Culture

Basque Football – Independent

Sestao river fans
~ From Boothferry To Germany ~ Leave a comment

With the remaining garlic-covered octopus tentacle between my teeth, I knocked back the final millilitres of Paxaran before indicating to the waiter that I needed the bill. There is always something so impressive about Spanish hospitality staff and their ability to do three things at once, but even so, the typical Basque industriousness was visible in every movement he made. 10.40€ lighter, I bid the patrons farewell and continued my walk Las Llanas, taking care to find some good photo opportunities as I went. Green and black flags hanging outside two bars on the main road indicated the opportunity to get another drink before kick-off, and in no time I found an open door to what I thought was the club shop.

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Fragility

Villarreal fans
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The platform was entirely empty as I stepped out. A single stairway led to an uncovered footbridge across the trainlines and towards the exit of the train station. As I climbed, the regional train shuddered into motion and continued its routine journey along the coast. A few moments later and silence resumed. It’s true, I was arriving in the town several hours before kick-off. But as I passed through the small train station and onto the main road, the silence was unnerving. With my backpack hoisted high on my shoulders, I began the ascent uphill to the stadium.

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Basque Football – The Cousins

Osasuna fans
~ From Boothferry To Germany ~ 2 Comments

Satisfied with the few photos I had taken, I awkwardly scrambled back down the muddy ground and continued my walk. More media vehicles had parked up at the front side of El Sadar since I had began my tour of one of Spain’s classic grounds, and the queue of expectant fans outside a closed ticket window had grown. Realising I was short of funds, I turned to go find a cash point and walked into the path of an older gentleman.

“Who we playing today?” Alavés I said. “Oh, should be a good one then”.

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From Boothferry To Euskal Herria

Athletic bilbao ultras
Aside ~ ~ From Boothferry To Germany ~ 4 Comments

The title is a bit of a stretch, but hopefully succinct. The Basque Country is comprised of 4 provinces of northern Spain and 3 of southwestern France, even though the País Vasco is an administrative, semi-autonomous region of Spain. Known is the Basque language as Euskal Herria, the Basque Country can be best conceptualised as the land straddling the border where Basque cultural traditions have survived and are most celebrated to this day. Across the Easter break, we decided it was time to explore their ways and history by checking out some great Football matches in Spain’s most enigmatic region.

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Seville Through The Ages

Sevilla Inter Milan
~ From Boothferry To Germany ~ 2 Comments

Once a primitive slum populated by the city’s dropouts and Gypsies, Triana has become one of the most popular night-out spots in Seville. It still has the mystery and romance of the eras gone by but with improved safety and accessibility to the city folk on the “right side” of the river. Beneath the gaze of the belltower of the Real Parroquia de Señora Santa Ana run narrow streets criss-crossing but still somehow eventually converging on just one – Calle Betis.

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Teruel Exists Pt 1

Cd teruel
~ From Boothferry To Germany ~ 1 Comment

A father pushed his two daughters hurriedly onto the footpath and immediately sploshed his left foot into a puddle. With a sigh, he followed his children to a 50cm strip of concrete beneath an overhanging shop front, accepting the dark patch now a quarter of the way up his denim jeans. I caught his eye as I shuffled up slightly to provide room, sharing a defiant “that’s how it is sometimes” type of smile with him as his family squeezed in beside me. Now all we could do was hope the shower would soon cease. They had their weekly shopping to complete. I had 30 minutes to locate this damn stadium.

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