Could Hibs implement a "Bilbao" signing policy?

[greenlad]

Watching Athletic Bilbao run rings around Man Utd tonight got me thinking. Its almost always the case that Hibs only ever win trophies with Scottish players. Notwithstanding the early Irishmen , a Welshman from the last Scottish Cup win, John Burridge, Gareth Evans, plus several of the 2007 LC side, Hibs generally do better with Scottish players only (Famous Five, Turnbull's Tornados). A few special examples (Sauzee, Latapy, Mixu) notwithstanding local players tend to have a greater bond with the crowd, stick around longer and are generally more fondly remembered. These players are also cheaper!

Could Hibs adapt Athletic's Basque-only policy and make it part of the club ethos that in future we will ONLY sign players with a East-Central Scotland backgound, with a heavy bias on bringing local boys through through the youth setup? Basically make the youth scouting and coaching setup the whole focus of the club and work 100% to get this producing the goods, this could then feed into the first team and really differentiate us from the rest of Scottish football. Young players would know that coming to Hibs they would have say a 70% chance of achiving 1st team football as agsinst 30% elsewhere - lets face it Scottish football will be going down the youth route anyhow and such a radical approach would really get Hibs ahead of the game.

[frazeHFC]

Imo, nope. The players from their region are amongst the best prospects in the world. I would love to see a Hibs team full of Scots doing well, but atm it's not an option imo.

[WindyMiller]

LLorente started with Bilbao as an 11 y.o. He was then farmed out to their team that plays in the 3rd. Division, then the team that plays in the 2nd. Division before making the first team as a 20 y.o.

We would need to have that structure in place, which would mean a complete overhaul of our system.

With 3 different associations all fighting their own corner we'd never get agreement.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

What's the deal here - surely they should fall foul of some European employment legislation?

[Sir David Gray]

I'm surprised that Athletic Bilbao are actually allowed to continue with this policy to be honest as I'm fairly certain this sort of thing is illegal under EU law.

Ideally we would have a team full of Scots, not only that but also have a team full of Scots that is successful.

In reality though, I'm willing to take anyone if it's going to help us achieve success.

[DH1875]

East of Scotland is taking it a bit far. Full Scottish team would be good though. I don't get how they get away with it though. Is there really any difference between what Bilbao do and say, celtic only signing Irish players or rangers only signing prodistant players.

[frazeHFC]

How could it be against the law to do it? Discrimination or something? :dunno: Surely nothing wrong with building a home grown team.

[Sir David Gray]

How could it be against the law to do it? Discrimination or something? :dunno: Surely nothing wrong with building a home grown team.

Nothing illegal about having 11 Scots playing for you every week just "by chance". However Athletic Bilbao actually have an official policy stating that they will not sign players from outside the Basque region.

I am of the belief that this is illegal under EU law.

[hibsboy90]

As far as I am aware, the club will only sign players who got their football education in the Basque region. As such, anyone is elligible, you just may have to move there at a very young age.

Thus getting around discrimination, certainly not based on nationality, as 'Basque' isn't an official nation.

[AgentDaleCooper]

Watching Athletic Bilbao run rings around Man Utd tonight got me thinking. Its almost always the case that Hibs only ever win trophies with Scottish players. Notwithstanding the early Irishmen , a Welshman from the last Scottish Cup win, John Burridge, Gareth Evans, plus several of the 2007 LC side, Hibs generally do better with Scottish players only (Famous Five, Turnbull's Tornados). A few special examples (Sauzee, Latapy, Mixu) notwithstanding local players tend to have a greater bond with the crowd, stick around longer and are generally more fondly remembered. These players are also cheaper!

Could Hibs adapt Athletic's Basque-only policy and make it part of the club ethos that in future we will ONLY sign players with a East-Central Scotland backgound, with a heavy bias on bringing local boys through through the youth setup? Basically make the youth scouting and coaching setup the whole focus of the club and work 100% to get this producing the goods, this could then feed into the first team and really differentiate us from the rest of Scottish football. Young players would know that coming to Hibs they would have say a 70% chance of achiving 1st team football as agsinst 30% elsewhere - lets face it Scottish football will be going down the youth route anyhow and such a radical approach would really get Hibs ahead of the game.

confusing correlation and causation, mibbies?

[Brebners Bookie]

5 years ago Bilbao's policy would be considered outdated. Now it's cutting edge.
This is the way clubs will have to operate in the future.

I saw a documentary on them and it showed that the policy wasn't discriminatory, rather the club felt it had a responsibility to focus on the youth from its own area and act as a hub for their community. It should be viewed positively.

In turn they reap the benefits of player loyalty and familiarity, team spirit etc.

Would love to see hibs go down this route, not with any strict policy as such, but only signing foreign players if they are truly exceptional(Sauzee).

[KWJ]

5 years ago Bilbao's policy would be considered outdated. Now it's cutting edge.
This is the way clubs will have to operate in the future.

I saw a documentary on them and it showed that the policy wasn't discriminatory, rather the club felt it had a responsibility to focus on the youth from its own area and act as a hub for their community. It should be viewed positively.

In turn they reap the benefits of player loyalty and familiarity, team spirit etc.

Would love to see hibs go down this route, not with any strict policy as such, but only signing foreign players if they are truly exceptional(Sauzee).

The problem with special exceptions is that they'd find it far harder to fit in and could easily become a boo boy's dream with every bad pass.

The Lisbon Lions are the obvious example from Scotland.

It'd be good but unfortunately the players aren't good enough. Hibs would have to spend a lot of time and money trying to turn around Scottish culture.

[Brebners Bookie]

The problem with special exceptions is that they'd find it far harder to fit in and could easily become a boo boy's dream with every bad pass.

The Lisbon Lions are the obvious example from Scotland.

It'd be good but unfortunately the players aren't good enough. Hibs would have to spend a lot of time and money trying to turn around Scottish culture.

Hopefully in coming years we (and other countries) will have no choice but to look to develop young local talent. Football as a whole is due a fall and I personally can't wait.

[CropleyWasGod]

IIRC, we tried this type of policy back in 1875... see where that got us. :rolleyes:

[Hibs7]

It just for a to show how stupid EU laws are. Good on Bilbao on giving that corrupt establishment the finger.

[Ozyhibby]

Rangers refuse to sign players from the Rep of Ireland and nobody bats an eyelid.
In my opinion all the teams in Scotland need to start focusing on bringing through local youth.

[Steve20]

I'm not bothered if we have 11 Scottish players or 11 foreign players, as long as they are a winning team.

If we only had Scots, then we would never have seen Sauzee or Latapy playing for Hibs.

[Keith_M]

If we played only 11 Scots, how would we ever get them out the pub for the game?

Until the whole football culture and youth training system is turned on its head, it will never work.



Alex of the Salmon needs to introduce a law that cars aren't allowed to drive in side streets, so that kids can get the kind of practice the likes of the Famous Five had. When that happens, I firmly believe we'll win the league.

[bighairyfaeleith]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Football clubs don't advertise and recruit football players through an interview process. They just pick players they want and play them.

If they interviewed 10 players for the striker role and disregarded five because they where foreign then that would be discrimination, but thats not what they are doing.

I'm no expert on the law mind so I'm probably just talking pish.

[J-C]

What's the deal here - surely they should fall foul of some European employment legislation?

Not really, nothing states you have to employ Europeans, just that you can't discriminate against them while interviewing etc.

[Part/Time Supporter]

Athletic have been a lot less competitive since Bosman came in, due to their policy (which they have watered down slightly as a result). They haven't won anything for over 25 years, before that they had won the league 8 times and the cup 23 times. They've got a good team now because they've produced a lot of good players within the last 3-4 years. If/when Llorente and Martinez are sold they will probably struggle again, partly because they won't be able to go back into the transfer market to replace them (unless there's a decent Basque player with someone else who is willing to go there).

[IWasThere2016]

As far as I am aware, the club will only sign players who got their football education in the Basque region. As such, anyone is elligible, you just may have to move there at a very young age.

Thus getting around discrimination, certainly not based on nationality, as 'Basque' isn't an official nation.


Nothing illegal about having 11 Scots playing for you every week just "by chance". However Athletic Bilbao actually have an official policy stating that they will not sign players from outside the Basque region.

I am of the belief that this is illegal under EU law.

So they would just scrap the policy and continue the practice .. what do the EU lawyers do then? :wink:

[number9dream]

I think all Scottish teams should be doing everything they can to strengthen their place in the fabric of their community.
It's also pragmatic to focus on local talent.
As for the legal argument, it's hard to see how any court could compel any football team to sign any player they don't want.
If a Swede turns up at Bilbao demanding a trial they can always say he's not good enough - even if it's Zlatan Ibrahimovic...

[lord bunberry]

I think this should be the way forward for teams like hibs we should be focusing all our efforts into developing good young scottish talent rather than wasting money on dross from the lower leagues in england or europe. Hibs need to get back to a situation were the fans can associate with the team on the park we should be doing far more work in the community like giving away free tickets to schools and to the less well off. When things are going badly economically hibs should be a shining light in the community

[RIP]

We have had an academy for a decade and since 2007 our own facility with the objective of growing our own

In the last 5 four years since Lewis played in the CIS Cup Final we've seen one new player (DW) who is now struggling to start and one other (CB) who is injured but may only now be considered as a sub to Kujabi. The rest of our young players in the squad are yet to make an impact in SPL games

I prefer to be positive about all things Hibs but in anyone's language that's a fairly poor return on our investment is it not?

[Franck is God]

We have had an academy for a decade and since 2007 our own facility with the objective of growing our own

In the last 5 four years since Lewis played in the CIS Cup Final we've seen one new player (DW) who is now struggling to start and one other (CB) who is injured but may only now be considered as a sub to Kujabi. The rest of our young players in the squad are yet to make an impact in SPL games

I prefer to be positive about all things Hibs but in anyone's language that's a fairly poor return on our investment is it not?


This is quite a harsh evauation of our youth policy, currently playing in our first team are Stevenson, Hanlon, Wotherspoon & O'Connor who all feature most weeks, there won't be too many teams have that many in their side every week.

Most youths systems are fortunate to produce one first team player per season so given that we have repaid the majority of a £15m debt, rebuilt our stadium and built a brand new training complex on the back of ours in the last ten years I'd say ours has been well worth the investment.

Going forward when another Steven Fletcher, Scott Brown, KT etc comes through. We are now in a much stronger financial position we were so perhaps are not forced into selling them so early and can stretch the wages for the right player.

[joebakerforever]

Area where Hibs hardly seem to dabble is recruiting prospects from the Scottish lower divisions.

The likes of Dundee Utd & the Jambos have picked up decent players via this route.

Of course Hibs would probably have to pay actual transfer fees, which would be an anathema to Petrie :no way:

[Andy74]

Area where Hibs hardly seem to dabble is recruiting prospects from the Scottish lower divisions.

The likes of Dundee Utd & the Jambos have picked up decent players via this route.

Of course Hibs would probably have to pay actual transfer fees, which would be an anathema to Petrie :no way:

So the fees paid for the likes of Nish, Rankin, Scott and even Riordan from Scottish teams. I imagined those? Fees also to Chelsea and Newcastle in recent times.

Tell youself something often enough and you'll believe it I suppose.

[GreenPJ]

Nothing illegal about having 11 Scots playing for you every week just "by chance". However Athletic Bilbao actually have an official policy stating that they will not sign players from outside the Basque region.

I am of the belief that this is illegal under EU law.

Even if it was against EU law which I am not sure of it would be completely unenforceable. You can't force a club to sign players from outside a region so whether its an actual policy that they state or just one that they would follow even if the EU asked them to change their policy it can't force them to take players from anywhere else.

[Bostonhibby]

Watching Athletic Bilbao run rings around Man Utd tonight got me thinking. Its almost always the case that Hibs only ever win trophies with Scottish players. Notwithstanding the early Irishmen , a Welshman from the last Scottish Cup win, John Burridge, Gareth Evans, plus several of the 2007 LC side, Hibs generally do better with Scottish players only (Famous Five, Turnbull's Tornados). A few special examples (Sauzee, Latapy, Mixu) notwithstanding local players tend to have a greater bond with the crowd, stick around longer and are generally more fondly remembered. These players are also cheaper!

Could Hibs adapt Athletic's Basque-only policy and make it part of the club ethos that in future we will ONLY sign players with a East-Central Scotland backgound, with a heavy bias on bringing local boys through through the youth setup? Basically make the youth scouting and coaching setup the whole focus of the club and work 100% to get this producing the goods, this could then feed into the first team and really differentiate us from the rest of Scottish football. Young players would know that coming to Hibs they would have say a 70% chance of achiving 1st team football as agsinst 30% elsewhere - lets face it Scottish football will be going down the youth route anyhow and such a radical approach would really get Hibs ahead of the game.

See your point but there's probably not 11 Basques living in the Leith area let alone 11 that are any good at football :wink:

[clerriehibs]

Watching Athletic Bilbao run rings around Man Utd tonight got me thinking. Its almost always the case that Hibs only ever win trophies with Scottish players. Notwithstanding the early Irishmen , a Welshman from the last Scottish Cup win, John Burridge, Gareth Evans, plus several of the 2007 LC side, Hibs generally do better with Scottish players only (Famous Five, Turnbull's Tornados). A few special examples (Sauzee, Latapy, Mixu) notwithstanding local players tend to have a greater bond with the crowd, stick around longer and are generally more fondly remembered. These players are also cheaper!

Could Hibs adapt Athletic's Basque-only policy and make it part of the club ethos that in future we will ONLY sign players with a East-Central Scotland backgound, with a heavy bias on bringing local boys through through the youth setup? Basically make the youth scouting and coaching setup the whole focus of the club and work 100% to get this producing the goods, this could then feed into the first team and really differentiate us from the rest of Scottish football. Young players would know that coming to Hibs they would have say a 70% chance of achiving 1st team football as agsinst 30% elsewhere - lets face it Scottish football will be going down the youth route anyhow and such a radical approach would really get Hibs ahead of the game.


Great idea! Imagine if someone took it a stage further, and did this with the Scotland team ...

[erin go bragh]

IIRC, we tried this type of policy back in 1875... see where that got us. :rolleyes:
We won the scottish cup 1887 :cbwith that type of policy.
Before the celtic directors shafted us.
ggtth

[ancient hibee]

Great idea! Imagine if someone took it a stage further, and did this with the Scotland team ...



Scots playing for Scotland? It'll never catch on.

[xyz23jc]

I'm not bothered if we have 11 Scottish players or 11 foreign players, as long as they are a winning team.

If we only had Scots, then we would never have seen Sauzee or Latapy playing for Hibs.

:top marks
:agree: