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The term Basque derbies refers to the various local derbies between the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
teams based in the
Basque Country (autonomous community) The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, a ...
, Spain. This can also include the province of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
outside of the autonomous community. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans.


Background

As of the 2021–22 season, there are three clubs in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
that play in the Basque Country area. The major rivalry is between
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
and
Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...
, representing their home provinces of
Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...
and
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
, known as 'the'
Basque derby The Basque derby (in Basque ''Euskal Derbia'', in Spanish ''derbi Vasco'') is the name of the football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city rivalry between Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián, capit ...
, which has been played over 140 times in the league alone. They also met in the
2020 Copa del Rey Final The 2020 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2019–20 Copa del Rey, the 118th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played at the E ...
, won by Real Sociedad after being postponed for a year. The third club,
Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...
, has not won any major honours, coming closest by finishing runners-up in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup and the 2016–17 Copa del Rey. The ''Babazorros'', based in the regional capital
Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, have spent 16 seasons in the top division across their history (they formed in 1921). Alavés were the highest-ranked Basque team for the first time in 1999–2000 when they finished 6th, and repeated the feat two years later with 7th place. A dramatic match between Alavés and Real Sociedad took place in June 2008 at
Mendizorrotza Mendizorrotza or Mendizorroza is a football stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Deportivo Alavés. History Opened on 27 April 1924, it is currently the third oldest football stadium in the Spanish Professional ...
, with both clubs involved in battles at either end of the second division table going into the penultimate round. Real looked to have done enough to secure a win until the final minutes when two late goals turned the result (3–2) and gave Alavés all three points, which proved crucial as they escaped relegation by one point; Real Sociedad finished fourth and missed out on promotion. Nine years earlier, with both teams in the top tier, Alavés had again stayed clear of the drop zone with a 2–1 win at home to Real Sociedad on the last day. A fourth club,
SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...
, was also a fixture in the top division for much of the 2010s. A smaller organisation historically than Álaves reflected in fanbase and stadium, their home town of
Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...
has a population of under 30,000 and is located midway between
Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...
and
San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
with many of the residents supporting either Athletic or Real Sociedad. The club's first ever campaign in the ''Primera'' was in 2014–15 (they clinched their promotion the previous year with a 1–0 win over Alavés which also seemed destined to relegate their opponent, though ultimately Alavés won their final two games and stayed up by one point). Despite finishing the first campaign in a relegation place after a dramatic final day, they were reprieved due to another club's administrative demotion. Their stadium is of a modest stature ( Ipurua holds just over 7,000 even after improvements since the ''Armeros'' remained in the top division). Despite these limitations, Eibar's 9th place in the
2017–18 La Liga The 2017–18 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 87th since its establishment. The season began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were released on 21 July 2017. Real Madrid ...
campaign made them the highest-ranking Basque club for the first time ever. Their top-division run eventually came to an end at the end of their seventh season in
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
. Having never previously met in a competitive match during their 70-year coexistence, Eibar (then in the third tier, although they would gain promotion via the
play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
at the end of the season) achieved a shock victory in November 2012 when they eliminated Athletic Bilbao, the previous season's
finalists The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided. In sports competitions following a Single-elimination tournament, knockout system, where only two individuals or teams compete in each match, the f ...
, from the 2012–13 Copa del Rey on
away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
; the Eibar scorer was Mikel Arruabarrena, an unsuccessful Athletic youth graduate. The second leg at the original San Mamés was also the last cup tie (of 268 in total) played at the stadium. The relationship between Alavés and Eibar became more strained in 2017 when
CD Vitoria Club Deportivo Vitoria is a football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1945, its senior side is currently the farm team of SD Eibar and plays in Tercera Federación – Group 4, with its gr ...
, Eibar's recently incorporated
farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
(based in Alavés' home town, previously an affiliate of that club and now competing directly with their
reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
) gained promotion and upgraded to municipally-owned facilities in the city. A short time beforehand, Alavés had acquired the services of Eibar's
youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...
director.


Other minor rivalries

While they were minnows in ''La Liga'', Eibar have been very much at the head of the food chain of small-town Basque football since the 1980s and have habitually competed at a higher level than their geographical neighbours in the territory's numerous inland mountain valley towns ( Elgoibar, Lagun Onak,
Amorebieta Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza (Spanish, ''Amorebieta-Echano''), is a town and municipality located in Biscay in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. At the time of the 2019 census, the population of the muni ...
,
Beasain Beasain is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has an important industry of railway vehicles and related equipment ( CAF) that ...
,
Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...
, Tolosa,
Mondragón Mondragón ( eu, Arrasate or ''Mondragoe''), officially known as Arrasate/Mondragón, is a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa Province, Basque Country, Spain. Its population in 2015 was 21,933. Economic and historical significance The town is be ...
,
Bergara es, vergarés, vergaresa , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 ...
,
Gernika Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...
, Anaitasuna and
Aretxabaleta Aretxabaleta is a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is located on the Bergara road, almost adjacent to its larger northern neighbor, the city of Arrasate, and the smaller Eskoriat ...
). Until their rapid rise to the top tier, Eibar's closest battle at a provincial level was with
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...
from
Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...
– although the two towns are on opposite sides of Gipuzkoa – with both operating well below local heavyweights Real Sociedad in the regional pecking order and on friendly terms with them due to the clear disparity in their statures.


Outside rivalries

Something of a rivalry developed between Alavés and
CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Es ...
during the 2010s due to the teams sharing divisions for much of the decade. However, while this is certainly a matter of local interest (the towns are about 30 km apart), it is not a Basque derby as
Miranda de Ebro Miranda de Ebro (Spanish: iˈɾan̪da ðe ˈeβɾo is a city on the Ebro river in the Burgos (province), province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, on th ...
is just over the
Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...
border into the
Province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. ...
( Castile–León region), therefore regional pride is at stake when the sides meet. The regional dimension is also present when Athletic Bilbao meet the biggest club in the
Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
region,
Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...
, but that historic and unpredictable rivalry, which has been referred to in the past as 'the duel of the North' is dormant as Racing have not played in the top tier since 2012; a cup tie in 2016 resulted in a straightforward Athletic win but fans of both teams were reminded of a previous meeting in
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
when the opposite outcome occurred.


Historic clubs

As well as the reserve teams of
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
and
Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...
(and sometimes Alavés), several smaller Basque teams play in the semi-professional fourth tier, third until 2021, which is organised on a regional basis; therefore local derbies occur between them regularly. The squads of these clubs are composed mainly of former Athletic and Real youth and reserve trainees who failed to make the grade at the top level. Two of the teams, Real Unión and
Arenas Club Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Campo Mu ...
from
Getxo Getxo () is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in Spain. It is part of Greater Bilbao, and has 77,946 inhabitants (2019). Getxo is mostly an affluent residential area, as well as being the ...
, were among the strongest in Spain during the early decades of football in the country. Each won several editions of their respective regional tournaments in the 1910s and 1920s – Arenas battling with Athletic in the
Biscay Championship The Biscay Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional de Vizcaya)'', also called the North Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional Norte)'' in its early editions, was an official football tournament in Spain organised by the North Football F ...
and Real Unión with Real Sociedad in the
Gipuzkoa Championship The Gipuzkoa Regional Championship (Spanish: ''Campeonato Regional de Guipúzcoa''; Basque: ''Gipuzkoako Herrialde Txapelketa'') was an official football tournament in Spain, organised by the Gipuzkoan Football Federation in which affiliated clubs ...
– and also appeared in a number of
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
finals: Arenas played in four, winning one (
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...
), while Real Unión were victorious in four of their five finals. Their last win in 1927 was against Arenas, with the match in
Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
being one of the first to be broadcast over radio; this is the only all-Basque ''Copa'' final which did not involve Athletic Bilbao. Due to this strong performance, both were invited to participate in the inaugural season of ''La Liga'' in
1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
, Real Unión surviving for the first four years of the competition and Arenas for seven. Due to the small scale of the clubs and the communities they represented, they were soon overshadowed by big-city teams as the game became professionalised and spread in popularity around the country. Neither Arenas nor Real Unión would appear again in the top division or make it back to the cup final beyond the 1930s, although they have survived into the 21st century competing at lower levels. Real Unión had a brief experience in the
2009–10 Segunda División The 2009–10 Segunda División season (known as the Liga Adelante for sponsorship reasons) was the 79th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 29 August 2009, and the season ended on 19 June 2010. Real Betis, N ...
, and when a new third level of 40 teams –
Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
– was created in 2021, they were one of the few from the territory to be included, along with Athletic Bilbao B. On the other hand, participation at a higher level increased: three Basque teams would be involved in 2021–22 Segunda División (from there being none the previous season) as Eibar's relegation coincided with the promotion of Amorebieta (for the first time ever) and Real Sociedad B, after an absence of 59 years. The Basque team which spent the most time in the second division without ever being promoted – 28 seasons – is
Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo ha ...
, and from the 1990s to the 2020s they were also almost perpetually in the third tier. They are one of a number of teams from the settlements lining either bank of the
Estuary of Bilbao The Estuary of Bilbao (Spanish: ''Ría de Bilbao'' / Basque: ''Bilboko Itsasadarra'') lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, which drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. In this insta ...
north of the city proper, along with Arenas and others including
Erandio Erandio is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The name comes from euskera ARANDIO that means plum plantation or field. In 1415, during the War of the Bands, t ...
(who also faded from a greater prominence in the game's early decades),
Portugalete Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...
,
Sestao Sestao is a town and municipality of 27,296 inhabitants located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is in the left bank of the Estuary of Bilbao and part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. Se ...
,
Santurtzi Santurtzi ( es, Santurce; eu, Santurtzi ) is a port town in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of the Nervión river, on its left bank, 14 km dow ...
and
Leioa Leioa ( es, Lejona) is a municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is located south of Getxo and Berango delimitating east and south with Erandio, Portugalete and Sestao. Today it is part of the Bilbao conurbation. Its populat ...
.


Players and managers

The ''
cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely u ...
s'' (youth academies) of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad have been analysed as being among the most productive in Europe,Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad: How La Real's trust in youth is paying off
Alex Bysouth,
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
, 29 December 2020
with the vast majority of the players originating from the Basque region (population approximately three million). By contrast, Alavés and Eibar have used few locals in their periods of relative success due to there being an insufficient number Basque players of the required quality – almost all who show potential at a young age are recruited by the larger duo; over the decades there is a regular pattern of Alavés losing emerging talent to Athletic, including Zubizarreta, Estíbariz, Karanka, de Marcos and Vesga. in the modern era, no player has appeared for the first team of all four clubs in the league, although several have featured for three, including
José Félix Guerrero José Félix Guerrero López (born 23 August 1975) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Club career Guerrero was born in Portugalete, Basque Country. Brought up in Athletic Bilbao's prolific youth ra ...
, Xabier Castillo,
Gaizka Toquero Gaizka Toquero Pinedo (born 9 August 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right winger. He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 207 competitive matches during seven La Liga seasons a ...
,
Gaizka Garitano Gaizka Garitano Aguirre (born 9 July 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of SD Eibar. Over 11 seasons as a player, he amassed Segunda División totals of 315 matches and 37 goals, main ...
,
Yuri Berchiche Yuri Berchiche Izeta (born 10 February 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. He began his senior career at Tottenham Hotspur without making a first-team appearance, being loaned ...
,
Borja Viguera Borja Viguera Manzanares (born 26 March 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He achieved totals of 51 games and three goals in La Liga for Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao and Sporting de Gijón. He also made 100 ...
, Jon Moya,
Joseba Arriaga Joseba Arriaga Dosantos (born 28 July 1982) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a forward. Formed at Athletic Bilbao, he spent most of his 18-year senior career in Segunda División B, representing a host of clubs. His professional ...
, Luis Prieto, Edu Alonso, Luciano Iturrino, Ricardo Arrien, Xabier Guruzeta,
Elías Querejeta Elías Querejeta Gárate (27 October 1934 – 9 June 2013), also known as Elías Querejeta () and known in the Spanish film industry as "The Producer", was a Spanish screenwriter and film producer. He is the father of Gracia Querejeta. Biograph ...
, César and Josu Sarriegi. Toquero and Garitano were also youth players at the fourth club, and the latter was the manager who led Eibar from the third tier to the first in consecutive seasons between
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. In 2019, Garitano (now head coach of Athletic) faced up to Eibar with three former ''Armeros'' players, all signed the previous summer, in his team: Berchiche, Dani García and
Ander Capa Ander Capa Rodríguez (born 8 February 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao as a right-back or a winger. He played mainly with Eibar during his career, representing the club in three levels of Spanish footb ...
. No coaches have taken charge of all four clubs, but
Rafael Iriondo Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea (24 October 1918 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish football forward and manager. He amassed La Liga totals of 285 matches and 89 goals over 15 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. He subsequently bec ...
, José María Amorrortu and
Baltasar Albéniz Baltasar Albéniz (6 January 1905 in Eibar – 29 November 1978 in Pamplona) was a Spanish football manager. He coached Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid twice (1946–1947 and 1950–1951), winning the Copa del Rey, 1950–51 Copa del Rey. He late ...
managed three (Albéniz also coached Osasuna).


Osasuna and Navarre

Another major club in the same part of Spain,
CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...
based in
Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...
, is often considered to be a Basque team and a participant in the region's derby matches due to cultural ties with their homeland of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
(part of the '' Greater Basque Country''); their
ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...
group ''Indar Gorri'' is favourable towards
Basque nationalism Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the poli ...
. Nevertheless, at times their relationship with the neighbouring teams, particularly Athletic Bilbao, has been hostile.A Orbaiz e Iraizoz sí les gusta el Reyno
rbaiz and Iraizoz do like Reyno Diario de Navarra (in Spanish), 9 April 2009
One reason for the animosity among the supporters is the long list of players who have featured for both clubs, with many involved in direct transfers ( Ziganda, Larrainzar, Lacruz,
Tiko Tiko, originally called ‘Keka’ by the Bakweris, is a town and important port in the southwest region of Cameroon. The settlement grew as a market town for Duala (or Douala) fishermen, Bakweri (Kpwe people) farmers and hunters from Molyko, ...
, Orbaiz, David López, Muñoz,
Javi Martínez Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (; born 2 September 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or central defender for Qatar Stars League club Qatar SC. He arrived at Athletic Bilbao in 2006, before his 18t ...
) born in or near Pamplona but signed by Athletic as they fit their selective player recruitment criteria. In the 21st century, Athletic have also trained several Pamplona natives ( Iraizoz, Gurpegui, Llorente, San José, Muniain, Williams) from a young age in their youth setup when in the past they would have been likely to join Osasuna's ''cantera'', at least during their formative years. In summer 2017, Athletic's approach to sign 18-year-old Jesús Areso from Osasuna's youth team (paying his contractual
release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...
amount, making it impossible for Osasuna to reject the approach) led to the Pamplona club temporarily breaking relations with their Bilbao neighbours in annoyance due to the impolite manner in which their board felt the business was conducted. That closely resembled a previous situation in 2005 when Osasuna objected to Athletic recruiting Isma López and Javier Eraso from their ''cantera''. In 2020, Osasuna received two payments relating to Athletic players: approximately €150,000 in development fees came from sporting milestones achieved by Oihan Sancet who moved to Bilbao in 2015 as a juvenile under freedom of contract, and €1.5 million from
Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
who sold
Álex Berenguer Alejandro "Álex" Berenguer Remiro (born 4 July 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Athletic Bilbao. He began his career at Osasuna in 2014, and played in Italy with Torino for three seasons before joining Athle ...
to Athletic whilst a clause was in his contract triggering an additional payment – specifically designed to hinder a move to the Pamplona club's rivals and agreed in the wake of the Areso dispute. In a rare move in the opposite direction, Areso was welcomed back to Osasuna in the summer of 2021, still looked upon as a good prospect but never used by Athletic's first team and also frozen out in the reserve squad after he and the club failed to agree contractual terms. The two clubs have a mutual foe in
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, and Osasuna have their own inter-regional and ideological rivalry with
Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...
, the only major club in neighbouring
Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...
. Like Alavés and Eibar, Osasuna have never won a major trophy. They have spent 35 seasons in the top tier, far more than the other smaller clubs, and have been ranked as the highest-placed Basque club in La Liga on four occasions ( 1957–58, 1990–91, 2005–06, 2011–12), but also had several spells playing at lower levels. The population of their home city is similar to that of Alavés, as is the capacity of their stadium ( El Sadar). They were ''Copa'' finalists in
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, losing to
Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...
who had defeated Athletic Bilbao on penalties in the semi-final to end the possibility of a rare all-Basque final. The most famous player to have featured for Osasuna, Athletic and Real Sociedad is
Ion Andoni Goikoetxea Jon Andoni Goikoetxea Lasa (born 21 October 1965), often known as Goiko, is a Spanish retired footballer. An attacking player of wide range, he operated in various positions on the right side of the pitch (right-back, midfielder or forward), ...
, and
Vicente Biurrun José Vicente Fernández Biurrun (born 1 September 1959) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He appeared in 296 La Liga matches over 14 seasons, in re ...
also did so.
Asier Riesgo Asier Riesgo Unamuno (born 6 October 1983) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for CD Leganés as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Deba, Gipuzkoa, and a product of Real Sociedad's youth academy, Riesgo made his professional debut ...
played for Real, Eibar and Osasuna, and Tiko, Aitor Ocio, Pizo Gómez,
Mikel Kortina Mikel Kortina Bertol (born 26 March 1974 in Bilbao, Biscay) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role ...
and
Asier García Asier García Pereiro (born 11 June 1981) is a Spanish wheelchair basketball player. He represented Spain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics as a member of Spain men's national team. Personal García was born on 11 June 1981 in Pais Vasco. In 20 ...
for Osasuna, Eibar and Athletic. At the semi-professional level, clubs from Navarre (including Osasuna's reserves) are sometimes placed in the same section as teams from the Basque Autonomous Community, depending on the preferred method of distributing the teams evenly across the four groups each year. Below that, each
autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
is allocated a section in the amateur fourth tier, the
Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...
, with the regional federations operating their own leagues further down the pyramid. At youth level, Basque and Navarrese clubs are grouped together in the top under-19 league, the División de Honor, but separately in the second-tier Liga Nacional and in younger age groups.


Friendly trophy

In 2016, the Euskal Herria Kirola ''(Basque Country Sport)'' organisation announced they would create a friendly trophy for the teams in the territory, based on a similar existing idea for the equivalent women's teams. The results of the Basque derby league matches (20 relevant fixtures during 2016–17, including Osasuna in the consideration) would be collated, with the top two clubs playing off in a match at the start of the following season to determine the winner of the trophy and thus the 'best' Basque club for that year. In the first edition of the
Euskal Herriko Futbol Txapelketa The Euskal Herriko Futbol Txapelketa (Basque Country Football Championship) is a regional football friendly competition run by Euskal Herria Kirola ''(Basque Country Sport)''. It is contested by teams from the Basque Country that play in La Lig ...
(Basque Country Football Championship), the participants were Athletic Bilbao and Alavés; in a somewhat embarrassing outcome, the match in
Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo ha ...
was abandoned by the referee in the closing minutes due to disorder among the players with the score at 2–2, and no winner was declared. The second edition in 2018 was contested between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, with the latter winning 1–0 to provide the competition with its first outright champion. Eibar won the third edition final in 2019, with Real Sociedad again runners-up having achieved the best results between the clubs in the preceding season.El Eibar cierra la pretemporada adjudicándose la Euskal Herria Txapelketa
(Eibar finish preseason by being awarded the Basque Championship),
SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...
, 10 August 2019 (in Spanish)
La Real were again the best performing team in the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
-interrupted 2020 season in which all five teams were in the top division and survived, this time facing Osasuna in the final (played at their stadium, but behind closed doors due to the ongoing pandemic) and claiming the trophy at the third attempt.Real finish the pre-season well
Real Sociedad, 5 September 2020


All-time meetings table (Spanish league)

The five major clubs in the Basque region have met each other in the domestic league a varied number of times in various divisions. As Osasuna is not always considered to be a Basque club, their results have been recorded separately with a grand total for all five clubs. ''Updated to end of 2021–22 season''


Teams in the Basque Country

*''Accurate for season 2021–22''


References


External links


Poderío del fútbol vasco en la Liga
(''The power of Basque football in the League'') at ''La Futbolteca'', 2017 {{Spanish football rivalries Football rivalries in Spain Football in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Football in Navarre Arenas Club de Getxo Real Unión CA Osasuna Athletic Bilbao Real Sociedad SD Eibar Deportivo Alavés