They are known as the Rojiblancos or Zurigorri because of their red and white striped shirts and as Los Leones because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés (Saint Mammes).The club is known for its cantera policy of bringing young Basque players through the ranks, as well as recruiting top Basque players from other clubs (like Loren or Roberto Ríos).
Football was introduced to Bilbao by two distinct groups of players, British steel and shipyard workers and Basque students returning from schools in Britain. In the early 1890s these workers came together and formed Bilbao Football Club, while in 1898 students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois founded the Athletic Club. In 1902 the two Bilbao clubs formed a combined team, known as Club Vizcaya, in the first Copa del Rey. They returned with the trophy after defeating FC Barcelona in the final. This led to the merger of the two clubs to form the Athletic Club de Bilbao in 1903. In the same year Basque students also formed Athletic Club de Madrid. This club later evolved into Atlético Madrid.
Following the inaugural win by Club Vizcaya, the newly formed Athletic Bilbao won it again in 1903. In 1904 they were declared winners after their opponents, Club Español de Madrid, failed to turn up. After a brief lull they won the competition again in 1911 and then won it 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 August 21, 1913 and a hat-trick in the 1915 final. Today the La Liga top-scorer is declared the Pichichi in his honour.
In 1921, a new coach, Fred Pentland arrived from Racing Santander. In 1923, he led the club to victory in the Copa del Rey. After leaving the club he rejoined Athletic in 1929 and he subsequently led Athletic to La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931. The club won the Copa del Rey four times in a row between 1930 and 1933 and they were also La Liga runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1931, Athletic also defeated FC Barcelona 12-1, the latter’s worst ever defeat.In 1941, the club changed its name to Atlético Bilbao, following a decree banning the use of non-Spanish language names. In the 1943 the club won a La Liga/Copa del Generalisimo double and they subsequently retained the Copa del Rey in both 1944 and 1945. During the early 1950s the club featured the legendary forward line of Zarra, Panizo, Rafa Iriondo, Venancio and Agustín Gaínza. They helped the club win another Copa del Generalisimo in 1950 and further Copa del Generalisimo victories in 1955 and 1958. In 1956, the club also made their debut in the European Cup, eventually being knocked out by Manchester United.
The 1960s however were dominated by Real Madrid and Atlético Bilbao only had a single Copa del Rey win in 1969. The 1970s were not much better with only another single Copa del Rey win in 1973. In 1977 the club reached the UEFA Cup final, only losing on away goals to Juventus. By now the club had reverted to using the name Athletic Bilbao.
In 1981, the club appointed Javier Clemente as manager. He soon set about putting together one of the most successful Athletic Bilbao teams in the clubs history. In 1983 the club won La Liga and in 1984 they won a La Liga/Copa del Rey double. In 1985 and 1986 Athletic finished 3rd and 4th respectively. But after this, the Athletic Bilbao has failed to win a major trophy.
The most successful Athletic coach since Clemente has been Luis Fernández, appointed in 1996. In 1998, he led the club to second in La Liga and UEFA Champions League qualification.
• Liga titles: 8(1930, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1956, 1983, 1984)• Copa del Rey: 24 (1902, 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1973, 1984)• Spanish SuperCup: 1 (1985)• Northern Championship: 3 (1914, 1915, 1916)• Bizkaia Championship: 13(1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1940)
• Basque Cup: 1(1935)