History of Athletic Bilbao

[3][4][7][8][9] The result did not discourage the local population, who continued their newfound love affair with the British sport, began taking root in the city, and soon it gained followers among members belonging to the Gimnásio Zamacois, among whom a certain Juan Astorquia stood out.

[7][4][10] The seven were Astorquia, Alejandro Acha, Fernando and Pedro Iraolagoitia, Enrique Goiri, Eduardo Montejo and Luis Márquez, and this group would later become Athletic Bilbao.

[11][12] Gimnásio Zamacois, the largest sports center in Bilbao at that time, and the Velocipedista Club, where Astorquia maintained friendships due to his militancy as a member, inevitably became the main sources of recruitment, and thus, once added a sufficient number of volunteers, he began to arrange and organize matches of the game they loved against the British workers, which were contested on Sundays in Lamiako.

[3] The entity's Board was then elected, with Luis Márquez being appointed the first president of the club, Barquín as treasurer and Goiri as its secretary, while Astorquia and Alfred Mills were named the team's captain and vice-captain.

They returned with the trophy after defeating FC Barcelona 2–1 in the final with goals from the captain Juan Astorquia and French Armand Cazeaux, both of Athletic.

[12] In 1911, former player and team captain Alejandro de la Sota, the match winner of the first-ever Copa del Rey in 1903, was elected as the 7th president of the club, and under his leadership, Athletic Club achieved its greatest economic and sporting successes, getting the funds for the construction of the San Mamés Stadium, which opened in 1913, becoming one of the symbols of Athletic's dominance on the national level in the 1910s, winning the Copa del Rey three times in a row between 1914 and 1916.

The star of this team was Pichichi, a prolific goalscorer who scored the very first goal in the San Mamés stadium on 21 August 1913[24] and a hat-trick in the 1915 final, before dying aged just 29 in 1922.

The saying "Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación", translated as "With home-grown teams and supporters, there is no need for imports", made sense during these early days.

Athletic's success under British coaches continued with the arrival of William Garbutt from Napoli which made it to the top three in the Italian Serie A under his command for the first time in the club's history in 1932–33 and again in 1933–34.

While Real Madrid and Barcelona circumvented these rules by playing dual citizens such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, José Santamaría and Ladislao Kubala, Atlético adhered strictly to their cantera policy, showing little or no flexibility.

He favoured two defensive midfielders playing in front of twin centre backs and a sweeper, and as a result, critics regarded his teams as dour but effective.

[35] Although Lizarazu left after one season, Urzaiz, José Mari and Etxeberria were prominent members of the 1997–98 squad, along with the returning Rafael Alkorta, Ferreira and regular stalwart Julen Guerrero.

Despite this, he was not left in charge for the 2006–07 season, which turned out to be the worst in the club's history; top-flight survival was ensured on the last match day when Levante were beaten at San Mamés 2–0,[39] a result which was alleged a few years later to have been rigged.

In the Copa del Rey, however, the team pulled through some tough ties, including local rivals Osasuna and a strong Sevilla side, to reach their first final in the competition in 24 years.

Decent home form, including a victory over Real Madrid, led to the team sitting comfortably in the top half of the Liga and qualifying from their Europa League group, although poorer performances away from Bilbao meant that a really successful run never materialised.

Young stars Javi Martínez, Markel Susaeta and Óscar de Marcos performed well, if inconsistently, providing for main striker Fernando Llorente, while 16-year-old forward Iker Muniain made a successful breakthrough into the squad.

Prior to the 2011–12 season, Athletic's members held their latest presidential election, with incumbent Fernando García Macua [es] defeated by former player Josu Urrutia.

The players began to adjust as the season progressed and produced a strong run of autumn form, finishing top of their Europa League group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.

Athletic then drew Manchester United and won 3–2 in the first leg at Old Trafford,[48] going on to knock the three-time European champions out of the tournament with an impressive 2–1 victory at home.

Fernando Llorente, whose contract was nearing its end, failed to agree a new deal and it then it emerged that fellow Spain international Javi Martínez possibly wanted to leave as well.

With few replacements available under their signing policy, Athletic took a rigid stance on the matter, whereby no offers would be accepted and players would have to meet their inflated contract buyout clause to leave.

The possession football did not lead to enough goals scored without the presence of Llorente and the Bielsa tactic of using players regarded as midfielders in defence to boost the overall technique level of the team backfired as opponents created chances with ease.

They were eliminated from the Europa League group stage, failing to beat debutants Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona of Israel at home, and there was further embarrassment as they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Basque club Eibar of the third tier.

Bielsa promoted young French defender Aymeric Laporte into the side as a potential replacement for Fernando Amorebieta and he later signed a long-term contract with the club.

[68] Beginning the 2015–16 season in the first leg of the Super Cup on 14 August 2015 at San Mamés, Athletic historically defeated Barcelona 4–0, with Aritz Aduriz scoring a hat-trick.

[69][70] Aduriz continued to score freely throughout the season, finishing with 36 goals in all competitions; this form earned him a place in the Spain squad for Euro 2016 along with clubmate Mikel San José.

In Europe, Athletic won their group in the Europa League and advanced to the quarter-finals where they were only defeated on penalties by the holders and eventual repeat winners Sevilla FC.

Long-serving club captain Carlos Gurpegui retired from playing[71] to become a member of the coaching staff, and Bilbao Athletic were relegated back to the Segunda División B after just one season.

A keen contest for the Europa League places was fought with Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Eibar, until the latter fell out of the running after the meeting at Ipurua was settled by a stoppage-time winner from Raúl García.

In the cups, involvement in the Copa del Rey ended in familiar fashion with elimination by Barcelona (for the sixth time in ten seasons, including three finals).