Written by Alex Bysouth. Senior BBC Sport Journalist. One hour ago. Il y a 326 commentaires. Every year at San Mamés, the legendary stadium of Athletic Club in Bilbao, local supporters take a moment to honor and celebrate players not from their own team, but those who embody a core value shared with the Basque club—loyalty. Athletic Club, renowned for exclusively fielding players born or raised in the region, launched the One-Club Award in 2015 to recognize individuals who devoted their entire professional careers to just one team. “We aimed to establish an award celebrating the dream most kids have of playing for a single club,” says Dan Parry from the La Liga club’s communications team. “At the same time, we wanted to demonstrate that, despite the massive transfers in today’s football, there are elite players worldwide aspiring to be one-club legends. It’s an individual honor, but it also celebrates the bond between the team, its fans, and the player.” With those values in mind, this week I’m ranking the top 10 one-club men in football—you can share your thoughts below too. [embedded content] Staying with a single club for your whole career is a rare occurrence—in over 20 years at the elite level, you’re bound to outlast multiple managers, and how frequently do the player’s and club’s paths diverge? It’s not just up to the player to stay—the club must want them too.
