15 Miles Apart and Seven Months Difference: Three Premier League Managers Came from the Same Community Club

The career beginnings of three Premier League managers — Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso and Liverpool boss Iraola — all came from a community club called Antiguoko in San Sebastian, Spain.

Childhood on a gravel pitch

Between Antiguoko's current home ground — an artificial turf pitch in the Berio district — and the white apartment buildings, there is an area of land that has now become a public park. Long-time club coach and vice-president Roberto Montiel recalled: "The centre circle was over there. The pitch was not like it is now. It was smaller and covered with small stones, like gravel. The ball was different too; when it got wet, it became heavier. You would slip, and a fall could leave a serious scrape."

It was on pitches like this that Arteta, Alonso and Iraola developed their skills. Montiel said: "Even back then, you could see their vision of the game. On this gravel pitch, there were puddles everywhere when it rained, the ball became dirty, and passing was very difficult. Honestly, it looked really special. Those teams from the 1981 and 1982 generations were incredible."

Arteta and Iraola were from the 1982 generation, while Alonso was from the 1981 generation. Former teammate and Arteta's close friend Alvaro Parra described it: "It was like a national team made up of the best local players, and that made us an unbeatable team."

"The Basque Dream Team"

Parra recalled matches against Real Sociedad at the time: "I remember the games against Real Sociedad being unbelievably easy. They came to play us and we beat them 5-0. Athletic Bilbao came and we beat them too. We won every league title. This team was known as the 'Basque Dream Team.'"

Today, the signed shirts of the three managers occupy prominent places in the club office. Montiel joked that they need more wall space to display the growing collection of signed shirts from top-flight graduates, with more than 40 names already on the list.

The three are only 15 miles apart and seven months apart in age

What amazes their former teammates is that the three Antiguoko players were all born in Gipuzkoa, Spain's smallest province, less than 15 miles apart from each other and only seven months apart in birth dates, yet they are now all managing Premier League teams. Parra said: "If I really think about it, the three of us friends managing these Premier League teams is simply crazy. Sometimes I turn on the TV..."