The San Mamés Stadium ( ; also known as ''La Catedral'' , "The Cathedral") was a
football stadium in
Bilbao
Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
,
Biscay,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The stadium was the home of
Athletic Bilbao, known as ''Los Leones de San Mamés''-''Bilboko lehoiak'' (The Lions of San Mamés). They are known as ''Los Leones'' because their stadium was built near a church called ''San Mamés'' (Saint Mammes).
Mammes was an early
Christian, born in A.D. 259, who was thrown to the lions by the
Romans.
The club's new stadium,
of the same name, was inaugurated on 16 September 2013.
[A new Cathedral: Athletic Club’s move to a new San Mamés]
Simon Lloyd, Joe.co.uk
History
Opened in 1913, until its demolition it was Spain's oldest stadium (the oldest playing field being
El Molinón) a characteristic that gave rise to the nickname ''La Catedral'' (The
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
), together with its revered status as one of the nation's most important venues, the devotion shown by the team's followers who attended the matches, the site's religious heritage and the fact that the city itself did not have a cathedral for some years afterwards
[San Mamés: The Stadium]
Athletic Bilbao[San Mamés, la eterna Catedral del fútbol español (San Mamés, the eternal Cathedral of Spanish football)]
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
, 24 May 2013 (
Santiago Cathedral did not receive the distinction until 1949). The nickname of the stadium is unconnected to the building that appears on the club crest, which is the
Church of San Antón and its bridge, also featured on the Bilbao city coat of arms.

The first match at the stadium in August 1913 was a friendly between Athletic and
Racing Club de Irún in a replay of the
1913 FEF Copa del Rey Final, which was the opening game of a triangular tournament also involving
Shepherd's Bush F.C. The first goal was scored by the famous striker
Pichichi.
[
][International Tournaments played in Bilbao 1913-1993]
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...
, 29 November 2012 A 50th anniversary tournament of the same nature was heid in 1963, with Athletic defeating Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
and Sporting CP in high-scoring matches.[
San Mamés could seat almost forty thousand people and was renowned for the unique and boisterous atmosphere its crowds of devoted and loyal fans would create on match-days.][Athletic Bilbao's intoxicating spirit remains despite move next door]
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, 17 September 2013
The stadium was almost entirely rebuilt to host matches in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Athletic's opponents in friendly matches that year included the national teams of England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, while in 1998 the visitors to San Mamés were World Cup holders Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
marking Athletic's centenary.[Históricos de San Mamés VIII: Athletic - Brasil, la fiesta del centenario (Histories of San Mamés VIII: Athletic - Brazil, the centenary party)]
Vavel, 6 May 2013 Six Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
matches were played at the stadium between 1921 and 1967. In contrast, the unofficial Basque Country team played 26 fixtures of various types at San Mamés between 1915 and 2011, and the Biscay team played there three times.
In March 2006, a project was approved to replace the stadium with a new and larger version, thereby increasing the stadium capacity to 53,000. The New San Mamés Stadium is built on the former site of the Bilbao International Trade Fair, adjacent to the current stadium. Construction began in April 2010, and after it was three quarters completed, Athletic Club moved into their new home and the original San Mamés was demolished.[
]AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
's final concert of their Black Ice World Tour was held in the stadium, on 28 June 2010, it was the last gig of the guitarist and co-founder Malcolm Young.
Final months
The last Athletic match in La Liga at the stadium was a 0–1 loss to Levante on 26 May 2013; the goalscorer was Juanlu in stoppage time. Therefore, the final Athletic scorer was Fernando Llorente in the previous home fixture against Mallorca. However, the last competitive game took place on 2 June 2013 when the reserve team Bilbao Athletic (who occasionally play important matches away from their small stadium at the club training ground) drew 2–2 with Levante's reserves in their promotion play-offs.
On 5 June 2013, Athletic played a farewell friendly match at the stadium to mark its closure, against a '' Biscay XI'' (a team comprising players born in the province based with other clubs). Athletic introduced several old heroes back onto the field as substitutes in the later stages: Orbaiz, Guerrero
Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...
, Andrinua, Dani and Iribar, while others were also in attendance including 94-year-old Rafael Iriondo. Several of the Biscay players had begun their careers at Athletic, such as Expósito, Arriaga, Azkorra, Tarantino and Unai Medina, plus Beñat and Etxeita who had both already agreed to rejoin the club. Bizkaia won 1–0, with the last goal being scored by Alain Arroyo. In the days following the match, demolition of the stands began. By the time of its official centenary date in August 2013, little remained of the old stadium as work intensified to clear the site and complete its replacement.[
The iconic arch over the main stand of the stadium (which originally supported its roof)][ was preserved in the demolition and moved in several pieces to the club's training ground, Lezama,][ where it was installed at the side of the pitch used by the reserves and women's team.]
Gallery
Image:Mosaikoa San Mamesen.JPG, Main grandstand with arch
Image:San Mamés entrenamiento.PNG, East stand
Image:Tribuna Norte Sanmames.PNG, North stand
Image:Busto a Pichichi en San Mamés.JPG, Bust of Pichichi in the directors' box
Image:Euskal Herria - Catalunya.jpg, Teams line up for Basques
The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...
v Catalans match with political banners and flares (2007)
Image:Athleticzaleak San Mamesen inguruan.JPG, Outside the stadium, with the large painted club crest on the facade viewed from '' Pozas''
Image:Requiem por San Mames I.jpg, demolition of the west stand, (July 2013)
Image:Requiem por San Mames III.jpg, final hours of the main stand with the new stadium rising behind (July 2013)
1982 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:
Concerts
References
External links
San Mamés Stadium
San Mamés Stadium Unofficial Site
Estadios de Espana
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Mames
Athletic Bilbao
Defunct football venues in Spain
Football venues in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
Buildings and structures in Bilbao
Tourist attractions in Bilbao
Sport in Bilbao
Sports venues completed in 1913
1913 establishments in Spain
Sports venues demolished in 2013
2013 disestablishments in Spain