Athletic Bilbao Cantera

Athletic Club (youth system)
Full nameAthletic Club
GroundInstalaciones de Lezama, Biscay,
Basque Country, Spain
Capacity1,500
PresidentAitor Elizegi
CoachAndoni Galiano
LeagueDivisión de Honor
2021–22División de Honor, Gr. 2, 1st
Websitehttps://www.athletic-club.eus/en/teams/lezama
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Current season

The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club Athletic Bilbao is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.

The final category within the youth structure is the Juvenil A (Basque: Gazteak A) under-18/19 team which represents the club in national competition. The successful graduates then usually move to the club's affiliated team for younger players, CD Basconia, or occasionally directly to the reserve team, Bilbao Athletic, both of which are also considered part of the cantera due to being stages in progression towards the senior team, albeit competing in the adult league system.

The academy is based at the club training complex, Lezama, which is often the metonym used to refer to the system itself.[1][2]

  1. ^ Tribute to Lezama, Athletic Bilbao, 27 January 2021
  2. ^ Athletic Club: a way of life, Athletic Bilbao, 27 January 2021