The 1894 Bilbao students v British workers was a football match that took place at the

Hippodrome of Lamiako The Limiako Hippodrome, or the Hippodrome of Lamiako, was a sports venue based in the neighborhood of Leioa, Biscay, Basque Country. Originally an equestrian venue, it's now best remembered as a historic football venue. The Campo de Lamiako pla ...

Leioa Leioa ( es, Lejona) is a municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is located south of Getxo and Berango delimitating east and south with Erandio, Portugalete and Sestao. Today it is part of the Bilbao conurbation. Its populat ...

, on 3 May 1894. The match was contested by a group of Bilbainos who challenged the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

residents in Bilbao to a football match, which at the time was a relatively unknown

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The game was won comfortably by the British 5–0, but most important than the result was its historical significance, as it was probably one of the first ‘international’ matches in the history of the sport.

Background

Bilbao, a city open to the world through the

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, kept close trade and industrial relations with at the end of the 19th century, thus becoming the home to an important British colony, which also played football, among whom a certain group of British employees of the

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Shipyards stand out, as they formed a multi-sports entity called ''Club Atleta'', who played the first known football match in Bilbao on 4 April 1890 in a game between the club's members, and soon, they began to play against crews of English ships made-up of miners coming from

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and Sunderland. These first matches were held on a field known as '' La Campa de los Ingleses'', but it was in the Campo de Lamiako where football took off in Bilbao, with several Bilbainos swarming the field to watch the teams of British workers challenge each other every weekend, and inevitably, the local citizens began to play this sport as well. Some of these locals were Basques of well-off families who had studied in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and became fond of football there, and who upon their return to Bilbao felt the need to practice this sport. In the spring of 1894, a group of young students who were enthusiastic about this new sport was brave enough to challenge the clearly superior British people of Bilbao. The local newspaper ''Noticiero Bilbaíno'' published said "challenge" in April, challenging the English residents in Bilbao to play a football match and they did not take long to respond, accepting it. The game was held on the Hippodrome of Lamiako, a horse racing course just outside of the city, located in the neighborhood of

. The match was agreed to take place at half past ten in the morning of 3 May 1894.

Overview

Admission was free and there were plenty of curious friends of the town's football players. The Bilbao students wore white shirts and the British workers wore cream-colored. Some of the figures who started for the British that day were players from ''Club Atleta'', such as the

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

George Baird, Rearey, Armstrong, and Brand. The referee was a certain M. R. Hendry. The English choose the field with their backs to the sun, and from the first moment, they dominated. The Bilbao

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, who played a lot, was containing the British and this excited the people from Bilbao, but the Britons reacted, they were stronger and easily outplayed the people from Bilbao. The English scored two early goals, but a section of the public was not satisfied with the British more physical approach and protested, and some of them decided to invade the field. The local players appease their friends and convince them that the English were doing the right thing. In the first half, the English were winning by three to nil, and at the break, the British gifted them eleven roasted chickens. It still is unknown whether that was just a display of courtesy or rather strategy. The break was prolonged more than necessary due to the after-meal and the

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of the chickens. When the game resumed, the English scored a couple more goals to seal a clear victory. The score is not clear, it seems that it was 5–0 although it can also be read as 6–0 in some chronicles.

Final details

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Aftermath

The local

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s, still quite unsure of how the rules of the sport worked, reported that the Englishmen had won by ‘five points’. After the match, the Brits brought the beaten team roasted chickens as a consolation for the heavy defeat, and a prize out of respect for the audacity of the challenge. The result did not discourage the local population, who continued their newfound love affair with the British sport, which was particularly popular among these Basque students who returned from the United Kingdom, in fact, this match coincided with the creation of the Zamacois Gymnastic Society, which was opened in Bilbao in that same year, 1894, by a group of enthusiastic

sportsmen An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...

led by the gymnast José Zamacois Bengoa, a gym which would later be the catalyst for the founding of Athletic Bilbao.

Notes

References