One Club Awards". Athletic Bilbao. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  16. "Ryan Giggs: the Welsh prince of Old Trafford". Athletic Bilbao. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  17. "Ryan Giggs: Wales boss earns Athletic Bilbao accolade for Manchester United career". BBC Sport. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  18. "Pia Wunderlich, One Club Woman 2020". Athletic Bilbao. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
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