The Story of One-Club Man
Originally, I intended this to be a simple and short FM save reveal. But as things tend to happen it grew to be far bigger than intended when I set out to type it. You include a bit of contextual backstory to add flavour to the blog and before you know it you are writing backstory to the backstory. And the simple fluff piece became an introduction to a passion project. So bear with me, I’ll just provide a bit of the backstory then…
The Story of Xabi
Xabi Prieto – name that came to represent a noble, if somewhat antiquated (by current globalized standards of the game) concept. The idea of “one-club man”. Something that was quite common in the early decades of the game. And certainly before 2nd half of the 20th century. Before it became fashionable for the elite European clubs to go on shopping sprees in the Americas, Africa and Eastern Europe. Before that, there was a time when a football club was still grounded in its humble origins as a local “club”. You know like a gathering place for like-minded individuals who shared a hobby. A hobby which just happened to be kicking a leather ball. These individuals usually shared a few other things in common, such as growing up in a same town or geographic region. Hence they started wearing shirts which sometimes included local town crests or colours. The kit was born!
But going back to Xabi Prieto. Xabi was born in the seaside town of San Sebastian a year after his local football club won the national championship. Thinking in retrospect, it was probably prophetic.
Xabi probably wasn’t aware of that monumental moment at that time. But a few years later he decided that he wanted to play for his town’s team – Real Sociedad. They were known as Txuri-Urdin – “The White and Blues” in Basque language, because naturally those are the two colours on the town’s flag. Xabi went on to proudly wear those colours for the remainder of his professional football career. A career which spanned 15 years and some 477 competitive games. Not the longest career, not even when compared to other one-club men, but his impact on the game was definitely memorable. Memorable enough to inspire the next generation of potential “one-club men”. Even others in his own Basque region.
To be a “one-club man” is to show that being a footballer is not only about the constant chase for bigger payouts and shinier trophies. Being a footballer still means belonging to something bigger and carrying on a legacy of making one’s local community proud. To put your town, city or whole region on the map. Incidentally, it is through the game of football that some of us still learn about far-away places. Places which we later want to visit in person. Places such as San Sebastien in the Basque Country.
My FM Story
Unfortunately I still have not visited San Sebastian, to bask (pun very much intended) in the sun on its picturesque beaches. The interruption of the Covid pandemic certainly has not helped. But it’s a trip that is on my list of things to do in our ever-uncertain future. Yet year after year, I am able to “visit” my favoured town by managing its football club… virtually. I have Football Manager very much to thank for allowing me to get fully immersed in the dream of living and working in San Sebastian for over 5 years. Because that is how long I have been fascinated with this club and managing them in each iteration of Football Manager since FM18.
But it was this week, while messing around with the Beta of FM24 and trying really hard to think up cool save ideas, that I finally realized something. Why even bother? I have become a “one-club man”. No use denying it. No matter how hard I try to find a new club to play in FM, a new and exotic region to follow, I’m invariably drawn back to the azure shores of Bay of Biscay. To San Sebastian, and to Real Sociedad. My One Club.
And it’s a good thing. I am starting to realize this is because Real Sociedad is my ultimate Football Manager long save club. Simply because they possess everything that I look for in an ideal FM club.
Firstly, and it is a bit of a superficial reason, Real Sociedad is a football club that is grounded in history that is very similar to other football club origins across the continent. At the turn of the 20th century, a bunch of students and workers saw the game of football played in Britain (where else) and decided it would be cool to introduce this game to their own community in Basque Country. Originally the club members were also its players and staff. Then the organization just kept growing but it never really outgrew its club member involvement. Even to this day Real Sociedad retains one of the most fiercely loyal fanbases in any European league.
Voicing his appreciation for the supporters to the club – the club president Jokin Aperribay said: “The fans are the soul, the nourishment and the reason for Real Sociedad”. This was later followed up by the gesture from the players when, during the match against Sevillla on December 21, 2012, each wore the name of a randomly selected club member on the front of their shirt.
I have nothing against their fans, but the corporate marketing origins of clubs like RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg are just a huge turn-off for me. I would never manage a club like that. So it helps that Real Sociedad has a different historical tradition which “speaks” to me as Football Manager player. It allows me to embody an ideal about football which perhaps I am still naïve enough to believe in. But that is why we have the game of Football Manager with its entire virtual world of possibilities and fantasies. Call me a dreamer, and bringing success to a club like Real Sociedad allows me to dream.
My point being that we all have that certain “feel” that originally attracts us to any particular save. Be it because the team is from your home town, or the ever-popular “Fallen Giant” save. Whatever it is, you need to harness it and just run with it. Especially if you want it to become your long-term save. I don’t think I expressed very well what exactly attracted me to Real Sociedad. It just felt “homey” and good, even though I never been to their stadium, or much less their town. It could have been because it’s a club that still puts its fans first. Or simply the beauty of the two juxtaposed colours, the whites and the blues, txuri-urdin.
There are of course other reasons, besides the sentimental ones, that I would choose Real Sociedad in every version of Football Manager since FM18.
Tough Competition Makes for Fun Goal-setting
I have some clear short term and long-term competitive goals in mind for my 6th, and hopefully the longest, save with Real Sociedad. It’s the same two goals I have had each time I started a new Real Sociedad save – win LaLiga, followed by Champions League.
Winning La Liga is definitely the shorter term goal. I only managed it twice in all of my previous saves with Erreala. And if anything the competition has gotten even more stiff. While a few years ago LaLiga seemed like a two-club tournament, there are now more mid-tier clubs that are challenging both Barca and Real Madrid through some shrewd transfers and tactics. Recent rise of Villareal being the prime example. Over the last decade, it has gotten harder if anything to finish in the Top-Four, Champions League spots, much less win the title. Yet, Real Sociedad managed to do just that, gaining the much coveted 4th position last season. Champions League football is again back at Anoeta Stadium, for the first time since 2013, and a decade later.
The 2nd, and the more long-term goal, for the save is of course to win the Champions League. It is something that I never achieved with Real Sociedad. In fact to be perfectly honest it’s a feat that I can only boast of on two separate occasions, with two clubs – Hansa Rostock and Everton which were both long-term projects.
Dialing Up The Challenge
There is also another reason that always draws me to Real Sociedad. It is something that is unique to its geographic location. Real Sociedad like Athletic Club and Osasuna is one of the clubs in the game that produces mostly newgens with Basque as a 2nd nationality. Athletic Club of Bilbao, Sociedad’s main rival, even goes as far as only signing Basque players either from its cantera youth academy or via transfers from other clubs. Real Sociedad also had the same Basque-only policy, until 1989 and the arrival of this man.
John Aldridge, Republic of Ireland international and a Merseyside reject who failed to settle at Real Sociedad (leaving after only two seasons) had managed to score a remarkable number of beautiful goals.
So in 1989 ended the long-held tradition at Real Sociedad of supporting its Basque rival Athletic Bilbao in the policy of singing only Basque players. It is something that I admire about Athletic Bilbao as it’s a practice that fosters home-grown talent like no other recruitment policy. Basque-only policy has its share of critics, but I for one believe that we have enough globalization in modern football, that teams that actually celebrate the local origins of the sport club should be celebrated and not criticized. Maybe some English clubs could learn a thing or two from Bilbao if England’s dream of a World Cup win is ever to be more than just a dream.
But I digress. The point I was getting to is that in order to add extra flavour and challenge to my save, I intend to reinstitute the Basque-only policy, similar to one at Bilbao, at Real Sociedad. Limiting my pool of recruits will definitely make the above-mentioned objectives that much harder. But that’s the intention. All the fun is in the challenge. I will even add an additional bonus challenge to the Champions League trophy goal. Have more than half of Champions League winning First XI list San Sebastian as their birthplace. I suspect this will become easier as our cantera academy gets into its full-swing and the “quarry” starts churning out newgen talents season after season. There is a good chance at least some of the better ones will originate from Real Sociedad’s hometown.
Bringing In The Youth
That brings me to another reason why I love managing this San Sebastian club so much. It has some of the best youth facilities and recruitment capabilities in the world. You can probably count on two hands, the number of other clubs in the game that possess similar ability to produce home-grown talent. But none of them, except the other Basque Country clubs, have the unique quality to consistently produce Basque nationality players.
So there you go, the stage is set. The competition is on and the challenge accepted. Win at least one La Liga title, together with one Champions League trophy (not necessarily in the same season though). And do this with the help of the youth academy and transfers of only other players with Basque as their 2nd nationality. Have Champions League winning side (First XI in the Final) that is made up of at least 6 players whose birthplace is San Sebastian.
The exact details of how I plan to achieve all this will of course follow in future updates. For now thank you for your continuous following and support, my FM friends. Happy managing!
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