Club Guide: Athletic Club Bilbao
Written by Nexus // August 6, 2010 // Guides // No comments
Athletic Bilbao, or Athletic Club, to give them their proper name, are a Spanish club based in the Basque region in the northern area of Spain.
They were founded in 1898 and are one of the few teams that have been a permanent fixture in La Liga since its inception in 1928. They have had a varied amount of success in the past and have won the league 8 times in its history, a record bettered only by Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. But since 1984 they have not won any silverware be it league or cup, with 1984 being their most successful season when they completed a domestic treble by winning the league, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España.
Perhaps the most famous, and respected, thing about Bilbao is their loyalty to the “cantera” policy in which they only sign players who are from the Basque regions of Spain (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba, Naforroa and Naforroa Beherea) as well as those of South West France (Lapurdi and Zuberoa). Though it has been relaxed slightly to allow non-Basque nationals to play for them as long as they have been brought though the ranks at a Basque club.
Famous Players
- Joseba Etxeberria
- José Ángel Iribar
- Francisco Yeste
- Jonás Ramalho Chimeno
Famous Managers
- Javier Clemente
- Howard Kendall
- Ernesto Valverde
Top 3 Facts
1) Seven of the first 11 Bilbao managers were English.
2) They are 1 of only 4 “socios” in La Liga, the club being controlled by its associates and hence not being a sports corporation.
3) Their nickname is Los Leones which stems from early Christianity. Their stadium is built near an old cathedral and a man called Mammes was thrown to the lions by the Romans and the lions refused to eat him, he was later made a saint. (San Mames)
La Cantera
La cantera has a literal meaning of “the quarry” in English is mainly used in reference to youth academies in Spain but also to the geographical area from which a club recruits its players.
Further Reading
http://servicios.elcorreo.com/especiales/eleccionesathletic/noticias/not270501a.html
http://www.ezilon.com/information/article_11653.shtml
