Athletic Bilbao
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Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Leones'' (The Lions) because their stadium was built near a church called ''San Mamés'', which was named after Saint Mammes of Caesarea, Saint Mammes, an early Christian thrown to the lions by the Roman Empire, 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. Athletic are the fourth most successful club in ''La Liga'' with eight titles to their name. In the table of ''Copa del Rey'' titles, Athletic is second only to Barcelona, having won it 23 times. It is also the most successful Basque football club in both league and cup titles won. The cl ...
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Athletic Bilbao Signing Policy
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. The policy is related to Basque nationalism and has been praised as a way to promote local talent, although it has been criticised as being discriminatory. With regards to coaching staff, including managerial positions, those roles are eligible for non-Basques, both from other regions in Spain and elsewhere in the world. History In the first decade of their existence Athletic selected English players for the team, but since 1912 they have adhered to a policy of allowing only players born in the Basque Country or who learned their football skills at a Basque club to play for them. The motto used to desc ...
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San Mamés Stadium (2013)
San Mamés (also known as ''Nuevo San Mamés'' or ''San Mames Barria'') 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. History Planning and construction The first stages of planning occurred as early as 2004, with initial contracts signed late on in 2006, after receiving approval to build in March 2006. The new stadium was to be built next to the existing San Mamés on land that was occupied until 2003 by the Bilbao International Trade Fair. On 26 May 2010 at 12:00 the ground-breaking ceremony took place at San Mamés. The event was attended by: the ''Lehendakari'' of the Basque Country, Patxi López; the Deputy-General of Biscay, José Luis Bilbao; the Mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna; the Chairman of ...
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FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto ''"Més que un club"'' (''"More than a club"''). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the fourth-most valuable sports team in the world, worth $4.76 billion, and the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €582.1 million. The official Barcelona anthem is the "Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Barcelona traditionally play in dark shades of blue and garnet stripes, hence nicknamed ''Blaugrana''. Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 75 trophi ...
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Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. Biscay is one of the most renowned and prosperous provinces of Spain, historically a major trading hub in the Atlantic Ocean since medieval times and, later on, one of the largest industrial and financial centers of the Iberian peninsula. Since the extensive deindustrialization that took place throughout the 1970s, the economy has come to rely more on the services sector. Etymology It is accepted in linguistics (Koldo Mitxelena, etc.) that ''Bizkaia'' is a cognate of ''bizkar'' (cf. Biscarrosse in Aquitaine), with both place-name variants well attested in the whole Basque Country and out meaning 'low ridge' or 'prominence' (''Iheldo bizchaya'' attested in 1141 for the Monte Igueldo in San Sebastián). Denominations ''Bizkaia'' ''Bi ...
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Basque Country (greater Region)
The Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herria; es, País Vasco; french: Pays basque) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. Trask, R.L. ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997 The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. ''Euskal Herria'' is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating from the 16th century. It comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France. The region is home to the Basque people ( eu, Euskaldunak), their language ( eu, Euskara), culture and traditions. The area is neither linguistically nor culturally homogeneous, and certain areas have a majority of people who do not consider themselves Basque, such as the south of Navarre. The concept is still highly controversial, and the Supreme Court of Navarre has ruled against scholarly books that include the Navarre c ...
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Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herria) — a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. Etymology The English word ''Basque'' may be pronounced or and derives from the French ''Basque'' (), itself derived from Gascon ''Basco'' (pronounced ), cognate with Spanish ''Vasco ''(pronounced ). Those, in turn, come from Latin ''Vascō'' (pronounced ; plural '' Vascōnes''—see history section below). The Latin generally evolved into the bilabials and in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and the related Aquitania ...
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SD Eibar
Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, having been relegated from La Liga at the end of the 2020–21 season. The club played in the top tier of Spanish football for seven consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2021, and participated in 26 Segunda División seasons (a spell in the 1950s, and most of the 1990s and 2000s), spending the rest of their history competing at lower levels. The team plays in claret and blue shirts with blue shorts (originating from the kit of FC Barcelona) and holds home games at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium. SD Eibar is a fan-owned club, with about 8,000 shareholders from 48 countries. Until SD Huesca qualified for the top flight in 2018, the club was considered the smallest to have played in Spain's top division, and its st ...
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Deportivo Alavés
Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it has played in the highest football category of Liga de Fútbol Profesional, The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, La Liga, since 2016–17 Deportivo Alavés season, the 2016–17 season. Alavés play in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021–22 La Liga, 2021–22 season. It is recognized as the third most successful team in the Basque Country following Athletic Bilbao, Athletic Club of Bilbao and Real Sociedad, Real Sociedad de Futbol of San Sebastián. Its biggest success was in 2001 when, in the year of its debut in European competition, it reached the 2001 UEFA Cup Final, where it played against Li ...
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Basque Football Derbies
The term Basque derbies refers to the various local derbies between the football teams based in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Spain. This can also include the province of Navarre outside of the autonomous community. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans. Background As of the 2021–22 season, there are three clubs in La Liga that play in the Basque Country area. The major rivalry is between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, representing their home provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa, known as 'the' Basque derby, which has been played over 140 times in the league alone. They also met in the 2020 Copa del Rey Final, won by Real Sociedad after being postponed for a year. The third club, Deportivo Alavés, has not won any major honours, coming closest by finishing runners-up in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup and the 2016–17 Copa del Rey. The ''Babazorros'', based ...
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Athletic–Barcelona Clásico
The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions. The two clubs are among the oldest in the country, and have participated in every season of the national championship, La Liga. Owing to this, as well as contesting nine finals of the Copa del Rey (in which they are the two most successful clubs), it is the third most-played football fixture in Spain, after the meetings of each with the third constant member of the league, Real Madrid. Due to this, it has been referred to as a ''Clásico'', the modern Spanish term for a significant and traditional fixture (a ''classic'') which is not a ''derbi'' based on geographical proximity. The relationship between Athletic and Barcelona has historically been fairly healthy aside from certain periods when competitiveness became hostility, such as in the early 1980s. By the turn of the 21st century, the rivalry had largely become a histori ...
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El Viejo Clásico
El Viejo Clásico (''The Old Classic'') also known as ''El Otro Clásico'' (''The Other Classic'') 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 (between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona). 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. These two clubs, along with Barcelona, are the only participants in all editions of La Liga, the national league championship. Both are owned by their ''socios'' (members) who elect a club president to oversee its affairs. History Their first meeting occurred in the final of the first edition of the Copa del Rey, played on 8 April 1903; Athletic won 3–2. That match has been identified as a catalyst for the establishment a few weeks later of what would eventually become Club Atlético de Madrid, after som ...
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