Athletic Club regards 1898 as its year of birth, although the exact day was never recorded. We blow out the candles on 18 July 2027, when the Basque club turns 129. It is a club unlike any other in the world, playing only with the sons of its own land.

Students, a racecourse and an English name

Football reached Bilbao via the River Nervión, with British workers and young Basques who had studied in Britain. In 1898 Juan Astorquia and six friends from the Zamacois gymnasium started playing at Lamiako.

The formal founding came in 1901, at meetings in the Café García, with Luis Márquez as first president. In 1903 the club also absorbed Bilbao FC.

The name was written in English from the start, Athletic Club, and so it stayed, even though the club plays only football. The only foreign-born founder, Englishman Alfred Mills, was vice-captain.

From blue and white to red and white

The first official shirt was half blue and half white, like Blackburn Rovers'. It was worn until 1910.

On 9 January 1910, in a friendly against Sporting de Irún, the red and white stripes appeared for the first time. According to the well-known story, Juan Elorduy bought shirts in London in 1909 because they had Southampton's colours.

A 2023 investigation, however, suggested Sunderland as the model, so sources disagree. What is certain is that red and white also became the colours of Bilbao's flag.

Lions, a crest and a name restored

The nickname "the Lions" comes from the church of San Mamés next to the old ground. According to tradition, the Romans threw the saint to the lions.

The first crest had the intertwined initials AC, while the shield shape appeared in 1922. In 1941 the Franco regime imposed the name Atlético de Bilbao, and the historic "Athletic Club" only returned in 1972.

Legends in the shirt

Pichichi scored the first goal at San Mamés in 1913 and died aged just 29 in 1922. La Liga's top scorer award now bears his name.

Telmo Zarra is the club's all-time top scorer with 335 goals. Goalkeeper José Ángel Iribar holds the record with 641 matches, while Andoni Zubizarreta guarded the goal for the great sides of the 1980s.

Englishman Fred Pentland gave the club two doubles, in 1930 and 1931. That year Athletic beat Barcelona by an incredible 12-1.

Only Basques, big nights

Since 1911 the club has signed only players born or developed in the Basque Country. Despite that rule, it has 8 league titles and 24 Spanish Cups.

In 1983 and 1984 Javier Clemente's team celebrated on the river aboard the legendary Gabarra barge. In 2013 the club moved into the new San Mamés.

In 2024, after a 40-year wait, it won the Cup against Mallorca on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final. In 2024-25 it finished fourth in La Liga and reached the Europa League semi-finals, earning a place in the 2025-26 Champions League.

Celebrate with us

Athletic proves that identity can be a club's greatest weapon. One city, one people and a red-and-white shirt that never forgets where it started.

Happy 129th birthday, Lions! May the roar of San Mamés echo forever.

See our Athletic Club jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: San Mamés stadium in Bilbao, May 2019 – Ardfern, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.