Athletic Club (Basque: Bilboko Athletic Kluba; Spanish: Athletic Club de Bilbao) is commonly referred to in the media as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic it is a professional football club located within the city of Bilbao within the Basque Country of Spain. They are referred to in the Basque Country as Los Leones (The Lions) due to the fact that their stadium was constructed close to a church named San Mames, which was named in honor of Saint Mammes who was an early Christian that was killed by Lions of the Romans. Mammes helped to calm the lions, and later became saintly. The team plays home games at the San Mames Stadium. The colors of home include white and red-striped tops and black shorts.
Athletic are fourth most successful team of La Liga and have eight titles to their credit. In the list of Copa del Rey titles, Athletic is second only behind Barcelona having won the title 23 times. The club is the best-performing Basque football club both in cup and league titles. It is also among its most popular women's clubs in Spain and has been awarded 5 championships within the Premierra Division Femenina.
The club is among the three members who were the founding member of the Primera Division that have never been deported from the top division since its creation on the 29th of November 1929. The other two are Real Madrid and Barcelona. The three clubs, together with Osasuna have the distinction of being the sole four professional teams in Spain which are not sports companies; rather, they are operated and owned by members of the club. Athletic's principal rivals include Real Sociedad, against whom it competes in it's annual Basque derby, as well as Real Madrid, due to their political and sporting identity. there is also a minor rivalry with Barcelona because of its the historical significance. At different times throughout the club's history, other Basque league derbies were played with Alaves, Eibar and Osasuna.
The club is renowned for its cantera-style policy that aims to bring young Basque players up through the ranks, and also taking members from various Basque clubs. Athletic's strategy is signing players that are native or who have been who have been trained in football in the larger Basque Country, which includes Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava and Navarre (in Spain), and Labourd, Soule and Lower Navarre (in France). In the years since 1912, Athletic has played exclusively with players who meet its standards to qualify as Basque. This is an unusual situation in European football. It has earned Athletic fans and critics. It has received praise for its efforts to promote local players as well as club loyalty. The rule doesn't apply to coaches, and there are many examples of non-Basques from Spain and from other countries having played in on the team's first squad.
Despite the significance of the name "Athletic Club in English and in contrast to many other significant Spanish teams, which have multiple departments, this one is not a multi-sport team, playing only in football. However the cycling section and various other sporting activities were in existence before the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
