On 23 January 1921 a group of students in Vitoria, in the Basque Country, gave their team the name it still carries today: Deportivo Alavés. On 23 January 2027 "El Glorioso", as fans call it, turns 106 years old. It is a story of blue-and-white stripes, a pennant on the crest and a final nobody forgets.

From the "Sport Friends" to Alavés

It all began in 1920, when students in the city formed a team with the English name Sport Friend's Club. José Cabezas is credited with putting it together, and in January 1921 Hilario Dorao was elected its first president. The first players wore an all-white kit.

After a match on 23 January 1921 the name changed. The English name confused people, and the founders wanted to show that this was the leading sports club of the province of Álava. So "Deportivo Alavés" was born, and that day counts as the official founding.

Blue, white and vertical stripes

Blue and white have been with the team from its first steps, together with the flag on the crest. That is where the nickname "albiazul", the blue-and-white, comes from. The sources, however, do not explain why exactly these colours were chosen.

The classic look is the shirt with vertical blue and white stripes. After years with Hummel and Kelme, Puma took over in 2022, and its first shirt brought back the traditional stripes along with the black shorts the fans love. For its first European season, 2000-01, the club had also produced a special pink shirt carrying the names of its members.

A pennant on a flagpole

The first crest resembled the coat of arms of Álava, but in place of the arm holding a sword it had a blue-and-white pennant. It soon became simpler: a triangular white pennant with a blue stripe and the letters D and A. A round crest from 1950 was not popular, and in 1956 the pennant returned.

In 1995 came a major redesign in an oval shape. Just before the centenary, in 2020, the crest became a clean circle in white and dark blue, with the club's name and the year 1921. At its centre, of course, are still the pennant and the initials.

Mendizorroza and the "babazorros"

Since 27 April 1924 the team's home has been Mendizorroza in Vitoria, with around 19,800 seats. The ground was renovated in 2016, when Alavés returned to La Liga.

The club's supporters are called babazorros, a Basque word: "baba" means broad bean and "zorro" means sack. It was once a tease aimed at the people of Álava, a province that grew plenty of beans, but today fans use it with pride.

Pioneers and the night in Dortmund

In 1930 Alavés became the first team to win promotion from the Segunda to the top flight. In the 1930s defenders Ciriaco Errasti and Jacinto Quincoces stood out, one of the best defensive pairs in Spain at the time.

The great moment came in 2001, in the club's first European campaign. Coached by Mané, Alavés knocked out Inter among others and on 16 May played Liverpool in the UEFA Cup final in Dortmund. They were 2-0 and 3-1 down, levelled through two goals from Javi Moreno, and in the 88th minute Jordi Cruyff headed in to make it 4-4.

In extra time, down to nine men, Alavés finally gave way in the 115th minute, when Delfí Geli put the ball into his own net and the golden goal gave the English side a 5-4 win. Many consider it one of the finest finals in the competition's history. In 2017 came a Copa del Rey final too, lost 3-1 to Barcelona.

Celebrate with us

A century and six years after that change of name, Alavés remain the proud team of Álava, with their stripes and their pennant. Happy birthday, Glorioso, and may there be more nights like Dortmund, this time with a happy ending!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Mendizorroza during an Alavés match (2018) – Miguelazo84, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.