Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao Football Club was founded in 1898 in the city of Bilbao (Basque Country). Since 1928 performs in the Primera – the Spain’s highest league. This club alongside with Real Madrid and Barcelona never got relegated from top division. Moreover this club is one of the main silverware holders in Spain.

Athletic’s colours are white and red as they correspond to the club’s nickname ‘red and white’.

Throughout their history the club had 8 seasons where they came to be the champions of the Spanish league and 24 times claimed the Copa del Rey.

Athletic Bilbao stand out for its peculiar selection policy: only the players of Basque origin can perform for the club and this is what management of the club is often criticised for. Still the Basque people take pride in such an attitude. The coaching staff though is not affected by this rule. In different periods of its history Athletic was managed by Jupp Heynckes, Luis Fernandez and Marcelo Bielsa.

For several years after the club’s establishment the colours of the team used to be blue and white. In 1910 the colours were changed into the modern ones. Numerous legends try to explain the change, still there’s nothing that could sound like truth.

Athletic is one of the few clubs that don’t place any advertisement logos on their shirts. Only during their performance in the UEFA Cup and in the Copa del Rey in 2005 they placed an ‘Euskadi’ sign on Basque government request.

Presently Athletic struggles to qualify for the Champions League though the 1990s were a tough time for them. Many are impressed by the club’s success in the Europa League where they reached the final consequently beating Lokomotiv from Moscow, Manchester United and Sporting Lisboa.