Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Club, most often known in English as Athletic Bilbao, is a football club which plays in Spain.

Athletic Club

Full name	Athletic Club
Founded	1898
Ground	San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, Spain
Capacity	53,289
Chairman	Aitor Elizegi
Manager	Marcelino Garciá
League	La Liga
2020/21	La Liga, 10th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The squad with the Copa del Rey 1903

The club formed from a merger of two football clubs ; Bilbao F.C. and Athletic Club in 1903.

Athletic Bilbao is known for only utilizing players from the historic basque territory, which includes the Basque Country in Spain and France such as the region of Navarre.

Rivalries

Athletic Club has three major rivalries: Real Sociedad de San Sebastian, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The Rivalry with Real Sociedad is due to the location, because both teams are from the Basque Country. The rivalry also took place because of the rule to only sign players from the basque territory, yet Real Sociedad abondoned the rule in the 1980s.

The rivalries with Real Madrid established itself because of the political circumstances. Both the Basque Country and Catalunya were had massive issues with the central goverment under Dictator Franco in Madrid, who forbid their language and traditions for a greater spanish empire. Franco heavily supported the capitals team, Real Madrid, which caused tensions with supporters of Athletic Club.

The rivalry with FC Barcelona also is a result of the Franco-era. FC Barcelona, located in Catalunya, had the same issues with the central government such as the Basque Country. As a result of this circumstance, a rivalry between the Basque Country and Catalunya happened, which translated in football. As both Athletic Club and the FC Barcelona are the most important teams of their regions, they were the protagonists for this rivalry.

Even with Spain being democratic since Franco's in 1975, both rivalries with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are still on-going.

Honours

National tournaments

• La Liga

Winners (8): 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1942–43, 1955–56, 1982–83, 1983–84.

Runners-up (7): 1931–32, 1932–33, 1940–41, 1946–47, 1951–52, 1969–70, 1997–98.

• Copa del Rey

Winners (23^[1]): 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1944–45, 1949–50, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1972–73, 1983–84.

Runners-up (13): 1905, 1906, 1913, 1920, 1942, 1948–49, 1952–53, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1984–85, 2008–09, 2011–12.

• Supercopa de España

Winners (1): 1984*.

(* Won Copa del Rey and La Liga Runners-up (2): 1983, 2009

• Copa Eva Duarte^[2]

Winners (1): 1950.^[3]

Runners-up (1): 1945

International tournaments

• UEFA Europa League

Runners-up: 2011-2012

League position

Season	League	Position
2000/01	La Liga	12th
2001/02	La Liga	8th
2002/03	La Liga	7th
2003/04	La Liga	5th
2004/05	La Liga	9th
2005/06	La Liga	12th
2006/07	La Liga	17th
2007/08	La Liga	11th
2008/09	La Liga	13th

Former position

1929 : La Liga - 3rd 1929/30 : La Liga - Champions 1930/31 : La Liga - Champions 1931/32 : La Liga - 2nd 1932/33 : La Liga - 2nd 1933/34 : La Liga - Champions 1934/35 : La Liga - 4th 1935/36 : La Liga - Champions 1939/40 : La Liga - 3rd 1940/41 : La Liga - 2nd 1941/42 : La Liga - 7th 1942/43 : La Liga - Champions 1943/44 : La Liga - 10th 1944/45 : La Liga - 6th 1945/46 : La Liga - 3rd 1946/47 : La Liga - 2nd 1947/48 : La Liga - 6th 1948/49 : La Liga - 6th 1949/50 : La Liga - 6th 1950/51 : La Liga - 7th 1951/52 : La Liga - 2nd 1952/53 : La Liga - 6th 1953/54 : La Liga - 6th 1954/55 : La Liga - 3rd 1955/56 : La Liga - Champions 1956/57 : La Liga - 4th 1957/58 : La Liga - 6th 1958/59 : La Liga - 3rd 1959/60 : La Liga - 3rd 1960/61 : La Liga - 6th 1961/62 : La Liga - 5th 1962/63 : La Liga - 10th 1963/64 : La Liga - 8th 1964/65 : La Liga - 7th 1965/66 : La Liga - 5th 1966/67 : La Liga - 7th 1967/68 : La Liga - 7th 1968/69 : La Liga - 11th 1969/70 : La Liga - 2nd 1970/71 : La Liga - 5th 1971/72 : La Liga - 9th 1972/73 : La Liga - 9th 1973/74 : La Liga - 5th 1974/75 : La Liga - 10th 1975/76 : La Liga - 5th 1976/77 : La Liga - 3rd 1977/78 : La Liga - 3rd 1978/79 : La Liga - 9th 1979/80 : La Liga - 7th 1980/81 : La Liga - 9th 1981/82 : La Liga - 4th 1982/83 : La Liga - Champions 1983/84 : La Liga - Champions 1984/85 : La Liga - 3rd 1985/86 : La Liga - 3rd 1986/87 : La Liga - 13th 1987/88 : La Liga - 4th 1988/89 : La Liga - 7th 1989/90 : La Liga - 12th 1990/91 : La Liga - 12th 1991/92 : La Liga - 14th 1992/93 : La Liga - 8th 1993/94 : La Liga - 5th 1994/95 : La Liga - 8th 1995/96 : La Liga - 15th 1996/97 : La Liga - 6th 1997/98 : La Liga - 2nd 1998/99 : La Liga - 8th 1999/00 : La Liga - 11th

References

1. Note:The number of Copa wins Athletic Club have been credited with is disputed. The 1902 competition was won by Bizcaya, a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC. In 1903 these two clubs merged as Athletic Club. The 1902 cup is on display in the Athletic museum and the club includes it in its own honours list. . However LFP and RFEF official statistics do not include this as an Athletic win.
2. Note:"Eva Duarte Cup" competition was the predecessor of the current "Spanish Supercup", because they face the league champion against the champion of the "Copa del Rey".
3. The Copa Eva Duarte was only recognized and organized with that name by the RFEF from 1947 until 1953, and therefore Athletic Bilbao's runners-up medal in the "Copa de Oro Argentina" of 1945 is not included in this count.