Loyalty, it would appear, is a rare trait in the modern game. But every so often something happens in football which helps restore your faith in humanity – or footballers at least – and shows that not everyone in the sport is out for all the wealth they can get. One such moment occurred when Joseba Etxeberria announced he would hang up his boots in June 2010 and play his last season for the club before retiring absolutely free of charge.
“This is a gesture I’m making to show my gratitude for the love I’ve received during so many years,” Eteberria explained. “It’s something I’ve been mulling over for a long time.” Similar gestures are not unheard of, but the Spaniard’s case is clearly a special one. Fernando Redondo had a similar bout of generosity during his four-year spell at AC Milan.
After spending two and a half years on the sidelines through injury, Redondo froze his £2.74 million a year salary, and reportedly even tried to give back the house and car which had been given to him by the club’s directors. In 2005, after spending nearly a year in the treatment room, Damiano Tommasi signed a new one-year contract with Roma, which at his own request, saw him earn youth-team wages of around €1,500 a month, as he felt it unfair that the club should pay so much for someone who was unable to play. But in Eteberria’s case, Bilbao will be paying absolutely nothing for a player who will still be able to do a job for the side, and at 32 will “reward” his club for an impressive 15 seasons at the San Mames.
The thing that perhaps makes this story all the more interesting is the fact that when Etexeberria joined Athletic back in 1995, he was lambasted as being precisely one of those disloyal, money-grabbing players who tarnished the game. The winger began his career in 1994 along the Basque coast at Real Sociedad, making seven appearances for the San Sebastian-based club in his first season. A year later he stole the show at the Under-20 World Cup in Qatar, finishing the tournament as top scorer and attracting the attention of a host of Spain’s top sides.
But while a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona would have no doubt hurt the Sociedad faithful, his decision to join fierce rivals Athletic Bilbao was viewed as a slap in the face by some fans who saw the young upstart as a traitor to the club who gave him his big break. Etxeberria has been the epitome of commitment to the Bilbao cause since his controversial move, resisting big-money move as he made the step up to the full international side.
After scoring in a 4-0 win over Racing Santander, Etxeberria he never looked back, and has since netted over a century of goals for the club and has also gone on to captain the side. Despite all he has done since his controversial start to life in Spanish football, Etxeberria’s offer of playing for free still came as a big surprise to many, not least club president Fernando Garcia Macau. “Etxeberria’s gesture of playing at absolutely no cost to the club is surely a unique case in world football,” said Garcia Macau as he sat alongside Etxeberria – known as “El Gallo” – at a press conference to announce the news.
“From the club’s standpoint, there are not words enough to thank such a gesture.” Etxeberria has announced that he will not stay on at the club in some capacity after his retirement, but there can still be no doubting his commitment to the cause. There are very few players who remain at a club for 15 years, and fewer still who then thank that club by giving up their income. Yet, Etxeberria does not judge others in the game for trying to earn as much as they can during what is essentially a fleeting career, nor does he expect others to follow in his footsteps.
“I wanted to make this gesture, but at no time did I want to set a precedent,” he said. “We’re in a professional world where it’s legitimate for each person to defend their rights and their contracts. I think that’s how it should be.”