Today's football can be an avaricious industry, filled with a consumerist mentality. A world in which a club's single-minded thirst for revenue dictates its future, where owners need to make money, regardless of success on the pitch. This isn't a criticism, but an observation of reality, one that's hardly surprising.
At the end of the day, whether we like to romanticize it or not, these clubs are also enterprises and have external responsibilities that go beyond 90 minutes of action. A club has to sustain itself as a club, but also as a business, and ever since the arrival of the pandemic, this mission completely changed the economic curve of every professional club.
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Some remained humble in the mission, others broke rules with little or no repercussion. But what if you could be ethically profitable and successful? The ability to keep up with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich without spending beyond your limits?
Aside from this gargantuan obstacle, while searching and fighting for financial success, can a club maintain a strong relationship with the community it represents and essentially serve its needs as well as your own? Because ultimately, that's where I believe a club makes its biggest, most enduring impact. The proverbial bridge between club and community should be the heart of football, but is it possible to keep the heart beating without sacrificing the ethical principles of a club's mission?
Welcome to Real Sociedad, the Basque club from San Sebastián -- inside the autonomous Basque country -- who has not finished lower than sixth in LaLiga since COVID-19 entered our lives, and this season they currently sit in third place in Spain's top flight. This run has also included a Copa del Rey victory over Athletic Club in 2021 -- the club's first trophy for the first time in 34 years. Now this season, La Real is fighting for a Champions League spot for the first time since 2013/14, nine points away from the Godzillas of Spanish football, Real Madrid, and further away from the leaders Barcelona.
But the simple truth is that a current third place spot is a remarkable achievement for a club whose salary spending (€134.2 million per Statista) is nowhere near as close as Madrid (€683.5m) or Barça (€656.4m). In fact, it's also less than Sevilla and Villarreal, two teams lower in the table.
Their football is sexy, too. Aesthetically pleasing, enamored with smart possession and collective effort, fluid and optimistic going forward. The club's manager Imanol Alguacil -- born and raised in province of Gipuzkoa, and who trained and played for the club -- has been connected with the Txuri-Urdin ("blue and white" in the Euskera language) since he was a child and has now taken them on a remarkable ride since taking over from Asier Garitano in 2018.
This story, however, is not just about their successes on the pitch. Rather, this is an ode to a football club that understands the importance of community, and when it comes to the autonomous Basque country, specifically Gipuzkoa, this relationship is not just a feel-good story or an antithesis of corporate contrasts: it's a unique way of life for a proud society. It just also happens to be a football club.
Welcome to Basque country. Welcome to La Real.
'A way of being and doing things'
In order to truly understand Real Sociedad, you have to know Gipuzkoa. You have to know what it feels like to witness this land, blessed with so much richness in texture, appearance and taste.
God was in a good mood the day she created it.
Oh, did I say taste? The food in San Sebastián (the city is also referred as Donostia), as Anthony Bourdain once reminded us, is exquisite. Probably the best in Europe. Their pintxos are colorful, mesmerizing but not overwhelming. From Bar Goiz Argi's local grilled shrimp with its secret sauce to Casa Urola (Bourdain's spot) and its baked pigeon with chestnut puree, you can swim in a sea of flavor and never want to return to shore.
The people are proud, protective of their way of life and their language, whose roots are so old and intricate, we don't fully know how or when it originated. All of these factors are vital in order to understand Real Sociedad and their Zubieta academy, because the club is San Sebastián and vice versa. This is a city that doesn't even reach a population of 200,000, so in a way, they are all they have.
This wonderful land has to be experienced. So that's exactly what I did last year, making a decision with my wife to explore this territory and everything it has to offer. Part of it was our thirst for constant travel, but the other was self-discovery. I am Peruvian, and most of my heritage originates from the Andes and its indigenous roots, but my name -- Echegaray -- is from Basque country. With both my parents now gone, it was up to me to go on a journey and find out more, and what I discovered was a community unlike no other.
Driving across this land is the equivalent to witnessing a Ramiro Arrue painting. From Logroño in La Rioja to Bilbao, there is a poetic attraction that pulls you in. Reaching San Sebastián, however, is a cathartic experience. The highway tunnels act as your preamble, like an orchestra preparing you for the main event. Then, the green colors surround the mountains and pull you in as you meet a town that encapsulates you.
The Reale Arena, designed by the local architectural studio Izaskun Larzabal, stands as an avant-garde museum, illustrating the creativity of the city itself and it's one of the first things you see. It doesn't matter how you experience San Sebastián. Whether it's with cuisine, music or architecture. They all speak to you in a non-conformist way and the club is no different.
"Real Sociedad represents a sporting project, but it also represents a social one," said Andoni Iraola, the club's director and chair of the board. "Why? Because it's a way of being and doing things. It's not about winning the league or the Europa League ... but rather it's about reflecting our people through our behavior, so that we form part of their society, which is our society, and that's what makes us a very social club."
There is no majority shareholder in Real Sociedad -- there are more than 14,000 shares in the club, and no individual can control more than 2%. The decision-making, therefore, is totally collective.
"We want Real Sociedad to belong to everybody," Iraola said. "It's a deeply rooted club with a sporting model, where our academy players are people that were born in our provinces, so that brings us very close to our people. We are showing ourselves as Basque people, as Gipuzkoan people."
A model to serve all clubs great and small
This is a common thread with Real Sociedad, where the Zubieta academy and training facility nurture the entire organization. Since its foundation in 1909, at least one homegrown player has represented the first team, and there is a huge commitment to prioritizing youth development. From La Real's revenue, the club states that it uses around 55-60% for the first team, which is much lower than the league average (around 75%) meaning that the rest is on the academy and education as well as local support.
When you walk around San Sebastián, you sense a feeling of support for Real Sociedad, even if you're not a supporter of the club. That's because La Real also helps local, smaller clubs in other ways. Either by providing training support or even infrastructure. The bridge between the top club in the region and smaller clubs is vital for the community.