Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Club

Full name	Athletic Club
Nickname(s)	Los Leones (The Lions)
Founded	1898 (1898)
Ground	San Mamés, Bilbao
Capacity	40,000
President	Josu Urrutia
Manager	Marcelo Bielsa
League	La Liga
2011–12	La Liga, 10th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Athletic Club (Spanish pronunciation: [aðˈletik ˈkluβ]; Basque: Bilboko Athletic Kluba [bilβoko atletik kluba]), also commonly known as Athletic Bilbao, is a professional football club, based in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain.

They are known as los Leones (The Lions) 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 Mammes and he was later made a saint. The San Mamés Stadium is hence nicknamed "the football cathedral".

The club has played in the Primera División of La Liga since its start in 1929. They have won the Liga on eight occasions. In the historical classification of La Liga, Athletic are in fourth place and one of only three clubs which have never been relegated from the Liga, the others being Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The club also has a women's team, which has won four championships in the Spanish Superliga.

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 Joseba Etxeberria or Javi Martínez). Athletic official policy is signing professional players native to or footballistically trained in the greater Basque Country, including Biscay, Guipúzcoa, Álava, Navarre ; and Labourd, Soule and Lower Navarre (in France). Still, in recent times, this policy has been somewhat relaxed and players with direct Basque ancestry have played for the team. This has gained Athletic both admirers and critics. The club has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty. Athletic is one of only four professional clubs in Spain in Primera División (the others being Real Madrid, Barcelona and Osasuna) that is not a sports corporation; the club is owned and operated by its associates (socios).

History

Bilbao FC, Athletic Club and edaldia

Athletic Club with the first Copa del Rey in 1903.

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 19th century Bilbao was a leading port 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, Portsmouth and Sunderland. 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 Bizcaya, 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 in 1903. In the same year Basque students also formed Athletic Club 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 or 1903 as the true founding year.

Club colours

Athletic's team champions of 1921 Copa del Rey

Athletic Club began playing in an improvised white kit, but in the 1902–03 season, the club's first official strip became half-blue, half-white shirts similar to those worn by Blackburn Rovers, which were donated by Juan Moser. Later, a young student from Bilbao named Juan Elorduy, who was spending Christmas 1909 in London, was charged by the club to buy 25 new shirts, but was unable to find enough. Waiting for the ship back to Bilbao and empty handed, Elorduy realised that the colours of the local team Sunderland matched the colours of the City of Bilbao, and bought 50 shirts to take with him. Upon arriving in Bilbao, the clubs directors decided almost immediately to change the teams strip to the new colours, and since 1910, Athletic Club have played in red and white stripes. Of the 50 shirts bought by Elorduy, half were then sent to Atlético Madrid, which had originally begun as a youth branch of Athletic. Before the switch from blue and white to red and white, only one other team wore red and white, Sporting de Gijón, since 1905.

Athletic were one of the last major clubs who did not have the logo of an official sponsor emblazoned on their kit. In the UEFA cup and the Copa del Rey of 2004–05, 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). This policy was changed for the three seasons starting from 2008, with Athletic playing with the logo of the Biscay-based Petronor oil company on their shirts in exchange for over €2 million. In 2011, Athletic revealed the away kit which has been inspired by the colours of the Basque flag.

Copa del Rey

The club featured prominently in early 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 21 August 1913 and a hat-trick in the 1915 final. Today, the La Liga top-scorer is declared the Pichichi in his honour.

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 Alavés. This meant that five of the ten clubs in the Primera División 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 is no need for imports made sense during these early days.

The Fred Pentland Era

1930-31 La Liga winner team

In 1921, a new coach, Fred Pentland, arrived from Racing de 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.

The league title under Garbutt

Bilbao's success under British coaches continued with the arrival of William Garbutt from Italian Serie A side Napoli, who he had helped to a top-three finish for the first time in their history in 1932-1933 and again in 1933-1934. He had previously won the scudetto three times with Genoa, and as a result he arrived in Spain] in 1935 as a well-respected coach, despite his reputation being non-existent in his native England. The His first season in Spain was a massive success by guiding the team to the title. He had inherited a talented squad which included the strikers Guillermo Gorostiza and Bata who had been top scorers for La Liga in 1930 and 1932 (Gorostiza) and 1931 (bata) respectively. The year prior to Garbutt's appointment was not a success for the club (Athletic Bilbao had previously won the Copa del Rey four times consecutively between 1930 and 1933) as they finished 4th (in 1934-1935) despite having been league winners the year before in 1934.

Garbutt set about galvanizing what was an already strong Athletic side into action, which included promoting the young Ángel Zubieta redondo to the first team, a player who at 17 years of age went onto become the then youngest player ever to play for the Spanish National side. Garbutt's first game was a 3-3 draw away at Oviedo on the 10th November 1935, but he followed this up the next weekend with a 7-0 victory over Betis Balompié who were the reigning champions. Garbutt's success continued with a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid on the 12th January 1936, a significant victory as the two teams played cat and mouse over the following weeks in the run up to the title. In the final game of the season the title was decided with Athletic defeating Oviedo 2-0 at home on the 19th April 1936 to clinch the title and finish two points clear of Madrid. This saw success return to Athletic in a season in which brought them their 4th title, and where Bata was second top scorer with 21 goals. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, a mere three months after the end of the season saw football halted until the 1939–40 season. Athletic were not to win the title again until 1943, by which time Garbutt had been interred by Mussolini's fascists in Italy after having returned to coach Genoa in Serie A.

Armando Atlético Bilbao

In 1941, the club changed its name to Atlético Bilbao, following a decree issued by Franco, banning the use of non-Spanish language names and scrapping the policy of only letting Basque-born players in the team (see origins of the "grandparent rule"). The same year also saw Telmo Zarra make his debut. Over the next 13 seasons, he went on to score 294 goals in all competitions for Atlético, plus another 20 for Spain in as many games. His 38 goals in the 1950–51 season stood as a record for 50 years before being broken by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. Another great player from this era was José Luis Panizo. In 1943, the club won a 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 circumvented 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. During 1960s, however, other players such as Jesús 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 1975, 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 Francisco 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 Urquiaga, 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 fourth 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 third and fourth, 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 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 Fernández 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. Fernández 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.

Fernández signed Bixente Lizarazu, the first French-born Basque to join the club, Ismael Urzaiz and José Mari. 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 regional rivals Real Sociedad, causing considerable bad feeling between the two clubs. Although Lizarazu left after one season, Ismael Urzaiz, José Mari García Lafuente, and Joseba Etxeberria were prominent members of the 1997–98 squad, along with Rafael Alkorta, Julen Guerrero, and Patxi Ferreira.

21st century

The "black biennium"

After Jupp Heynckes second cycle (2001–2003) and Ernesto Valverde (2003–2005), the club was embroiled in a relegation battle during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In 2006, top-flight survival was ensured on the 37th match day when Deportivo de La Coruña were beaten at the Estadio 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 was not left in charge for the 2006–07 season. The 2006–07 season has been the worst in the club's history; top-flight survival was ensured on the last match day when Levante UD were beaten at the San Mamés 2–0.

The Caparrós Era

In the 2008–09 season, Athletic again achieved unspectacular results and finished in mid-table, though they ensured safety from relegation earlier than in the previous campaigns. In the Copa del Rey, however, the team managed to pull through some tough ties, including local rivals CA Osasuna and the strong Sevilla FC side, to reach their first final in the competition in 24 years. The final in Valencia against FC Barcelona was a great occasion for the fans, and though they lost 4–1, the result was no disgrace, as the expensively-assembled Barcelona side of that season also proved unbeatable in La Liga and the Champions League. Athletic's reward for their efforts was a place in the "new" UEFA Europa League tournament for the following campaign.

The 2009–10 season saw Athletic make steady progress in the league and in Europe. Decent home form, including a victory over Real Madrid, led to the team sitting comfortably in the top half of the Liga and qualifying from their Europa League group, although poorer performances away from Bilbao meant that a really successful run never materialised. In 2010, the home games often resulted in draws rather than victories, and this also proved to be the case in the Europa League, where a draw at the San Mamés against Anderlecht was followed by a heavy defeat in Belgium. Ultimately, a promising season delivered little, with Athletic finishing eighth, just out of the European places. But in comparison to most recent seasons. it was an improvement. Young stars Javi Martínez, Markel Susaeta, and Óscar de Marcos performed well, if inconsistently, providing for main striker Fernando Llorente, and 16-year-old forward Iker Muniain made a successful breakthrough into the senior squad. At the other end of the career scale, 500-game man Joseba Etxeberria retired after 15 seasons at the club, and Francisco Yeste, who had also played over 300 games in the red-and-white shirt, left rather abruptly at the end of the campaign.

Going into the 2010–11 season, Athletic were looking to build on the previous season and claim a European placing. The season started positively, with Fernando Llorente scoring several times in early games. The team's form, particularly away from home, was not consistent enough for them to mount a challenge for fourth (Champions League) but similar lapses by other teams meant there was still a chance of qualifying for the Europa League. This was eventually achieved with one match remaining, with Athletic moving clear of early-season successes RCD Espanyol after a series of narrow victories, including 2–1 wins over Basque rivals Osasuna and Real Sociedad in successive weeks. A defensive injury and suspension crisis midway through the season led to Borja Ekiza, previously only a member of the B squad, being drafted in at centre-half, and his performances were solid enough for him to retain his place for the remaining games. Teenager Iker Muniain also started almost every match, mostly on the left wing, where he could use his trickery to supply Llorente and his support striker Gaizka Toquero. Eighteen-year-old Jon Aurtenetxe also impressed manager Joaquín Caparrós enough to claim the starting place at left-back for the start of the campaign before a bad injury finished his season early. The signing of Spanish under-21 midfielder Ander Herrera was agreed well before the end of the season, although the young star elected to stay with formative club Real Zaragoza as a gesture of respect as they battled against relegation. By the end of the campaign, Athletic had secured a return to European competition by finishing in sixth place.

The Bielsa era

Prior to the start of the 2011–12 season, Athletic Club's socios (full members) held their latest presidential election, which saw incumbent Fernando García Macua defeated by former long-serving player Josu Urrutia. One of Urrutia's election pledges had been to bring in former Argentina and Chile head coach Marcelo Bielsa to lead the club, and he fulfilled this promise. Joaquín Caparrós left the club with his contract having expired, and having improved Athletic's stature during his stewardship. Bielsa joined having established a reputation for using unconventional formations and tactics, and set about changing Athletic to suit them. Several players began the campaign playing in unfamiliar positions, including World Cup-winning midfielder Javi Martínez, who was deployed as a ball-playing central defender and Óscar de Marcos, who despite being known as a midfielder was used in several matches at left-back. Initial results were not consistently good and new signing Ander Herrera was injured. The players began to adjust to the changes as the season progressed, however, and following an away victory at local rivals Real Sociedad, Athletic produced a strong run of Autumn form which included wins over Paris Saint-Germain, CA Osasuna, and Sevilla FC, as well as credible draws with Valencia CF and FC Barcelona, only to drop points at home to newly-promoted Granada CF. The team also finished top of their Europa League group and defeated Lokomotiv Moscow in the last 32.

Athletic then drew Manchester United and won 3–2 in the first leg at Old Trafford, going on to knock the 3-times European champions out of the tournament with an impressive 2–1 victory at home. Fernando Llorente and Oscar de Marcos both scored in each of the legs. In the quarter final, they went to FC Schalke 04 of Germany and won the first leg 4-2, despite being 2-1 down after a Raul brace on 72 minutes. Athletic would go on to draw the second leg against Schalke 2-2, going through to the Europa League semi-finals to face Sporting Lisbon with a favourable aggregate score of 6-4. Athletic lost the first leg in Portugal by 2-1 after initially taking the lead, but managed to beat Sporting 3-1 at home after a goal by Fernando Llorente in the 89th minute in front of a fervent home crowd edged them through to the final, 4-3 on aggregate. Bilbao native Ibai Gomez, who had been playing 5th-level football at Santutxu FC a few years previously, was seriously injured in his 2010 debut for Athletic and had been involved in only a handful of first team games since his return to fitness, played a significant role in the run.

In their first European final since 1977 and first ever in a single match, Athletic could not maintain their momentum and deliver their first trophy in 28 years, as they lost 3-0 to Atletico Madrid (who were inspired by the forward play of Radamel Falcao), on 9 May in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.

Although crushed by this disappointment, there was still another chance for Athletic Club to claim glory to match the positive play and results of the unpredictable first season under Marcelo Bielsa. Having reached the 2012 Copa del Rey Final by defeating giantkillers CD Mirandes (based in a small town close to Bilbao), Athletic faced the same opponent as in 2009 - powerful FC Barcelona, who again proved too strong in another 3-0 result. Somewhat ironically, the game was played at Estadio Vicente Calderon, home of Athletic's Europa League conquerors, Atletico Madrid, bringing back further painful memories of that defeat. However, finishing as Copa de Rey runners-up meant that Athletic would qualify for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League giving them an immediate chance to fight for that trophy again. With their place in the Copa final, and therefore European qualification (due to Barcelona's perennial Champions League placing) having been confirmed as early as 7 February, and with attention diverting towards the Europa League run, Athletic's league form tailed off (winning only 4 points from a possible 18 during March) and they finished 10th.

Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, Athletic went through a period of some turmoil. Having impressed many observers around the world with their play in the preceding campaign, all the top players (according to various media rumours) were now being scouted by top clubs in England, Italy and Germany who, in some cases, could offer higher wages and Champions League football, although qualification for the competition would obviously be the aim for Athletic as well. In particular, striker Fernando Llorente, whose contract was nearing its end, failed to agree a new deal due to his wage demands (allegedly far higher than the norm at the club, but less than some other top strikers in other leagues), and when his position became unstable, it emerged that fellow Spain international Javi Martinez possibly wanted to leave as well. With the club's financial position relatively healthy and with few, if any, replacements available under their Basque signing policy, Athletic took a rigid stance on the matter, whereby no offers would be accepted by them and any players wishing to leave would have to meet their inflated contract buyout clause. Martinez did so, joining Bayern Munich before the transfer deadline after the player and the German club agreed to a deal to finance the €40m release despite Athletic's refusal to cooperate. Llorente, however, failed to secure such a deal and remained an Athletic player at the close of the transfer window, despite the bad blood which had developed between him and the club management over the situation. Martinez and Llorente - arguably the most important players in the previous 5 seasons - had been forced to train apart from the other players and faced abuse from fans as they sought a move away, which did little to improve team harmony.

The situation was complicated further when Marcelo Bielsa had a major disagreement with the contractors working on improvements to the Lezama club training ground as he felt they were inadequate, overpriced and behind schedule, thereby undermining his pre-season preparations with the squad. The dispute deteriorated into a physical altercation with the site foreman, followed by Bielsa issuing a statement criticising the work - which the club hierarchy officially distanced themselves from. At one stage in the tense episode the Argentine coach appeared to have left his position, and although the matter was eventually resolved it was not the positive atmosphere the club desired as the start of the season approached. Experienced striker Aritz Aduriz returned (from Valencia CF for a third spell at Athletic, but former youth team forward Ismael López was the only other new signing. Along with the enforced sale of Javi Martinez, aging squad players Koikili, Igor Gabilondo and Aitor Ocio had departed at the start of the summer, and they were followed by winger David Lopez and defender Ustaritz; promising young players Jonas Ramalho and Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta seemed set to play a bigger role in their place.

With this backdrop of uncertainty, along with injuries to Aurtenetxe, Amorebieta, Ekiza, Ander Herrera and Llorente, it was perhaps not surprising that Athletic began their season with some poor results. The possession football was not leading to enough goals scored without the presence of Llorente, albeit Aduriz was proving a capable deputy, and the Bielsa tactic of using players regarded as midfielders in defence to boost the overall technique level of the team was seen to backfire somewhat as opponents created chances with alarming ease. In their first 8 competitive games (4 in La Liga and 4 in the Europa League preliminaries), Athletic scored 21 goals but conceded 18. Athletic did manage to reach the Europa League group stage, leaving fans optimistic of another Autumn upturn in form, but they were eventually eliminated.

Players

Main article: List of Athletic Bilbao players

See also: Bilbao Athletic § Current squad

The numbers are established according to the official websites: www.athletic-club.net, www.lfp.es and www.uefa.com

As of 9 February 2012

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ESP	Gorka Iraizoz
2	FW	ESP	Gaizka Toquero
3	DF	ESP	Jon Aurtenetxe
4	DF	FRA	Aymeric Laporte
5	DF	VEN	Fernando Amorebieta
6	DF	ESP	Mikel San José
8	MF	ESP	Ander Iturraspe
9	FW	ESP	Fernando Llorente
10	MF	ESP	Óscar de Marcos
11	FW	ESP	Ibai Gómez
13	GK	ESP	Raúl Fernández
14	MF	ESP	Markel Susaeta

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	DF	ESP	Andoni Iraola (vice-captain)
16	FW	ESP	Isma López
17	MF	ESP	Iñigo Pérez
18	MF	ESP	Carlos Gurpegui (captain)
19	MF	ESP	Iker Muniain
20	FW	ESP	Aritz Aduriz
21	MF	ESP	Ander Herrera
22	DF	ESP	Xabi Castillo
23	DF	ESP	Borja Ekiza
26	MF	ESP	Igor Martínez
27	MF	ESP	Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta
28	DF	ESP	Jonás Ramalho

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ESP	Mikel Balenziaga (at Valladolid until 30 June 2014)
—	GK	ESP	Iago Herrerín (at Numancia until 30 June 2013)
—	DF	ESP	Iban Zubiaurre (at Salamanca until 30 June 2013)

Presidency

The current board is chaired by Josu Urrutia Tellería, consultant by profession, whose candidacy was successful during the election in July 2011, succeeding under the previous president, Fernando García Macua. Those elections involved the current president and Urrutia, of which the latter emerged victorious. There were a total of 22 176 votes, which accounted for 65.49% share of the voting members, reaching the maximum participation of the history of the Athletic. Urrutia was the winner with 12 057 votes (54.36%), while his rival in the polls, García Macua, garnered 9,796 (44.17%). Likewise, 165 (0.74%) members voted blank, and 158 (0.71%) remaining votes were considered invalid.

The board of the Athletic Club is composed of the following directors:

• President: Josu Urrutia.
• Vice-President: José Ángel Corres.
• Secretary: Javier Aldazabal.
• Vice-Secretary: Jon Muñoz Iñurrategi.
• Treasurer: Izaskun Larrieta.
• Counter: Alberto Uribe-Echevarria.
• Members: Xabier Pérez, Silvia Muriel, Laura Martínez, Borja López, Yolanda Lázaro, Ángel Mari Gorostidi, Jokin Garatea, Juan Arana, Ramón Alkorta.

Managers

Managers of the 20th century
Year	Trainers (1910–63)		Year	Trainers (1963–00)
1910–14	Mr. Sheperd		1963–64	Juan Ochoantezana
1914–15	Billy Barnes		1964–65	Antonio Barrios (2nd cycle)
1915–19	No coach.		1965–68	Agustín Gaínza
1919–21	Billy Barnes (2nd cycle)		1968–69	Rafael Iriondo
1921–22	Mr. Burton		1969–71	Ronnie Allen
1922–25	Juan Arzuaga		1971–72	Salvador Artigas
1925–26	Ralph Kirby / Fred Pentland		1972–74	Milorad Pavić
1926–29	Lippo Hertzka		1974–75	Rafael Iriondo (2nd cycle)
1929–33	Fred Pentland (2nd cycle)		1975–79	Koldo Aguirre
1933–35	Patricio Caicedo		1979–81	Helmut Senekowitsch
1935–37	William Garbutt / José María Olabarria		1981	Iñaki Sáez
1939–41	Roberto Echevarria		July 1981–June 86	Javier Clemente
1940–47	Juan Urquizu		1986–87	José Ángel Iribar
1947–49	Henry John Bagge		July 1987–Nov 89	Howard Kendall
1949–52	José Iraragorri		Nov 1989–June 90	Txetxu Rojo
1952–54	Antonio Barrios		July 1990–March 91	Javier Clemente (2nd cycle)
1955–57	Ferdinand Daučík		1991–June 92	Iñaki Sáez (2nd cycle) / Txutxi Aranguren
1957–58	Baltasar Albéniz		July 1992–June 94	Jupp Heynckes
1958–60	Martim Francisco		July 1994–March 95	Javier Irureta
1960–62	Juan Antonio Ipiña		July 1995–June 96	Dragoslav Stepanović / J.M. Amorrortu
1962–63	Ángel Zubieta		July 1996–June 00	Luis Fernández

Managers of the 21st century
Year	Trainers
July 2000–June 1	Txetxu Rojo
July 2001–June 3	Jupp Heynckes (2nd cycle)
July 2003–June 5	Ernesto Valverde
July 2005–Oct 05	José Luis Mendilibar
Oct 2005–June 6	Javier Clemente (3rd cycle)
July 2006–Nov 06	Félix Sarriugarte
Nov 2006–June 7	José Manuel Esnal "Mané"
July 2007–June 11	Joaquín Caparrós
July 2011–present	Marcelo Bielsa

Kit evolution

1903	1910	1913	1950	1970	1982	1996	2004	2009

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1982–1990	Adidas	None
1990–1999	Kappa
1999–2001	Adidas
2001–2008	100% Athletic
2008–2009		Petronor
2009–2013	Umbro
2013–2017	Nike

The English based kit manufacturer Umbro took responsibility for supplying the team in 2009, having agreed a long term contract which expires in 2017.

Honours

See also: Extended Honours

Men’s Football

National tournaments

• La Liga

Winners (8): 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1942–43, 1955–56, 1982–83, 1983–84.

Runners-up (7): 1931–32, 1932–33, 1940–41, 1946–47, 1951–52, 1969–70, 1997–98.

• Copa del Rey

Winners (23): 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1944–45, 1949–50, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1972–73, 1983–84.

Runners-up (13): 1905, 1906, 1913, 1920, 1942, 1948–49, 1952–53, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1984–85, 2008–09, 2011–12.

• Supercopa de España

Winners (1): 1984*.

(* Won Copa del Rey and La Liga)

Runners-up (2): 1983, 2009.

• Copa Eva Duarte

Winners (1): 1950.

International tournaments

• UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League

Runners-up (2): 1976–77, 2011–12.

• Small World Club Cup

Winners (1): 1967.

• Copa Latina

Runners-up (1): 1956.

• Copa Ibérica

Runners-up (1): 1983.

Regional tournaments

Basque Cup

• Winners (1): 1935.

Northern Championship / Biscay Championship

• Winners (17): 1914, 1915, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1940.

Women’s Football

• Primera División

Winners (4): 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07.

Runners-up (1): 2011–12

• Copa de la Reina

Runners-up (1): 2012

Results

See also: List of Athletic Bilbao seasons

• 81 seasons (All) in La Liga
• 4 Participations in the UEFA Champions League / European Cup
• 14 Participations in the UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup
• 5 Participations in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
• 2 Participations in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
• 1 Participations in the UEFA Intertoto Cup

Season	League									Cup	Europe		Other Comp.		Top scorer
	Div	Pos	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts						Name(s)	Goals
2007–08	1D	11th	38	13	11	14	40	43	50	QF					Fernando Llorente	12
2008–09	1D	13th	38	12	8	18	47	62	44	RU					Fernando Llorente	18
2009–10	1D	8th	38	15	9	14	50	53	54	R32	Europa League	R32	Supercopa de España	RU	Fernando Llorente	23
2010–11	1D	6th	38	18	4	16	59	55	58	R16					Fernando Llorente	19
2011–12	1D	10th	38	12	13	13	49	52	49	RU	Europa League	RU			Fernando Llorente	29

Last updated: 26 May 2012
Pos. = Position; Pl. = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal Scored; GA = Goal Against; Pts = Points
Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up; Cyan = ongoing

Colours :

Gold	Champion
Silver	Runner-up
Green	Champions League Classified
Blue	Europa League Classified

Statistics and Records

Main article: List of Athletic Bilbao records and statistics

Statistics

San Mamés Stadium from outside

• Associates: 40,000
• Budget: €66,004,000 (2012–13)
• Seasons in La Liga: 81 (all).
• Most goals scored in one match home: Athletic 12 – Barcelona 1 (1930–31).
• Most goals scored in one match away: Osasuna 1 – Athletic 8 (1958–59).
• Most goals scored in one match in Copa del Rey: Athletic 12 – Celta de Vigo 1 (1946–47)
• Most goals scored in one match in European competitions: Standard Liège 1 – Athletic 7 (2004–05).
• Best position in La Liga: 1st (8 times)
• Worst position in La Liga: 17th (Once).
• Historical position in the ranking of La Liga: 4th
• Participations in UEFA Europa League: 14
• Best position in UEFA Europa League: Runner-up.
• Participations in UEFA Champions League: 4
• Best position in UEFA Champions League: Quarter final.

Records

• Together with Real Madrid and Barcelona, Athletic is one of only three teams to have contested all editions of La Liga, without ever having been relegated.
• In the 1929–30 season, finished the league unbeaten after 18 games.
• Has the record for the biggest win in La Liga (12–1 to Barcelona, in 1931).
• Has the record for the biggest win in Copa del Rey (12–1 to Celta de Vigo, in 1947).
• Has the record for the biggest win away to Real Madrid (0-6 in Santiago Bernabéu), Barcelona (0–6 in Camp Nou), Espanyol (1-5) and Osasuna (1-8).
• Zarra is the only player in the history of La Liga to be top scorer 6 times.
• Zarra holds the record for goals in the history of La Liga (252 goals).
• Zarra is the top scorer in the history of Copa del Rey (81 goals).
• Gainza has the record of most goals scored in a single La Liga match (8 goals).
• Zarra holds the record for most goals in a Copa del Rey final (4 goals).
• Bata is the player with the highest average scoring rate in La Liga (0.92 goals per match played).
• Michael Nolan,a Spanish born Irishman, has been accredited with the popularization of the clubs nickname "Bilbao". Michael Nolan is also the longest ever continuous season ticket holder having held a season ticket every year since 1951.

Stadium information

San Mamés

• Name: San Mamés
• City: Bilbao
• Inauguration 1913
• Current capacity: 39,750
• Old capacity (1972-1997): 45,000
• Average Attendance: 37,575
• Last renovated: 1982
• Pitch size: 103 x 68 m
• Sports Facilities: Lezama

San Mamés Barria

• Name: San Mamés Barria
• Capacity: 53,332
• Beginning construction: May 26, 2010.
• End construction (partial, 75%): Summer 2013.
• Opening: 2013/14 season.
• End construction (total): 2014.

Lezama facilities

The Lezama facility is the complex where all of the categories of Athletic train. Opened in the 1971–72 season, under the presidency of Felix Oráa. At present, facilities include, inter alia, five natural grass fields, a gymnasium, a pediment, a medical center and a residence for young players. Lezama has under gone remodeling 1995, under the presidency of Jose Maria Arrate with the construction of new roads and parking entry and exit able to absorb the large number of vehicles that come every day, and a platform cover bringing greater convenience to fans attending the matches of the youth teams and other youth football teams. These facilities are located in the municipality of Lezama, about 10 miles from Bilbao.

Future

The Board has given the green light to the so-called 'Lezama Master Plan', which was founded with the purpose of modernizing the structures of both the youth teams and first team. The 'Plan' is the result of a rigorous study of the basic needs for the future of the Athletic Club. The work will take place over the course of two to three years and its budget is around 12 million euros. The Club is committed to consolidate its Cantera structure, which is the basis for the future of the Club and in this regard Lezama will be expanded to classrooms for youth work in the lower categories and create an audiovisual department.

See also

• Bilbao Athletic
• CD Baskonia
• List of Athletic Bilbao records and statistics
• Politics and sports

External links

• Template:Eu icon Template:Es icon Template:En icon Athletic Club Official Website
• Template:Ru icon Athletic Club Russian FANS
• Template:En iconTemplate:Es icon Athletic Bilbao at La Liga
• Template:Es icon Futbolme team profile
• BDFutbol team profile
• Template:Es icon Voluntad de tradición, an article on the cantera in Spanish.
• Template:Es icon San Mamés Stadium
• Athletic Club Gadget (Windows 7 and Vista)
• Estadios de Espana