Athletic Club, commonly known as just Athletic domestically and often as Athletic Bilbao or just Bilbao abroad, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country, Spain. They are known as Los Leones because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés, which was named after Saint Mammes, an early Christian thrown to the lions by the Romans. Mammes pacified the lions and was later made a saint. The team plays its home matches at the San Mamés Stadium. Its home colours are red and white-striped shirts with black shorts.
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years, he was nicknamed "Il Capitano". Maldini held the record for appearances in Serie A (647), until he was surpassed by Gianluigi Buffon in 2020. He also holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances (8) alongside Paco Gento. He was recently a technical director for Milan and is a co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC.
The Basque Country national football team represents the Basque Country in football. It selects players from the Basque Country autonomous community, Navarre and the French Basque Country and is organised by the Basque Football Federation. It is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore only allowed to play friendly matches against FIFA or non-FIFA affiliated teams.
The San Mamés Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Rafael Moreno Pitxitxi Kalea, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. Inaugurated on 16 September 2013, the stadium replaced the "old" San Mamés as the home of Athletic Bilbao. With a capacity of 53,331 seats, San Mamés is the 7th-largest stadium in Spain and the largest in the Basque Country.
Aritz Aduriz Zubeldia is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
Bizcaya, also known as Bizcaya FC or Club Bizcaya was an association football representative team from Bilbao, Spain, which participated in the 1902 Copa de la Coronación and the 1907 Copa del Rey, winning the former. In this respect, the team is similar to London XI. It intended to create a team especially for the tournament using the best players from each Bilbao-based club: Bilbao Football Club and Athletic Club in 1902, and Athletic Club and Unión Vizcaino in 1907.
Mikel San José Domínguez is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back.
Athletic Club Femenino is the women's football section of Athletic Bilbao, competing in Liga F. Athletic is one of the most successful women's teams in Spain, with five championships. Just as with the men's team, their official policy is to sign players native to or trained in football in the greater Basque Country. The team plays at the club's facilities in Lezama on the outskirts of Bilbao.
Ramón de la Fuente Leal, nicknamed Lafuente was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team.
The Basque derby is the name of the football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city rivalry between Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián, respectively the capitals of the neighbouring provinces of Biscay (Bizkaia) and Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country region of Spain. It is also occasionally referred to as the AP-8 derby, referring to the name of the highway which connects the cities.
The Lezama Facilities, are the training ground and academy of the Primera Division club Athletic Bilbao. Located in the village of Lezama, around 10–15 kilometers east of Bilbao, the facilities were opened in 1971 and currently cover 13 hectares. Athletic's academy is often referred to metonymically as Lezama.
Since 1912, the Spanish football club Athletic Bilbao has had an unwritten rule whereby the club will only sign players who were born in the Basque Country or who learned their football skills at a Basque club. On occasion, youth players have also been invited to join due to ancestral links to the region, but no senior players have been signed based on Basque heritage alone.
Athletic Bilbao is a Spanish football club from Bilbao, Biscay in the Basque Country.
El Viejo Clásico, also known as El Otro Clásico is the name given to any football match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. Until 10 December 2011, this fixture was the most played in the history of Spanish football, when it was surpassed by El Clásico. However, it remains the most played game in the Copa del Rey – although only five of the 56 matches took place in the 21st century.
The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions.
The 2021 Copa del Rey final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2020–21 Copa del Rey, the 119th edition of Spain's primary football cup. The match was played on 17 April 2021 at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona.
Severino Zuazo Ugalde was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Athletic Club. He spent his whole career at Athletic, which makes him one of the first footballers to play for Athletic for his entire career, and thus to be part of the so-called one-club men group.
Alejandro de la Sota Izagirre was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Athletic Club. He was one of the most important figures in the early history of Athletic, having been one of its co-founders in 1901, as well as a team captain, and then serving as the seventh president of the club, ruling from 1911 and 1917, becoming one of the most successful and influential presidents of the Basque club.
The 1901–02 season was Athletic Club's 1st season in existence. The club played some friendly matches against local clubs such as Bilbao FC. Athletic also played their first match outside of the Basque Country against Club Español at the Copa de la Coronación in Madrid.
