Southampton isn’t geographically or culturally close to Bilbao or Madrid. However, what many might not know is that the city’s football club played a pivotal role in shaping the identity of two of Spain’s most iconic clubs: Athletic Club (Bilbao) and Atletico Madrid.
To understand this story, we must first explore Athletic Club’s history. Today, the club is renowned for its unique philosophy of signing only Basque-born players, making it one of the most distinctive football clubs in the world. Despite their lack of recent trophies, Athletic remains a revered Spanish giant.
Interestingly, the club’s very foundation is rooted in the influence of migrant British workers and young Basques who had spent time in England.
When Athletic Club was founded in 1898, the landscape in the Basque Country—the region in Spain they hail from—looked quite different. For one, Athletic didn’t wear their now-iconic red and white stripes. Instead, they donned blue and white, similar to the colors worn by their fierce rivals, Real Sociedad, to this day.
So, what led to this transformation? How did Athletic adopt the striking red and white that defines them now?
In 1909, a man named Juan Elorduy was tasked with bringing home Blackburn Rovers jerseys from England because they resembled the Athletic Club’s colors. Unfortunately, Elorduy couldn’t find any on his last day in England. While waiting for his ride back to Spain, he made a decision that would change the course of football history.
Elorduy purchased 50 Southampton jerseys, which featured red and white stripes, and brought them back to Bilbao. Why he chose them remains a mystery, but it’s likely he didn’t want to return home empty-handed.
Of those 50 shirts, 25 were sent to Madrid, where a group of students used them to establish Atletico de Madrid.
To this day, both Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid wear red and white striped jerseys—an enduring legacy of Southampton, a club far away on the south coast of England.
Bilbao remains one of the most traditional clubs in football, not only because of their Basque player signing policy but also due to their commitment to old-fashioned values like loyalty to the club. To celebrate this, they introduced the One Club award, aimed at honoring individuals who have shown unwavering dedication and loyalty to a single club.
For the inaugural award in 2015, Athletic Bilbao chose Matt Le Tissier, a player who spent his entire career at Southampton.
Le Tissier had the honor of receiving the award during what is arguably Bilbao’s biggest match of the season—the Basque derby—at half-time against their rivals, Real Sociedad.
Since then, several notable players, including Paolo Maldini, Carles Puyol, Ryan Giggs, and Giuseppe Bergomi, have received the One Club award. A classy gesture from a truly classy club.
