The amazing rise of San Pablo Burgos: “Teamwork, fans’ passion. And much pride”

Six years of existence. Four seasons in Liga ACB. Two back-to-back Basketball Champions League trophies – won in the space of 9 months – and an Intercontinental Cup. San Pablo Burgos is experiencing a rise with few equals in European basketball, a climb that over the years has always improved its standards and shown a willingness to aim higher and higher. On the eve of the first ACB Playoffs in the club’s history,  General Manager Albano Martinez traces some assessments over the team’s rise exclusively for Sportando. A Burgos native at the helm of the club since its foundation in August 2015 and one of the main characters of an incredible journey that in six seasons has earned three international trophies starting from LEB Oro.

How does it feel to work in an environment able to achieve these results in such a short period of time?

“We are satisfied, happy and proud. There is a lot of work behind all this, and this unbelievable season is really the result of an amazing teamwork. First, from players and coaching staff, but also from our incredible supporters, and from every individual that works daily for the club“.

What has been the three key moments of these seasons?

“The first is undoubtedly the start. Basketball in Burgos was previously represented by a club that had earned promotion to ACB three times, but for various reasons had failed to confirm its right. That management has since stepped aside, and some Burgos entrepreneurs have taken up the baton, deciding to give light to this club in August 2015. Without that moment, of course, none of this would have happened. The second moment is earning promotion to Liga Endesa, something that has given us the opportunity to grow as a club and stabilize at a higher level. For example, we went from an arena with 2,500 fans to one with 10,000 in each game, growing in visibility. I would identify the third point in this season, more than in the others. All the organizational difficulties, the absence of a live audience and the consequent lost revenues, the outbreak of COVID-19 that we have had… There were so many difficult moments, but we came out of it with daily work, the strength of the group and our ability to always be united“.

Something that is very difficult in sport is to repeat a success, a win in a competition. Your back-to-back was particular, because you won both BCL Championships in the same season, therefore with the same group and in the same technical context. How far can one plan, prepare for such a season?

“There is no secret or magic formula. Let’s go for points. First, there is the club’s motivation and the will to grow, with both players and coaching staff fully committed and consequently being the main protagonists of a season in which they showed a hunger for success and have fuelled a special team chemistry that led to these results. Both in the Champions League and in ACB, the team has always shown the will to compete, to raise the bar, to fight in every match: it is something that creates a winning mentality that helps in facing any challenge and continuing to grow“.

You said earlier that the third key moment has been this season. In recent years Burgos has always grown in level and results, always affirming as a surprise. This year, however, you were in a different condition: everyone was waiting for you, you were reigning champions. How much does the challenge of being “expected” affect the team?

“This perhaps makes our second Champions League more deserved. Last year, up to the series with Sassari, we were living the competition with great happiness and the will – even the dream – to surprise, to amaze, to get as far as possible without being afraid of anyone. We have always aimed for the maximum goal. With the Final Eight being postponed to September, we used both the Preseason and the start of the ACB season also as a preparation for the final phase in Athens, where we played a sensational basketball. It was like a “two act”. In this second win everyone looked at us with different eyes, but coach Peñarroya gave the team an incredible mentality, chemistry and a superb level of basketball. This second Final Eight has been very different in terms of the game, it has been tougher, we were less able to play our game, but defensively we were always on the right note. I believe that in this second Final Eight we saw the importance of continuing to grow and always being ambitious“.

What role, if any, has the experience of the ACB Finals in Valencia last June played into this season?

“It was very important. First, because it was an opportunity to return to play after such a long time. We arrived there without any pressure and with the desire to give us a good season finale. It was a difficult context, but our everyday life in Valencia was fantastic, and definitely has been another key moment. He helped us in taking a step further in the growth of the club: both for reaching our first-ever League Semi-Final, a well-deserved and fantastic result for us and our work, and for having increased confidence in our work and in the team’s chances“.

The two successes in the Champions League were also very important at an economic level, with €2M of prizes alone as a direct consequence. How much does this season allow the team to look into the future with greater confidence from an economic point of view?

“It is an incredible help. Many sponsors have not been able to continue in their support as before, and a significant part of our budget is made up of season and match-day tickets: it is indeed a huge help. Under normal conditions it would have been an accelerator for our growth, in a context like today’s it’s a help that allows us to look into the future with a positive perspective“.

You mentioned before your supporters, who are known to be really warm. How do you keep the fans’ affection “alive” at a time when matches are played without them?

“After both the ACB Finals in Valencia and the BCL Final Eight in Athens we said, jokingly, that perhaps we were achieving better results behind closed doors. We are experiencing a very successful moment from a basketball point of view, but something that always motivates us and makes us proud is to keep alive the fans and basketball enthusiasts’ affection and interest. We aim to create a basketball culture around us: we are proud that 44% of our season ticket holders are women, or that a large percentage is made of children and families, and that helps in pursuing our goal of making basketball a family experience. It’s a really important goal for us, one we aim to maintain over the years. There are players who came this year hoping to play surrounded by the warmth of our fans, because many others told them about the magical atmosphere that you experience inside our arena. What makes us proud is that our fans have always supported us, both in the best and worst of times. The team always gets a round of applause at the end of each game, and the same is reserved to any opponent who is able to win in our home. I remember a game a couple of seasons ago against Badalona, with them having a bad time and winning at the buzzer: at the end the whole arena clapped in their support. Without fans, it has been difficult. We tried our best to get used to it, but we are looking forward to their return and to rediscover the magic of an always full arena: it is our greatest asset, our reason of existence“.

What does it mean to you, born in Burgos and already a Burgos player, to work on this project?

“It’s incredible. First because I’m passionate of my job: it makes me proud and satisfied. Our success is not the result of one person, there are many people working behind the scenes: we try to stand up, to differentiate ourselves – for example we have a remarkable marketing department – to do cool things that generate interest and give basketball a visibility that goes beyond the game. Our team’s President is an enthusiastic, hyperactive individual that is always close to us all. We try to be a small family, and sometimes perhaps we do not even realize what we are experiencing, because we could never have imagined achieving certain results and living certain experiences. We will probably realize this in a couple of years, looking at all this also from a different perspective“.

When asked to think about the future, sometimes someone says "in 2-3 years I would like to win this" or similar phrases. However, is there a  level at which San Pablo Burgos aims to settle in the next 2-3 years?

“In Russia, after winning the Final Eight, I jokingly told the President that it was time to leave, because it was the highest of moments. We must be aware that we will not always experience seasons like this one, that maybe next year we will find ourselves without trophies and out of the Playoffs in ACB. This does not necessarily have to be perceived as a step backwards, we have to think step by step. Understanding that a setback could happen for many reasons. We should try not to analyse the situation only with the sport results but by looking at the whole picture. It is difficult for us to compete with teams like Malaga or Valencia, especially from an economic aspect: now we are doing it, but it may come a season – and it is likely – where that won’t happen. I’d like to keep growing, but growth can arrive in many ways. The results are very important, and they give you visibility, but they are not everything. Continuing to work hard will be the key, together with accepting the possibility of an inferior result, and it will be crucial to try to be smart enough to accept those moments and not see an inferior result as a failure. What we want to always have with us, as a club as a whole, is a maximum commitment. Whether it will be by winning the Basketball Champions League or by going out in the group stage: we will be proud of ourselves if we will always give our best“.