Loyalty in Spain: To Club or Country?

Spanish national team coach Luis Aragones today announced his squad for the team’s upcoming friendly with England. Nothing spectacular in the squad itself, but the way it was presented did catch my eye. Instead of organizing the team by position, as is typically done (see the roster for England’s August friendly against Holland), the Spanish newspaper AS organized the squad by team so that national team players are identified first and foremost by their clubs.

Were this an isolated incident, I would not make much of it. But many have pointed out Spain’s historical emphasis on its club teams over the national team, and this seems an indication of the continuation of this mindset. The lack of nationwide support is often cited as one reason why La Selección has always underachieved (a whopping 3,426 fans attended Spain’s 2006 World Cup qualifier against San Marino while Barcelona and Real Madrid regularly have over 75,000 fans at each of their games).

The regional loyalties in Spain have been documented in many books. Both Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World and Jimmy Burns’s Barca: A People’s Passion explain why many fans in Catalonia see Barcelona as their true national team, and consequently ignore La Selección. History has played a large part in the promotion of Barcelona’s taking on this role: as Franco cracked down on all nearly things regional in Spain, soccer clubs were one of the only places where regional pride could be expressed. Catalan was not allowed to be spoken in public, but it often came out in stadiums. Barcelona’s motto (“mes que un club” or “more than a club” in Catalan) indicates its importance to the region.

Some have attempted to make “national teams” for the various regions of Spain. Catalonia has an unofficial team as does the Basque region (incredibly, the Basque team played in the 1938/39 season in the Mexican league). These teams are not recognized by FIFA and only occassionally play, but their existence is a source of pride in those regions.

The Basque National Team before a 2005 friendly against Cameroon

While they may not be the only reason for the lack of success of Spain’s national team, regional loyalties have certainly played a part. Franco’s historical subjugation of regions brought about a degree of regional pride that has given Spanish club teams fanatical support and has muted that for the national team. The AS article’s decision to organize the players called up for the latest national team match may seem minor at first glance, but it hints at the complex loyalties of many fans in Spain.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 2nd, 2007 at 8:24 am and is filed under Europe, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.