Issue 462 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the territorial anchorage of almost 1,000 teams in 58 leagues around the world from the point of view of the proportion of national players and club-trained footballers among those fielded in the domestic league over the last year*. The territorial anchorage index reflects the gap from the general average for these two variables, with a maximum score for Athletic Club (100% of nationals and 62% of ‘trained’).

The Basques outrank Colombia’s Envigado and four other Latin American teams: Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara, Argentina’s Gimnasia La Plata, Venezuela's Caracas and Uruguay’s Defensor. Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv are the only other European team in the top 10, along with another Argentinian club (Club Estudiantes), another Colombian team (Millonarios) and Egypt’s ENPPI.

The teams with the deepest territorial anchorage from the standpoint of the profile of players fielded for the other major leagues are Newcastle United in the Premier League (with Wolverhampton at the other end), Empoli in Serie A (Udinese at the bottom), Heidenheim in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig last), Le Havre in Ligue 1 (Olympique Marseille at the other extreme), as well as Vitória SC in the Primeira Liga and Fluminense in the Brasileirão.

* National players are defined as those who have grown up in the association of their home club, while club-trained footballers are those who have played for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 in their club of employment (non-nationals excluded). The data refer to the last year or, for a few minor leagues and newly-promoted clubs, to the current season.