History of Athletic Bilbao
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This article needs to be updated.(August 2023) |
Athletic Bilbao is a Spanish football club from Bilbao, Biscay in the Basque Country.
In addition to winning several national league titles and domestic cups since their formation around the start of the 20th century, the club is perhaps best known for their policy of only signing players who have some link to their home territory, and for being one of only three clubs to have participated in every league season without being relegated, despite the restrictions of the policy.[1]
Background
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.[2]
In the late 19th century, Bilbao was a leading port of an important industrial area with iron mines and shipyards nearby, such as the Nervión Shipyards, located in Sestao (Vizcaya). In 1889, its British employees formed a multi-sports entity called Club Atleta, who played the first known football match in Bilbao on 4 April 1890 in a game between the club's members,[3] and soon, they began to play against crews of English ships made-up of miners coming from Southampton, Portsmouth and Sunderland.[4][5] Along with the coal, the British miners and shipyard workers brought with them (as in so many other parts of the world) the game of football.[6] These first matches were held on a field known as La Campa de los Ingleses,[4][5] but it was at the Campo de Lamiako where football took off in Bilbao, with several Bilbainos swarming the field to watch the teams of British workers challenge each other every weekend, and inevitably, the local citizens began to play this sport as well.[3][4]
Meanwhile, sons of the
Origins
In 1898, Astorquia, together with six fellow Basque football enthusiasts and Lamiako usuals who also belonged to the Gimnásio Zamacois (some of whom had recently returned from Britain), decided to open a football practice center in Lamiako.[7][4][10] The seven were Astorquia, Alejandro Acha, Fernando and Pedro Iraolagoitia, Enrique Goiri, Eduardo Montejo and Luis Márquez, and this group would later become Athletic Bilbao.[11][12] Gimnásio Zamacois, the largest sports center in Bilbao at that time, and the Velocipedista Club, where Astorquia maintained friendships due to his militancy as a member, inevitably became the main sources of recruitment, and thus, once added a sufficient number of volunteers, he began to arrange and organize matches of the game they loved against the British workers, which were contested on Sundays in Lamiako.[10][2] This group of football pioneers led by Astorquia, who wore a white and blue shirt divided into two halves with dark blue pants and whose training sessions were held in Getxo's Campa de Santa Eugenia, was almost entirely made of players from Biscay, with a mix of newcomers from the world of cycling.[10]
Two years later, on 30 November 1900, Carlos Castellanos and his brother Manuel, together with a group of young Bilbainos from the upper class who had studied in England and learned about football there, founded the Bilbao Football Club in the Biscayan neighborhood of Algorta.[3][4][7] The new Bilbao FC was officially established shortly after its foundation since its regulations were approved by the civil governor and printed in 1901.[3] A few months later, in February 1901, at a meeting held at the Café García, that group of football pioneers in Lamiako, now larger, and probably encouraged by the first news about the founding of Bilbao FC, began conversations to officially established a football club,[3] so a commission was formed (made up of Goiri, Astorquia, and José María Barquín) with the intention of preparing regulations for a football society, and this regulation was approved on 11 June.[3] The entity's Board was then elected, with Luis Márquez being appointed the first president of the club, Barquín as treasurer and Goiri as its secretary, while Astorquia and Alfred Mills were named the team's captain and vice-captain.[3] The most logical name for a new football club founded in Bilbao (Bilbao Football Club) was already "taken", so the name they chose was Athletic Club, using the English spelling. The name is an apparent homage to the Club Atleta of the Nervión Shipyards (1889–94), and it might have been Mills who proposed it since he played against Club Atleta.[3]
After obtaining the permission of the Civil Government, the Club was officially established on 5 September 1901, in the infamous meeting held at Café García, in which the 33 members decided to make it official and register as a sports organization with the local council.
In 1902, Juan Astorquia became the club's second president, taking over from Luis Márquez.[11] The club's foundation date is a subject of debate among football historians. The club itself declares 1898, but others claim 1901 as the true founding year due to Athletic's first board meeting held in the Café García, and others claim 1903, when Athletic merged with Bilbao Football Club, with the side that emerged from the unification being called Athletic Club de Bilbao.[8]
Club Bizcaya
At the end of 1901, the two most important clubs in the city were Athletic Club and Bilbao FC, and thus, a rivalry soon arose between them, playing several friendlies at the Hippodrome of Lamiako, which the two teams shared since there were hardly any fields in Bilbao.[13][14] Their duels aroused great expectation and served as one of the drivers of football as a mass phenomenon in Bilbao.[13] Despite the sporting rivalry between them, they had good relations, and thus, the two rivals agreed to join the best players of each club to play two games against the Bordeaux-based side Burdigala. This temporary merge became known as Club Bizcaya (with a B), and they beat Burdigala 0–2 in France, the first time a Bilbao team played on foreign territory, and 7–0 in Lamiako, the very first visit by a foreign team to Bilbao, gathering a crowd of three thousand spectators, a tremendous amount at the time.[14][15]
In 1902,
Copa del Rey
The club featured prominently in early Copa del Rey competitions. Following the
In 1911, former player and team captain
The first La Liga
In 1920, when
The Fred Pentland era
In 1921, a new British coach,
The league title under Garbutt
Athletic's success under British coaches continued with the arrival of
Garbutt set about galvanizing what was an already strong Athletic into action, which included promoting the young
Atlético Bilbao
In 1941, the club changed its name to Atlético Bilbao, following
In
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 Barcelona circumvented these rules by playing dual citizens such as
The 1970s were not much better, with only another single Copa del Rey win in
The Clemente years
In 1981, the club appointed
The Fernández era
One of the most successful Athletic coaches since Clemente's tenure was
Fernández signed
The "black biennium"
After Jupp Heynckes' second cycle in charge as manager (2001–2003), and Ernesto Valverde's first (2003–2005), the club was embroiled in a relegation battle during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.[38] 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 then began his third spell as club coach in 2005, 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, which turned out to be 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,[39] a result which was alleged a few years later to have been rigged.[40]
The Caparrós era
In the
The
The 2010–11 season started positively, with Llorente scoring several times in early games. The team eventually achieved qualification for the Europa League with one match remaining, in 6th place. A defensive crisis led to Borja Ekiza from the B squad being drafted at centre-half, and he retained his place with solid performances. Teenager Iker Muniain started almost every match, and Jon Aurtenetxe claimed the starting place at left-back before a bad injury finished his season early. The signing of Ander Herrera was agreed although he elected to stay with his club Real Zaragoza until the summer as they battled against relegation.
The Bielsa era
Prior to the 2011–12 season, Athletic's members held their latest presidential election, with incumbent Fernando García Macua defeated by former player Josu Urrutia. One of Urrutia's election pledges had been to bring in former Argentina and Chile head coach Marcelo Bielsa, and he fulfilled this promise.[43][44] Joaquín Caparrós left as his contract expired, having improved Athletic's stature during his stewardship. Bielsa joined with a reputation for using unconventional formations and tactics. Several players began the campaign playing in unfamiliar positions, including World Cup-winning midfielder Javi Martínez, deployed as a ball-playing central defender[45] and Óscar de Marcos, used in several matches at left-back despite being known as a midfielder.[46]
Initial results were not good and new signing Ander Herrera was injured. The players began to adjust as the season progressed and produced a strong run of autumn form, finishing top of their Europa League group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.[47] They defeated and defeated Lokomotiv Moscow in the last 32.
Athletic then drew Manchester United and won 3–2 in the first leg at
In their first European final since 1977, Athletic could not maintain their momentum and deliver their first trophy in 28 years, as they lost 3–0 to Spanish rivals Atlético Madrid (inspired by the forward play of
Although crushed by this disappointment, there was still another chance to claim glory having reached the
Going into the 2012–13 season, Athletic went through a period of some turmoil. The Europa League run meant many top players were being scouted by clubs who could offer higher wages and almost definite Champions League football. Fernando Llorente, whose contract was nearing its end, failed to agree a new deal and it then it emerged that fellow Spain international Javi Martínez possibly wanted to leave as well.
With few replacements available under their signing policy, Athletic took a rigid stance on the matter, whereby no offers would be accepted and players would have to meet their inflated contract buyout clause to leave. Martínez did so, joining
With this backdrop of uncertainty Athletic began their season with poor results. The possession football did not lead to enough goals scored without the presence of Llorente and the Bielsa tactic of using players regarded as midfielders in defence to boost the overall technique level of the team backfired as opponents created chances with ease.
They were eliminated from the
Bielsa promoted young French defender
The Valverde era
With the departures of manager Marcelo Bielsa, forward Fernando Llorente and defender Fernando Amorebieta, Athletic looked to replace them in the transfer market. They would begin by replacing Bielsa with former player
With a very successful 2013–14 campaign, which included a 1–0 victory over Barcelona, they finished fourth in the league, meaning a new exciting UEFA Champions League campaign. Stars Aritz Aduriz and Ander Herrera shone, meaning the summer would be full of begging suitors for their players, and indeed, the summer transfer market began with a bid for Herrera; a €36 million deal was finalized in June 2014 with Manchester United.[62][63]
In the first weeks of the
In addition to qualifying for the subsequent Europa League through their league position, Athletic qualified for the
Beginning the 2015–16 season in the first leg of the Super Cup on 14 August 2015 at San Mamés, Athletic historically defeated Barcelona 4–0, with Aritz Aduriz scoring a hat-trick. In the return leg at Camp Nou, Athletic hung on with a 1–1 draw to win their first trophy since 1984.[69][70] Aduriz continued to score freely throughout the season, finishing with 36 goals in all competitions; this form earned him a place in the Spain squad for Euro 2016 along with clubmate Mikel San José. Other strong performances, notably from youngsters Sabin Merino, Iñigo Lekue and Iñaki Williams and new signing Raúl García contributed to a strong 5th-place finish in the league.
In Europe, Athletic won their group in the Europa League and advanced to the quarter-finals where they were only defeated on penalties by the holders and eventual repeat winners Sevilla FC. Long-serving club captain Carlos Gurpegui retired from playing[71] to become a member of the coaching staff, and Bilbao Athletic were relegated back to the Segunda División B after just one season.[72]
The
In the cups, involvement in the Copa del Rey ended in familiar fashion with elimination by Barcelona (for the sixth time in ten seasons, including three finals). A highlight in the Europa League was Aduriz scoring all Athletic's goals in a 5–3 home win over Genk, a competition record,[75] but despite a 100% home record in the tournament, a loss to APOEL was suffered in the first knockout round due to a weak away performance.
Veteran goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz, who had still been first choice at the start of the season, was allowed to leave at the end of his contract, having played nearly 400 games in his 10-year-spell.[76] As the season reached its conclusion, on 23 May the club announced that Ernesto Valverde would be leaving his position, bringing to a close his four-year cycle at the helm.[77] The following day it was confirmed that his successor would be former player José Ángel Ziganda, moving up from Bilbao Athletic, on an initial two-year contract.[78] Valverde was subsequently appointed the new manager of Barcelona.[79]
The Ziganda era
Ziganda's spell in charge, controlling a squad which was virtually unchanged from the previous year, began with the third qualifying round for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, with Athletic facing FC Dinamo București, a team they had never previously met in European competition. After overcoming the Romanians, Athletic defeated Greece's Panathinaikos to reach the group stage. On 29 November the club suffered a shock defeat to SD Formentera – a club experiencing their first-ever season in the third tier – in the opening round of the domestic cup, conceding the critical goal in stoppage time at the end of the second leg when a goalless draw would have been sufficient to progress.[80][81]
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External links
Club history at official website: