Biscay Championship

The Vizcaya Regional Championship also called North Regional Championships in its early editions, was an official football tournament in Spain, organized by the Federation Cup Vizcaína-before Federation in the North-affiliated clubs involved in this.

It was played annually between 1913 and 1940 and served to elect the representative of the region in the Championship in Spain.

History

The tournament was launched in 1913, following the creation of the North Football Federation (Federación Norte), initially consisting of clubs from the Basque provinces (Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Álava) and Cantabria (formerly province of Santander). The first edition of the Northern Regional Championship started on 12 October 1913, with six teams: three Biscay (Athletic Bilbao, Arenas Club de Getxo and Sports Bilbao) and three Gipuzkoa (Royal Society, Sporting de Irun and Racing de Irun). Athletic was the first champion.

In 1916 the Royal Spanish Football Federation agreed the clubs from the province of Santander to abandon the North Federation and integrate them into the Cantabric Regional Federation of Foot-ball clubs, with clubs from the province of Oviedo. But the situation was reversed again two years later.

After several disagreements between the clubs Biscay and Guipuzkoa in 1918 the National Committee of the Spanish federation agreed to divide the Northern Federation in these two regions.^[1] Thus, the 1918/19 season Gipuzkoa clubs launched their own championship while the North Championship teams continued Basques and re-entry of the Racing de Santander, representing the Cantabrian club.

In 1922 the clubs in the province of Santander finally left North Federation to create its own umbrella organization, which launched the Cantabrian Regional Championship.^[2] That same year, the Assembly of the Northern Federation agreed to the change of name to the Federation Biscayne team being composed exclusively of the province of Vizcaya.^[3]

In 1934 the Spanish federation took out a major restructuring of the national tournaments, so that the regional championships were replaced by the superregional, which gathered the best clubs in various regional federations. In the case of the Basque Country, from the season 1934/35 was launched called Basque Cup. This tournament was held for two years until being interrupted by the summary of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1939 during the last months of the race war, football was resumed activity in some areas controlled by the national side, under the impetus of the Spanish Federation and the regional federations. In the reborn Championship Vizcaya five teams participated, including the champion and runner-up (Athletic Bilbao and Barakaldo Oriamendi) took part in the Copa del Generalissimo.

The 1939/40 season was played the last edition of the Championship of Biscay, which was also a qualifier for access to the Championship of Spain, since then called the Copa del Generalísimo (later turned into Copa del Rey). The restructuring approved by the Spanish Federation on 1940 marked the demise of the regional championships.

Awards

Northern Regional Championship

Season	Champion
1913–14	Athletic Club
1914–15	Athletic Club
1915–16	Athletic Club
1916–17	Arenas Club de Getxo
1917–18	Real Union
1918–19	Arenas Club de Getxo
1919–20	Athletic Club
1920–21	Athletic Club
1921–22	Arenas Club de Getxo

Vizcaya Regional Championship

Season	Champion
1922–23	Athletic Club
1923–24	Athletic Club
1924–25	Athletic Club
1925–26	Athletic Club
1926–27	Arenas Club
1927–28	Athletic Club
1928–29	Athletic Club
1929–30	Deportivo Alavés
1930–31	Athletic Club
1931–32	Athletic Club
1932–33	Athletic Club
1933–34	Athletic Club
1934–36	The Basque Cup was played instead
1936–39	No competition because of the Spanish Civil War
1938–39	Athletic Bilbao
1939–40	Athletic Club

References

Martínez Calatrava, Vicente (2001). Historia y estadística del fúbol español. ISBN 978-84-607-5701-6

Notes

^ "Vizcaya-Guípúscoa The lawsuit gives the contrast with National Committee". El Mundo Deportivo. 7 May 1918. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
^ "The conflicts of the Spanish soccer". El Mundo Deportivo. 30 October 1922. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
^ "Federation Federation North becomes Vizcaína". El Mundo Deportivo. 24 July 1922. Retrieved 3 May 2009.

[1] "Vizcaya-Guípúscoa The lawsuit gives the contrast with National Committee". El Mundo Deportivo. 7 May 1918. Retrieved 3 May 2009.

[2] "The conflicts of the Spanish soccer". El Mundo Deportivo. 30 October 1922. Retrieved 3 May 2009.

[3] "Federation Federation North becomes Vizcaína". El Mundo Deportivo. 24 July 1922. Retrieved 3 May 2009.

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v t e Copa del Rey
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Finals	1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 (FECF & UECF) 1911 1912 1913 (FECF & UECF) 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related	Finals 1902 Copa de la Coronación Final Real Madrid v FC Barcelona (1916 Copa del Rey) 1937 Copa de la España Libre Aragón Championship Asturias Championship Central (Castille) Championship Catalonia Championship Gipuzkoa Championship North (Biscay) Championship South (Andalusia) Championship Real Madrid 11–1 FC Barcelona (1943) AD Alcorcón 4–0 Real Madrid (2009)