Best in Football Writing Last Week: Basque Country, and a Photo Essay

[ 1 ]BEHIND THE CLOSED DOORS OF BASQUE COUNTRY
Srinwantu Dey for Goalden Times
There is something of an aura around football in the Basque region of Spain and that comes from the local sides’ determination to stick predominantly with local talent. Atletico Bilbao still do so and are still relatively competitive, even though winning the league title seems impossible for them. Their story, and that of their neighbours, is as a result a wholly engrossing one.

Memorable Quote: “f you travel around the cities of Basque, you will often encounter wall graffiti saying ‘Guernica is not Spain’.”

[ 2 ] PROJECT 119: CHINA’S OLYMPIC VISION FOR FOOTBALL GREATNESS
Alex James for In Bed With Maradona
Last year, Chinese football rammed its way into public consciousness with a series of high profile, big money moves for relatively big players from European and South American leagues. These signings were the direct result of a concerted attempt to improve the standing of the local league and, in the longer term, boost their national team’s hopes. That much was, perhaps, already known but this piece provides greater detail on what brought this project about and its future prospects.

Memorable Quote: “President Xi’s three-step reforms are therefore well underway, and working almost symbiotically. As corruption drops, the profile of the Super League rises, in turn attracting more Chinese youngsters to the increasingly glamourous domestic game. But as with anything that China dedicates its vast resources to, the effects are felt globally.”

[ 3 ] INTO THE VALLEY
David Bauckham for Centre Circle Publishing
What a delightful discovery this was. A brilliant photo essay from the otherwise inconsecuential match between Garw SBGC and Cardiff Cosmopolitan that grows in importance when it is foreshadowed with the history of the region and the highlighting eye of the camera.

Memorable Quote: “It is impossible to disassociate Garw SBGC from the mining heritage of Pontycymer and Blaengarw. Indeed in addition to the national flower of Wales — the daffodil — the club crest also features a Pit Head, and both the Football Club and Blandy Park owe their very existence to mining communities that created them.”