La Liga boasts a wealth of 'one-club-men'

It is not easy for a footballer to legitimately lay claim to being a one club man, especially in these days of marquee signings and astronomic transfer fees.

However, the Spanish league can boast a select list of players that have stayed loyal to their clubs, starting out in their academies and then going on to triumph with the same teams in the Liga BBVA and Liga Adelante. It is a list containing 13 players, who have each become a reference point for their clubs in and outside the dressing room due to their loyalty and spirit.

With 502 Liga BBVA matches for Real Madrid, Iker Casillas is the most experienced one club man in Spain, followed by veteran FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández on 493 games, and fellow Blaugrana Andrés Iniesta, on 353 matches with the Catalans. These players are known across the planet for their undying loyalty to their teams, but they are not the only ones. 

Bruno Soriano, of Villarreal, Iraola, of Athletic, and Xabi Irureta, of Eibar, are some of the names on the list.

Andoni Iraola, with 501 matches in all competitions and his whole life with Athletic Club, is the standard bearer at the Bilbao club. The same is true of Xabi Prieto, Real Sociedad’s midfield pillar for the last 12 seasons, and Bruno Soriano, who has played more than 300 games for Villarreal and is the longest serving player to have come through at the Yellow Submarine’s academy to remain at the club.

In search of 300 gamesThere are six players who have spent their entire careers at their clubs but are still shy of 300 games in the Liga BBVA. But they are on their way to reaching that milestone. Many of them could even hit that target this very season and will continue to increase their legendary status.

Carlos Gurpegui (292 gamesand 18 goles with Athletic) and Mikel González (241 matches with Real Sociedad) have 300 games on the horizon. The Basque sides’fervent philosophy on homegrown players means many of their players spend their entire lives at the same club and that in turn explains why the other players on this select list are Xabi Irureta (192 games with SD Eibar in every division in Spanish football), Dani Estrada (with 139 games for Real Sociedad) and Gorka Elustondo (also with Real Sociedad).

Miguel Flaño and Nacho Cases are the only players in the Liga Adelante to have spent their entire careers at one club. 

Loyalty in the Liga AdelanteAs well as the stars that have shined under the same light for so many years in the Liga BBVA, there are two players that have earned the respect and admiration of fans of Spanish football for their many years of service to At. Osasuna and R. Sporting, clubs they have stayed at since they were children.

Miguel Flaño, with 249 games, and Nacho Cases, with 125, are the only two one club men who ply their trade in the Liga Adelante. Both players have spent their lives at their cherished clubs and although the last few years have not always been full of joy on the pitch, Flaño and Cases have preferred to stay at their clubs rather than abandon them and leave a part of their soul behind.