The Basque Who Loved His Team More Than His Career
One day before the first match between Roma and Real Sociedad in the Europa League, the Basques posted a drawing on their social media pages featuring two footballers who became legends of their respective clubs—at a time when players like these are becoming an endangered species. On the left side was Francesco Totti, a widely known legend of European football who spent all 25 years of his career with Roma. But today, we will talk about the other player in the picture.
Xabi Prieto was born in San Sebastián, and his childhood was deeply intertwined with the fortunes of the city’s team, Real Sociedad, as attending matches was a sacred family tradition. Little Xabi got his first season ticket at just 5 years old (!) and his seat was right next to his father, uncle, and cousins. At 9, he became a club member, and by 16, he achieved the first part of every young boy’s dream—being selected by the team he loves.
The decision wasn’t as simple as it sounds. Prieto was one of those kids who hadn’t enrolled in an academy early on. Unlike most aspiring footballers, he played only at school and in makeshift teams with his friends until he was 16. When his “crew” decided to try out for the Real Sociedad academy, he realized that transitioning from casual football to the more structured academy environment was no easy task, far from the neighborhood games he was used to.
“During my first trial, I messed up because I was too nervous. The next time, everything went wrong again. Since all the candidates played in midfield and attack, they asked me to play as a center-back. Even when they eventually picked me, they immediately sent me on loan to Hernani, an amateur team just outside the city.”
The adjustment period within Real Sociedad lasted nearly three years and wasn’t easy at all. “The others had been training together for years, while I had only played with my friends. I could see for myself that I wasn’t ready.” The delayed reward came in the 2003-04 season. By then, 20-year-old Prieto had become part of the first team, and in October, he wore the jersey for the first time in a Copa del Rey match against Oviedo. At the end of that season, after making a few appearances mostly as a substitute on the right wing, he found a golden opportunity to prove himself—and he seized it.
In an away match against Real Madrid on the last matchday, his coach started him, and the young attacking midfielder showed that he could be relied upon for the future. Real Sociedad achieved a historic 1-4 victory in Madrid, with the Basque midfielder scoring twice, the second goal coming from a Panenka-style penalty. At 20 years old, and in only his second start, trying a Panenka at the Bernabéu was quite uncommon. As it turned out, it was no fluke, as Prieto, known for his composure and leadership skills, finished his career with 25 out of 26 successful penalties—a remarkable number that places him among the best penalty takers in the history of Spanish football.
Prieto Celebrates a Hat-Trick Against Real Madrid in 2013
To this day, he remains one of the few opponents to have scored a hat-trick at the Bernabéu. Over the next three years, he made over 100 league appearances, became Real Sociedad’s top scorer in the 2005-06 season, provided numerous assists, and wore the Spanish U21 national team jersey. A young player with excellent technique, an exceptional ability to control the tempo of the game, and a maturity beyond his years did not go unnoticed. According to reports from that time, his club rejected several offers for him, the most notable being from Valencia, which was contending for the title in those years.
The summer of 2007 was a pivotal moment in his career. After a disastrous season (so bad that he missed the only penalty of his career in a derby against Athletic Bilbao), Real Sociedad was relegated for the first time in nearly 40 years. Like vultures, interested parties quickly knocked on the Basques’ door. At 24, having impressed in La Liga in previous years, Prieto had the opportunity to continue his career with a top-tier team. Among the many options presented to him at that time, a few stood out. There was the great Valencia, which would compete in the Champions League; the then-strong Zaragoza, which had earned a spot in the UEFA Cup; Athletic Bilbao, offering him the chance to stay close to home with a significantly better contract; and Ajax under Henk ten Cate, who highly valued him and also opened the doors to the magical world of the Champions League.
With the club’s finances in dire straits and players unpaid for several months, the management had no problem letting him go, as he was the only one who could bring in a respectable sum to the empty coffers. The dilemma for him theoretically wasn’t difficult. On one side, there was the competitive level of La Liga, the prospect of the Champions League, the possibility of earning a call-up to the Spanish national team, and a much better contract. In fact, it would have been his first serious contract, as until then, he was earning mere peanuts—an agreement he had made with the management four years earlier when he was still an inexperienced youngster just promoted from the academy. On the other side, there was a psychologically and otherwise devastated team (which entered into administration due to its debts the following year) that would be facing teams like Salamanca, Racing Ferrol, and PoliEjido.
No one in San Sebastián would have blamed him if he had left under these circumstances. Even within his own family, there were some who urged him not to waste the best years of his career in obscurity. Yet, Xabi Prieto stayed.
The logic behind this decision is difficult to grasp for anyone who hasn’t loved a team with a deep, irrational passion. For those who haven’t spent countless hours of their childhood imagining themselves wearing the team’s jersey, leading them to a significant victory, and being adored by fans in a stadium they see as a second home, it’s hard to understand. Many years later, Prieto himself tried to explain his decision, though he didn’t seem particularly concerned with whether others fully understood: “I understand how this might sound to some people, and I know that professionally, it would have been better in every way to stay with a top-tier team or move abroad. But I don’t believe I would have been happier anywhere else. I couldn’t imagine myself in another jersey, playing somewhere else. So, I set a goal to bring the team back up, and when we finally did, I felt happier than ever. That meant more to me than anything.”
This difficult decision was followed by even more challenging moments, with frequent changes in management and coaching staff, numerous setbacks, and severe financial problems. On the pitch, Real Sociedad managed to squander their promotion hopes in the final matchdays, missing out on promotion and sinking further into uncertainty and disappointment. The Basques ultimately spent three years in the Segunda Division, with Prieto standing by the team during all the tough times, adding another 100 appearances in a league with different demands, and finally returning to La Liga together in 2010.
At 27, Prieto was no longer an up-and-coming, talented attacking midfielder but a seasoned and battle-hardened player who had truly earned the love and respect of every fan of the team from San Sebastián. His second reward for his difficult choice came shortly after the promotion. In 2012, in his first season as the team captain, Real Sociedad finished 4th and earned a ticket to the Champions League, where they faced teams like Manchester United, Lyon, and Bayer Leverkusen.
With a six-year delay, he finally saw the Champions League anthem playing up close and lived that experience exactly where he wanted to be—at the Anoeta Stadium, with his father, uncle, and cousins watching from the very same seats they had occupied for a lifetime. Today, Prieto has returned to those seats himself, attending every game since hanging up his boots, alongside his three children.
After 15 years and 529 matches wearing the jersey of his beloved team (ranking 5th on Real Sociedad’s all-time appearances list), Xabi Prieto bid farewell to football in 2018 in a manner befitting a true club icon. He was universally celebrated by a stadium filled with people who shared his passion. His beloved team honored him by replacing their crest with his face for his final match, and he received prolonged applause from fans of most Spanish teams, who recognized not only his talent and values but also the fact that he had never disrespected anyone.
Though he holds a coaching license, Prieto currently has no plans to return to the pitch, except for veteran matches and various events where he is invited by both the club and La Liga. His name, however, continues to be frequently mentioned in the highly successful Real Sociedad academy in recent years. Coaches use him as a prime example to show young players that it’s possible to have a successful career and build a lasting legacy without ever leaving the team you love.
When someone reminds him that, despite his talent, he completed a long career without lifting a trophy, he responds, “When I was little, my dream wasn’t just to become a footballer. It was to play for Real Sociedad.”
