Everything about Athletic Bilbao totally explained
Athletic Club is a Spanish
football club from
Bilbao in
Biscay,
Basque Country,
Spain. The club has played in the
Primera División of
La Liga since its start in 1928. Of the founding members, only Athletic,
Real Madrid, and
FC Barcelona have never been relegated. Athletic are historically one of the most successful clubs in
Spain. They have won
La Liga on eight occasions and the
Copa del Rey twenty-four times.
They are known as the
Rojiblancos or
Zurigorri because of their red and white striped shirts and as
Los Leones because their stadium was built near a church called
San Mamés (Saint Mammes).
Mammes was an early
Christian thrown to the lions by the
Romans. The lions refused to eat Mames and he was later made a
saint.
The club is known for its
cantera policy of bringing young
Basque players through the ranks, as well as recruiting top Basque players from other clubs (like
Loren or
Roberto Ríos). Athletic only signs professional players native to one of the seven Basque provinces:
Biscay,
Guipúzcoa,
Álava and
Navarre in Spain and
Labourd,
Soule and
Lower Navarre in France. This has gained Athletic both admirers and critics. The club has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty.
History
Bilbao FC, Athletic Club and Team Bizcaya
Football was introduced to
Bilbao by two distinct groups of players, both with
British connections; British steel and shipyard workers and Basque students returning from schools in Britain.
In the late 1800s Bilbao was a leading port at the heart of an important industrial area with iron mines and shipyards nearby. It was the driving force of the Spanish economy and as a result attracted many migrant workers. Among them were miners from the north-east of
England, and shipyard workers from
Southampton and
Portsmouth. The British workers brought with them (as to so many other parts of the world) the game of football. In the early 1890s these workers came together and formed
Bilbao Football Club.
Meanwhile, sons of the
Basque educated classes had made the opposite journey and went to
Britain to complete their studies in civil engineering and commerce. While in the United Kingdom these students developed an interest in football and on their return to Bilbao they began to arrange games with British workers. In 1898 students belonging to the
Gymnasium Zamacois founded the
Athletic Club, using the English spelling. In 1901 a meeting was held in the Cafe Garcia which established more formal rules and regulations.
In 1902 the two Bilbao clubs formed a combined team, known as
Club Vizcaya, in the first
Copa del Rey. They returned with the trophy after defeating
FC Barcelona in the final. This would lead to the eventual merger of the two clubs as
Athletic Club de Bilbao in 1903. In the same year Basque students also formed
Athletic Club de Madrid. This club later evolved into
Atlético Madrid. The club's foundation date is a subject of debate among football historians. The club itself declares 1898, but others claim 1901 is the true founding year. There is also a strong case for 1903.
Club colours
Equally debated, is the origin of the club colours. Although their first colours were blue and white stripes, in 1910 they switched to red and white stripes. There are three schools of thought about why this occurred. The most common theory is that they were changed out of deference to
Sunderland and
Southampton, cities where the original British founders were from.
(External Link
). Another is that an Athletic member was sent to the
Britain to buy a batch of blue and white tops but couldn't find any and returned with red and white tops instead. Perhaps the most credible theory, however, is that red and white striped tops were the cheapest stripes to make because the same combination was used to make bed mattresses. The left over cloth was easily converted into football shirts. Although both Athletic
Bilbao and
Atlético Madrid started out with blue and white stripes, the discovery of a cheaper option probably persuaded them to change. The
Madrid club did it first and they became known as
Los Colchoneros - the mattress makers.
Athletic are one of the few clubs who don't have the logo of an official sponsor emblazoned on their kit.
However in the
UEFA cup and the
Copa del Rey of 2004-2005, the shirt sported the word "
Euskadi" in green in exchange for hundreds of thousands of euros from the
Basque Government (red, white and green are the
Basque colours).
Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey competitions. Following the inaugural win by
Club Vizcaya, the newly formed Athletic Bilbao won it again in 1903. In 1904 they were declared winners after their opponents,
Club Español de Madrid, failed to turn up. In 1907 they revived the name
Club Vizcaya after entering a combined team with
Union Vizcaino. After a brief lull they won the competition again in 1911 and then won it three times in a row between 1914 and 1916. The star of this team was
Pichichi, a prolific goalscorer who scored the very first goal in the San Mamés stadium, on August 21 1913 and a hat-trick in the 1915 final. Today the
La Liga top-scorer is declared the
Pichichi in his honour.
Basque nationalism
The club's success gave the Basques something to be proud of and supporting the club became a legitimate way of expressing Basque nationalism during the
Franco years. Some prominent members of the EAJ-PNV were also Athletic members.
Jose Antonio Aguirre, a distinguished player with the club in the 1920s and an EAJ-PNV member, became the first elected
Basque president in 1936.
On 5 December 1975 (15 days after the death of Franco), Athletic's
Iribar and Real Sociedad's
Kortabarria entered the ground of the Real vs Athletic
local derby carrying the still illegal Basque flag.
The First La Liga
Athletic were not the only Basque team represented in the 1920 squad. Other clubs such as
Real Unión,
Arenas Club de Getxo and
Real Sociedad also provided players. These four clubs were all founding members of
La Liga in 1928 and by 1930 they were joined by
CD Alaves. This meant that five of the ten clubs in the
Primera Division of Spain’s national league were from the
Basque Country. The saying
Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación, translated as
With home-grown teams and supporters, there's no need for imports made sense during these early days.
El Bombín
In 1921 a new coach,
Fred Pentland arrived from
Racing Santander. In 1923 he led the club to victory in the
Copa del Rey. He revolutionised the way Athletic played, favouring the short-passing game. In 1927 he left Athletic and coached
Athletic Madrid,
Real Oviedo and
Spain. In 1929 he rejoined Athletic and he subsequently led Athletic to
La Liga/
Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931. The club won the
Copa del Rey four times in a row between 1930 and 1933 and they were also
La Liga runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1931 Athletic also defeated
FC Barcelona 12-1, the latter’s worst ever defeat.
Atlético Bilbao
In the 1941 the club changed its name to
Atlético Bilbao, following
a decree issued by Franco, banning the use of non-Spanish language names and refuting the policy of only letting Basque-born players in the team (see origins of the "grandparent rule"). The same year also saw
Zarra make his debut. Over the next thirteen seasons he went on to score 294 goals in all competitions for Atletico, plus another 20 for
Spain in as many games. His 38 goals in the 1950/51 season still stands as a record. Another great player from this era was
Panizo. In the 1943 the club won a
La Liga/
Copa del Generalisimo double and they subsequently retained the
Copa del Rey in both 1944 and 1945.
During the early 1950s the club featured the legendary forward line of
Zarra,
Panizo,
Rafa Iriondo,
Venancio and
Agustín Gaínza. They helped the club win another
Copa del Generalisimo in 1950. The arrival of coach
Ferdinand Daučík improved the club's fortunes further. He led the team to another double in 1956 and to further
Copa del Generalisimo victories in 1955 and 1958. In 1956 the club also made their debut in the
European Cup, eventually been knocked out by
Manchester United.
What helped the club succeed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were the strict limits imposed on foreign players. In most cases clubs could only have three foreign players in its squad, meaning that at least eight local players had to play in every game. While
Real Madrid and
FC Barcelona circumnavigated these rules by playing dual citizens such as
Alfredo Di Stéfano,
Ferenc Puskás,
José Santamaria and
Ladislao Kubala, Athletic adhered strictly to their
cantera policy, showing little or no flexibility. The 1960s, however were dominated by
Real Madrid and
Atlético Bilbao only had a single
Copa del Rey win in 1969.
Like international teams, the club has used the
grandparent rule, allowing the recruitment of some players of Basque descent. This enabled
Barcelona-born
Armando Merodio to play for the club. However during 1960s other players such as
Jesus María Pereda,
Miguel Jones, and
José Eulogio Gárate were overlooked. Although none of them were Basques by birth, all three grew up in the
Basque Country and could be classified as naturalised Basques. Gárate even had Basque parents.
On a positive note the 1960s saw the emergence of an Athletic legend
José Ángel Iribar. The 1970s were not much better with only another single
Copa del Rey win in 1973. In December 1976, before a game against
Real Sociedad, Iribar and the Real captain
Ignacio Kortabarria, carried out the
Ikurriña, the
Basque flag and placed it ceremonially on the centre-circle. This was the first public display of the flag since the death of
Franco. In 1977 the club reached the
UEFA Cup final, only losing on away goals to
Juventus. By now the club had reverted to using the name
Athletic Bilbao.
The Clemente Era
In 1981 the club appointed
Javier Clemente as manager. He soon set about putting together one of the most successful Athletic Bilbao teams in the clubs history. Young players from the
cantera such as
Santiago Urkiaga,
Miguel De Andres,
Ismael Urtubi,
Estanislao Argote and
Andoni Zubizarreta joined veterans
Dani and
Goikoetxea. In his first season in charge, Clemente led the team to 4th place in
La Liga. In 1983 the club won
La Liga and in 1984 they won a
La Liga/
Copa del Rey double. In 1985 and 1986 Athletic finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Clemente’s Athletic acquired notoriety for its aggressive style of play, personified by hard man
Goikoetxea. He favoured two defensive midfielders playing in front of twin centre backs and a sweeper and as a result critics regarded his teams as dour but effective.
Athletic Bilbao has failed to win a major trophy since the success of the Clemente era. A succession of coaches including
José Ángel Iribar,
Howard Kendall,
Jupp Heynckes and
Javier Irureta and even a returning Clemente failed to reproduce his success.
The Fernandez Era
The most successful Athletic coach since Clemente has been
Luis Fernández, appointed in 1996. In 1998 he led the club to second in
La Liga and
UEFA Champions League qualification. Fernandez benefited from the club adopting a more flexible approach to the
cantera. Now anybody could play for Athletic, just as long as they acquired their skills in the
Basque Country. Thus
Patxi Ferreira from
Salamanca and
Biurrun, a
Brazilian-born player who immigrated to the region at a young age, played for the club in the late 1980s. Despite this new approach, their definition of a Basque is still open to interpretation, with both
Roberto López Ufarte and
Benjamín being overlooked despite having Basque parents.
Athletic also began to recruit players from the
canteras of other
Basque clubs, leading to allegations of poaching. In 1995 Athletic signed
Joseba Etxeberria from
Real Sociedad, causing considerable bad feeling between the two clubs. Although
Lizarazu left after one season,
Urzaiz,
José Mari and
Etxeberria, were prominent members of the 1997/98 squad along with
Rafael Alkorta,
Julen Guerrero and
Patxi Ferreira.
Recent Events
In recent seasons Athletic Bilbao have languished in mid-table and the club was embroiled in a relegation battle during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. In 2006 top-flight survival was ensured on the 37th match day when Deportivo de la Coruña were beaten at Riazor 2-1.
Javier Clemente began his third spell as club coach in 2005, at a time when the club were last in the table. He is widely acknowledged to have brought defensive stability to the team, and so is also credited with having saved the club from relegation, despite this he wasn't left in charge for the 2006-2007 season. The 2006-2007 season has been the worst in the club's history, top-flight survival was ensured on the last match day when Levante were beaten at San Mamés 2-0. Despite the lack of on-field success, a majority of the club's supporters think the club's identity is more important than winning trophies. According to an
El Mundo survey in the 1990s, 76% of Athletic fans would rather see the club relegated than give up the
cantera policy. The most successful Athletic team of recent times has been the women’s football team who have won the
Superliga Femenina four times between 2003 and 2007.
Current squad
The numbers are established according to the official website:www.athletic-club.net and www.lfp.es
Unregistered players
Trophies
Men’s Football
National titles:
- Liga titles: (8) (1930, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1956, 1983, 1984).
Copa del Rey: (24) (1902, 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1973, 1984).
- The number of Copa wins Athletic Club have been credited with is disputed. The 1902 competition was won by Club Vizcaya, a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC. In 1903 these two clubs merged as Athletic Club. The 1902 cup is on display in the Athletic museum (External Link) and the club includes it in its own honours list.(External Link). However LFP and RFEF official statistics don't include this as an Athletic win.
Spanish SuperCup: (1) (1985).
Northern Championship: (3) (1914, 1915, 1916).
Bizkaia Championship: (13) (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1940)
Basque Cup: (1) (1935)
International titles:
UEFA Cup Subchampionship: (1977)
Women’s Football
SuperLeague:
- 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07 : 4
History
4 Participations in the UEFA Champions League
16 Participations in the UEFA Cup
1 Participation in the Intertoto Cup
77 seasons (All) in La Liga
»
Statistics 2007/08
| La Liga |
Position |
Pts |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
| Athletic Club |
8 |
43 |
31 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
31 |
29 |
Top Scores:
- Fernando Llorente - 7 goals
- Aduriz - 5 goals
- Susaeta and Etxeberria - 4 goals
Top Goalkeepers
- Iraizoz - 12 goals in 13 Matches
- Armando - 7 goals In 9 Matches
- Aranzubía - 8 goals In 10 Matches
Stadium Information
Name - San Mamés Stadium
City - Bilbao
Capacity - 39,750
Inauguration - 1913
Pitch size - 103 x 68 m
Other Facilities: Lezama
Famous players
see also
Selected Coaches
Fred Pentland: 1921-1927, 1929-1933
"Fernando" Daučík: 1954-1957
Agustín Gaínza: 1964-1968
Ronnie Allen: 1968-1972
Milorad "Michel" Pavić: 1972-1974
Juan Urquizu
Javier Clemente: 1981-1986,1991-1992,2005-2006
José Ángel Iribar: 1986-1987
Howard Kendall: 1987-1989
Jupp Heynckes: 1992-1994, 2001-2003
Javier Irureta: 1994-1995
Luis Fernández: 1996-2000
see also Further Information
Get more info on 'Athletic Bilbao'.
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