Subversive Pleasures, Losing Games: Basque Soccer Madness

Abstract

ABSTRACT The following article addresses the socio-cultural significance of a unique recruiting philosophy in the first division Spanish soccer Liga: the Basque-only policy of Athletic Bilbao. The Basque club is one of three clubs (besides Real Madrid FC and Barcelona FC) in Spain that have never been relegated to the second division throughout their centenarian history. Athletic contributed to Spanish soccer history in three ways: by importing the game from England through Bilbao's commercial relations; through the numerous records, victories and world-class players it has produced; and by maintaining a unique recruiting philosophy. The article discusses the various characteristics, consequences and impasses of ethnicised recruitment in a globalised competition that thrives on athlete migration. First, it situates the Basque club within the socio-political matrix of 20th-century Spain, Basque Country and Bilbao. Second, it describes the Basque-only philosophy of the club, and how conceptions of Basque identity have changed over time. The article pays attention to the 2010 World Cup victory of the Spanish selection, as it confronted Basques with a decision of identification: whether to cheer or not to cheer the Spanish selection, seen by many as the symbol of an impostor state. Third, the article addresses the impasses of the self-limiting recruiting philosophy: the necessity to suffer mediocre sports performance, and the symbolic obligation to carry on despite that suffering. Finally, the article discusses the community-making effect of a philosophy that renders Athletic's losing game a source of transgressive self-enjoyment – one that becomes part of a historical discourse of auto-exoticisation.