Paolo Maldini? Paul scholes? No It’s Matthew Le Tissier

Loyalty in Football / Soccer is always an overrated or hyped about term, What if the players have played in a smaller club, what if Maldini played for Pescara Calcio or what if Tony Adams have played for Stoke City. Do you expect them to stay at the same club for the name of loyalty even if the player deserves to be at a much bigger club?

There is no Manchester United fan who would not come up with the names of Giggs and Scholes when the word loyalty comes up. They are loved and admired as much for their fine football skills as for their loyalty to the club. Football fans generally have a high appreciation for players who have come through the youth ranks and have a long tenure with the club. Real fans don’t change teams, and when players also don’t it creates a feeling a shared loyalty and dedication.

Almost all traditional European football powerhouses have at least one key player who started in the club’s academy and now has more than 10 years of experience as a first team regular. Barcelona has Xavi, Real Madrid has Iker Casillas, Bayern Munchen has Bastian Schweinsteiger, Chelsea has John Terry, Liverpool has Steven Gerrard. All those players are captains and icons of their respective team, have a legend status among the fans and are widely considered as representative of the spirit of the team.

Of course, some would say it is easy to be loyal to the best teams. It is true, it is much harder to find examples of players of exceptional ability who remain loyal to a less prominent club. The perfect example of such a player was Matthew Le Tissier, one of the most skillful attacking midfields to take an English pitch. He remained in Southampton for his entire career despite interest from bigger clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham. Today players like him are an extinct breed.

It is mostly understandable. After all football is a job for the professional players. It is only natural that they seek an employer who can compensate them well and who can also give them the best chance of success. It is unreasonable to expect a player like Rooney to remain loyal to a club like Everton. Sooner or later, the club becomes too small for his ambitions, both in terms of the trophies he expects to win and the paychecks he expects to bring home.

Athletic Bilbao provides a prime example. The club has a policy to only recruit players of Basque origin and thus most of the players to ever wear the jersey come from the clubs youth system. The team enjoys some of the most loyal players – there is hardly a boy in the Basque Country who does not dream to wear the red and white stripes and play for the fans at San Mames. However, as the players develop, the most talented inevitably leave to face a bigger challenge somewhere. Javi Martinez, one of the most promising young defensive midfields, joined Bayern Munich this summer for Bundesliga-record breaking €35 million transfer. Fernando Llorente, long Bilbao’s most recognizable player, is also set to leave next summer on a free transfer.

In the end, football loyalty is a privilege. A club needs to have the ambitions and resources to sustain it.