DESCRIPTION

As an institution, Athletic Club and its supporters are characterised by their desire to defend a set of values which are becoming increasingly uncommon in football and 21st century sports. Our pride, fully reflected in the club's policy concerning its youth academy, has become a uniting force which outweighs any differences found in our daily lives, making our philosophy different to any other and different to the way football is understood throughout the world. Athletic Club is located in Bilbao, a city in the Basque province of Biscay. The club's sporting philosophy is governed by a code which states that Athletic Club may only field players who have come through the club's own academy or the academies of the other clubs in The Basque Country, as well as players who were born in the following territories which constitute the Basque Country: Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava, Navarre, Labourd, Soule and Lower Navarre. Our men's team is one of the most successful in La Liga history. They’ve won eight First Division titles and are one of only three teams to have never suffered relegation. They’ve also had substantial success in the Copa del Rey, having won the competition 24 times. In addition, we have won the Spanish Super Cup on two occasions and have twice been runners-up in the UEFA Cup, now called the UEFA Europa League. Furthermore, our women's team have won five First Division titles, more than any other club. Athletic Club plays its matches in San Mames, a 53,000-seater stadium built in 2013 according to the UEFA Elite category stadiums specifications. For this reason, it has been recognised with the most important awards in the field of sports architecture, winning the ‘Sports’ category at the World Architecture Festival in 2015 and ‘Venue of the Year’ at the World Soccer Summit in 2017.