Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club de Bilbao are a Spanish football team from Bilbao in Vizcaya. Founded on 1898, they currently play in the Primera División, where they have resided since the formation of Spain's national league in 1928. Of the founding league members, only Athletic, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona have never been relegated.Known as the Rojiblancos, because of their strip colour: red with white stripes and black shorts. Home stadium is the San Mamés also known as La Catedral (the cathedral of football) that seats 46,500 spectators.
Athletic are one of the great names of Spanish football. They have been consistently successful over their history, although since the 1980s, championships have eluded them, finding it hard to compete against the great spending power of Real Madrid and Barcelona. This was compounded by a policy of only signing Basque players, which limits the scope of transfer targets. The only non-Spanish player ever signed by the club was Bixente Lizarazu, a French Basque. At one time, Pais Vasco was a breeding ground of great Spanish players, and this worked in their favour. In the competitive world of modern football, it is not such an advantage.
In 2003, in its first season, the female team won the Spanish championship.
Honours
- Copa del Rey winners 24 times (last 1984).
- Primera División champions eight times (last 1984).
- Super Cup once, in 1985.
- Alkorta
- Bata
- Chopo
- Dani
- Etxeberria
- Goikoetxea
- Gorostiza
- Guerrero
- Bixente Lizarazu
- Pichichi
- Unamuno
- Uriarte
- Zarra
- Zubi
