Links With The Past: Athletic Bilbao's Gift

Nicknamed the Lions, the Basque club sent Leicester City this poster to celebrate their 125th anniversary. During this time, they have played more than 600 opponents.

To celebrate this fact, the La Liga club sent a copy of this poster to each of these opponents. Each individual poster has been customised to include their opponent’s crest. An accompanying letter states that the aim of sending these posters is to ‘preserve the memory of  our games together and to highlight that, above and beyond any differences, we are united by our passion for football, a universal language spoken all around the world.’

Bilbao’s game against Leicester City was particularly significant. Played on 4 August, 2002, it was the first-ever game to be played at the Foxes’ new stadium on Filbert Way, now called King Power Stadium. Jordon Stewart’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw was the first ever City goal at the new ground.

The letter from Athletic which accompanied the poster also explains that the team depicted is the Athletic team from 1915 which won the Copa del Rey three times in succession between 1914 and 1916. It was painted by the Basque artist José Arrue, who died in 1977, and who specialised in painting Basque themes.

Athletic Bilbao is the fourth most successful club in La Liga history. They’re a founder member of La Liga in 1928 and has never been relegated. They have won eight La Liga titles and the Copa Del Rey 23 times. The club is unique, in that it only recruits home grown players from the Basque region.

The use of the English word ‘Athletic’ in the club name, rather that the Spanish Atlético, is because football was introduced to the Basque region in the 19th century by British workers and by Basque students who had been educated in England.

One of these students, waiting for his ship home from Southampton in 1910, purchased 50 red and white striped Southampton shirts for the club, to replace their blue and white shirts. The Lions have worn red and white striped shirts ever since.