Early morning Basque sunshine is threatening to break through. Take the first turning off the main road and you will come across Real Union’s bar, tucked into the corner of their stadium.
Inside, gentle music is playing as a couple of locals enjoy a coffee. The artificial pitch used for training is opposite and Real Union’s first-team players have started to trickle out for today’s session.
It is here, in the province of Gipuzkoa, where Aston Villa manager Unai Emery’s footballing foundations were formed.
Real Union play in Irun, a sovereign community of just over 60,000 in the Basque Country, about a 25-minute drive east of San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa’s capital, and four kilometres from Emery’s family home in Hondarribia.
The Athletic is visiting on the weekend Emery guided Villa into the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace next month, to add to their two-leg Champions League quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain. This is all a world away from the footballing company Emery, 53, now keeps. He has not forgotten his roots though.
If you sit high enough up in the ground’s largest stand, you can see buildings that sit on French soil, a short distance away to the left and just over the Bidasoa River, which runs past the stadium and serves as a natural border between the two countries, its waters flowing between and around three small uninhabited islands in midstream.
Those houses behind one goal are on the other side of the Spain-France border (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
To your right and behind the opposite goal, painted white onto black walls, are a series of numbers: 1913, 1918, 1924 and 1927 — the years this club won the Copa del Rey.
“The reason we are here is because of those years,” Real Union president Igor Emery, brother of Unai, tells The Athletic. In June 2021, the siblings acquired a controlling stake in this Spanish third-division side. “We have family in the history of the club. My father (Juan), uncle and grandfather played here. This is our home.
The years of every cup success proudly on display behind one goal (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
“I couldn’t see my father playing, because I was born in 1980 and even my brother, Unai (born nine years earlier), couldn’t. Our father died in 2015, but we know all about what he did at the club because of all the things he told me and my three brothers.
“We would come and watch Real Union all the time. I used to play for the academy when I was 13 and started as a goalkeeper, like my father and grandfather, before moving into midfield.”
The four Copa del Rey trophies are now proudly displayed in the conference room where we’re sitting. Before the Emerys arrived four years ago, they had been strangely stored away. The brothers’ grandfather Antonio, also born in Hondarribia, helped win the final two, including keeping a clean sheet against Real Madrid, his greatest moment across 110 appearances, in 1924.
Antonio’s brother Roman had featured in the 1918 win against Madrid FC, who became Real Madrid a couple of years later. In essence, the Emery name was central in three of the four trophy wins within 14 years.
Quite simply, Real Union, Irun, and Hondarribia are in the bloodline. Andoni, another of the four brothers along with Igor, Unai and Koldo, has been the chief groundsman here for the past two years.
Igor Emery speaks to The Athletic with Real Union’s four Copas del Rey on display (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
“This project can personally be made for us and our family,” Igor says. “We are working together to get the club right and to go higher (in the Spanish league system), because we have a big history. We are still in a position where Real Union shouldn’t be.
“Unai and I started talking about taking over because our other two brothers are not so involved in football and because we would always speak about how Real Union were doing. We would see the results, highlights and then, in 2020, just as Unai left Arsenal and being in the pandemic, everything accelerated in us buying the club.”
Unai and Igor spoke to the previous owners and Ricardo Garcia, who served as president for two decades and had turned the club into a public limited sports company. Igor, having gained knowledge of the inner workings of a football operation from accompanying Unai when he managed Paris Saint-Germain and later Arsenal, identified entrenched issues.
“At the start, we were not talking about me being the president,” he says. “We were talking about trying to help effectively. We learned about some of the problems, but how to solve them when you are inside is not the same as when you are outside or in the stands.”
Led by Igor, the Emerys have restored stability off the field, yet fortunes on it remain rocky. While staving off relegation from the third division is the short-term priority, long-standing staff say the family’s support has transformed the club.
Real Union were on the brink of collapse, with wages unpaid and their stadium ageing rapidly. Facilities have now improved, professionalism has increased and unsurprisingly due to the association of a certain Emery brother, the club have been incorporated into V Sports, the group which owns Villa as part of its multi-club model.
“Three years ago, the seats were white and full of rubbish,” says Ricardo Costa, a player at Real Union for seven years and now their goalkeeping coach for the past 19. “Now with the Emery family, it’s better. We are very happy. Daily work is easier for us. We had a lot of problems with money and getting paid. Not now.”
“At the game tonight, you will live it here,” smiles Igor.
He is tasked with shaking Real Union out of the deep-rooted malaise and taking them back towards those former glories.
Along with fellow Basque sides Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, Real Union was among La Liga’s founding members in 1929. Founded in 1915 after two breakaway teams (Irun Sporting Club and Racing Club de Irun) were knitted together — which owed to the mediation of Alfonso XIII, the King of Spain and hence the name “Union” — the early years were plentiful.
Those four Copa del Rey triumphs ensued between 1913 to 1927 (the first of them won by Racing Club de Irun). If the rise was sharp, the fall has been prolonged. The club’s peak years mainly lay in the early part of the 20th century and have firmly stayed in the past. Real Union suffered relegation from Spain’s top division in 1932 and have never been back.
“Real Union is a modest club, but with the soul of a great,” says Costa. “Irun doesn’t have the economic potential of other major cities, nor a large and boisterous following. On the contrary, the character here is quite humble and simple, somewhat dull and pessimistic. If you add the fact that the average age of our fans is quite high, then the truth is that we don’t make as much noise as we should.
“We have been fighting to revive old glory. In 2008-09, we achieved our last promotion to the second division in a season that was also historic — we eliminated Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Copa del Rey (on away goals, after the two-leg tie finished 6-6 on aggregate). But as with previous promotions, we couldn’t maintain our status and fell back into hell.”
Irun is a quiet, uncomplicated area, populated with independent cafes, fashion stores and quaint jewellery shops. Hondarribia to the north is busier and more aesthetic, boasting a coastline that looks across the river estuary towards France and historic stoned buildings.
Today, the Gal Stadium is an unusual hive of activity. The first team are playing later against FC Andorra — this season’s first Friday home game — and will welcome the visitors’ owner and president Gerard Pique, the former Barcelona and Spain defender who helped the national team win the 2010 World Cup and the European Championship two years later.
First, however, commercial partners are converging in the hours before.
They are shown around the stadium and Igor gives a speech pitchside at the tour’s conclusion.
Igor talks with commercial partners (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
Unai Macias Fernandez is Real Union’s head of communications but in truth, his job title belies a sprawling remit. Matchday duties include writing for the website, updating social media and, should his hands not be full enough, being the stadium announcer.
“What you don’t get at most places are those incredible mountains,” he says. “I have lived in Irun all my life. Before working here, I was a fan (of the club). The right-back from the second team works at the club. We are a small group. In the academy, there are three or four people (running things). In the office, there are four people in accounts, only me in communication and another person helps in marketing.”
Gal Stadium was built in 1926 and has had small cosmetic uplifts since to reach a 5,500 capacity. Its name derives from the generosity of local businessman Salvador Echeandia Gal, who gifted 313,000 pesetas (£1,580 in today’s money) to buy this plot of land beside the river. The stadium’s inauguration was marked with a match against Barcelona.
Graffitied walls surround the artificial training pitch. Like the club’s other employees, the first team are getting their session in during the morning before retiring in the afternoon for a siesta. The real work starts in the evening.
Players arrive in the morning and walk around the artificial pitch (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
“Here is where the academy trains,” Macias Fernandez says. “They train as young as 12 and we now have lots of teams.”
“Since the arrival of the Emery family, our academy has improved considerably, in volume and the quality of players,” adds Mikel Bengoa, Real Union’s sporting director. “We’re improving training methods at grassroots level.”
Senior figures are bustling around the stadium. They are occupied but hospitable, going out of their way to introduce themselves. Manolo Nieto, a former director on the club’s board, is enjoying a glass of wine at the bar, breaking away from his usual tradition of a coffee every morning.
Nieto arrives every morning for a coffee and to talk to friends (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
There are several cogs to the overall machine, but no part is more influential than the Emerys. It is a relationship, though yet to materialise on the pitch (Real Union are 15th in a 20-team league), that has reconnected staff.
“Unai is the grandson, son and father of goalkeepers,” says Costa. “His son, Lander, is at Aston Villa and is a goalkeeper. You can imagine the importance that Real Union has always had in his family. The four brothers have absorbed Unionism in their home since they were children. I sincerely believe they’ve let their feelings guide them to buy us — with their hearts more than their heads. I’m sure their grandfather and father would be proud.”
“The Emery family’s first objective when they bought Real Union was to provide financial, social and institutional stability so that it wouldn’t disappear,” says Bengoa. “From that point, they aimed to honour the families who made Real Union great in the past.”
The family’s synergy with Real Union is unequivocal. Against the family norm of goalkeeping, Unai was a left-sided midfielder, starting locally in Hondarribia before joining Real Sociedad.
“With Real Union, I have a certain sense of responsibility with my father and grandfather. I have that responsibility towards my land,” the Villa manager said after taking ownership of the club.
“Logically I am the link, but also a coach abroad, and I focus 99 per cent on that. What we have to do is recover that feeling in Irun. If you ask me what my dream is, it would be for Real Union to be in the first division. But it’s a waking dream. I want to ensure Real Union also has its place, its space.”
It has just reached midday and two men are out on the pitch. One is Josu Reta, a lawyer and trusted confidante of the Emerys, the other is another of the brothers, groundsman Andoni.
Reta and Andoni Emery inspect the pitch (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
The Emerys are fiercely proud of where they were raised. “Born in Hondarribia” is the first sentence on Unai’s Instagram bio and he was close to tears when he received the town’s “gold badge” from the local council in November 2022 to commemorate his achievements in management.
Dancers dressed in traditional green and white colours welcomed him into a packed town hall, where family members — including Igor, who made a speech — watched him collect the honour.
“When we recognise high-level merit, the ability to improve and innovate. Leadership, excellence and success. Unai Emery owns all of these characteristics,” said mayor Tom Sagarzazu.
As well as economic factors, societal themes had to be considered when returning to Real Union. Many supporters — “Unionistas” — had lost faith.
“The fans were not coming anymore,” says Igor. “The club had a debt with nearly everybody here and they were not taking care of the academy. The stadium was poor and old. We had to change it. The biggest value of this club is our four cups, yet they were behind a cupboard with other smaller ones. Now you can see them.
Igor Emery explains the family’s vision for the club to our writer (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
“You can try to bring good players with a lot of money but sports is different. This is what happened at Aston Villa, right? They invested a lot of money but the results weren’t coming. It changed when Unai came because they changed the way they are working.”
If Villa’s manager can only have a slight focus on Real Union at the moment, then it does little to ease the tension of him watching their matches from his house in Birmingham when the schedule allows. He is in continual communication with Igor and head coach Albert Carbo, who took over in December after being part of his backroom team at Villa last season. The 34-year-old draws on Emery’s expertise on footballing matters.
“He is 200 per cent focused on Aston Villa but will have attention on Real Union when he can,” Igor says. “Tonight he will watch the game and yesterday he was telling me that he was nervous. When he can, he will be here to see the games.”
Emery’s presence across both clubs naturally lent itself to a more formal partnership between Aston Villa and Real Union.
In November 2023, the latter came under the V Sports umbrella. The idea was for a cross-pollination of ideas, where Villa players could be loaned to Real Union, coaches would join them and the general setup would be enhanced through Villa’s data and methodology.
“Villa staff often come to Irun to monitor the players we’ve loaned,” says Costa. “The relationship is very fluid and enriches us. We exchange reports and share work methodologies and databases. And now that Albert has come as a coach, even more so. Last season, one of Unai’s technical staff analysts, Jaime Arias, worked with us.”
To diversify Real Union, Igor spent time at V Sports’ other teams, including travelling to Egypt and meeting ZED FC staff; players from Vissel Kobe, a top-flight Japanese side Villa collaborate with, have been here on trial.
“Obviously, the first reason was Unai,” Igor says. “Once we signed the partnership, the aim was to bring talent here and to develop them for their return to Villa.”
“Unai comes out a few times a year,” adds James Wright, a 20-year-old goalkeeper on a season-long loan to Real Union and one of four Villa players to have made such a move in the past two years. “I have weekly meetings with the goalkeeper coach (back at Villa, Javi Garcia), so you always stay in contact. When time goes on and you start to learn what people are saying, and start playing games regularly, you do feel pride that you made the move.”
Real Union’s Villa loanee Wright talks after the FC Andorra game (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
Last December, Real Unions’ shareholders ratified an agreement that saw V Sports turn their working partnership into a financial one. Board members approved a capital increase of €4.5million in exchange for V Sports having a 25 per cent stake.
“You see that over there? That’s France. So with V Sports resources’ help, we can be in the Spanish market and French market,” Igor says. “It’s a way for V Sports and us to have control of a lot of players. If they are not at Real Union directly, we can have their data and watch them.
“My goal is to go into the professional league — La Liga 2 or La Liga. If we get promoted to the second division, we will have the chance to grow more. Our first ambition now is to stay up, and then the second ambition is to be promoted.”
V Sports co-owner Wes Edens visited Gal Stadium in February and was pictured with Igor holding Real Union’s away shirt. Predictably, the claret and blue pallet is in homage to Villa’s home kit.
On Saturday Wes Edens was watching our game at Stadium Gal. Thank you for your visit and support! pic.twitter.com/eohpLuWuNX
— Real Unión Club Irun (@REALUNIONCIRUN) February 24, 2025
“We would like to explore our partnership with Villa more,” Igor admits. “We agreed to change the away kit to engage Villa supporters. We knew it was going to be appreciated and we also got Adidas because of their partnership with Villa (fellow co-owner Nassef Sawiris owns a six per cent stake in the sportswear giant, making him its biggest shareholder).”
Steadily, Real Union are recapturing local supporters while adding more from hundreds of miles away in the English Midlands.
During last summer’s pre-season, the squad spent a week at The Belfry hotel and golf resort, which is less than a mile from Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training centre. They used the Premier League club’s facilities before getting a tour of Villa Park and playing a friendly match against League Two side Barrow. Staff were pleasantly surprised to see their Villa-inspired shirts among the crowd that day.
Real Union’s Villa-inspired away kit (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
“We are very grateful for the partnership and it gives us more opportunity to sell more shirts,” Igor says. “Teams in our division, even those above, can’t afford to go abroad for pre-season. It’s too expensive.”
Dusk has turned to darkness and the other side of the French border is no longer visible. The attendance for the FC Andorra match is lower than the average of about 1,000 due to the change in fixture date to a Friday evening, instead of the usual Saturday, and the inclement weather.
Carbo coaches from an Emery template, in a 4-4-2 and narrowing wingers. Real Union do not have the fizz in their passing to break lines or sufficient precision from cutback crosses. Any hope of victory is dampened, quite literally, as the rain showers start towards the end of the game.
Real Union are in their white home kit against FC Andorra (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
Frankly, the match is uneventful, but given Real Union’s challenges, the point from a goalless draw is an important one against their sixth-placed visitors.
“Having the support of a club as great as Aston Villa gives us a sense of security that allows us to work with peace of mind,” says Costa. “Now a new capital increase has been approved, we’re going to have a significant financial boost. Our feelings about the future are unbeatable.”
(Top photo: Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
