Story of the Athletic Club strip

For a team with a history like Athletic Club, there are a number of parallel stories and anecdotes that make it a club with a long and interesting tradition.

The story of the Athletic Club kit is one of them.

16 milestones in the story of the Athletic Club kit

1. The first strip was cobbled together in order to be able to play friendly matches. It was a sweater with white shorts and black socks.
2. In 1902, when the first official Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) was held, the kit was replaced by a more elegant one: a shirt with two stripes (navy blue and white), dark blue shorts and blue socks with a white stripe at the top.

It was the kit worn by the English club Blackburn Rovers Football Club, from whom it was bought.

3. In 1910, Juan Elorduy should have taken advantage of his trip to England to buy more shirts. To his surprise when he got there, they had sold out of them. He had no choice but to improvise.

On his return to Bilbao from the city of Southampton, he bought shirts from the local team, Southampton Football Club. As it happens, it was a shirt with red and white stripes, with black shorts and socks.

4. In 1950, the socks were changed for red and white ones.
5. In 1960, the shirt was replaced for a tighter fitting one and the shorts were replaced by tighter short-shorts to conform to the fashion of the time.
6. In 1970, they started wearing black socks again, but with a red and white trim at the top.
7. In 1980, Athletic signed a 10-year contract with Adidas. In 1990, they signed a contract with Kappa until 1999, when they went back to Adidas for two years.
8. In 2001, Athletic created its own sportswear brand, 100% Athletic. The socks went back to being completely black.
9. In 2004, on the occasion of Athletic’s return to European competitions, the designer Dario Urzay was commissioned to create a special strip for the UEFA Cup.
10. From 2004 until 2007 the stripes became thinner.
11. In 2008, after a 110-year history of the red and white shirt, an agreement was signed for the first time with the company Petronor to include commercial advertising.
12. In 2009, Athletic Club signed an agreement with Umbro to kit out the club. The 100% Athletic brand stopped making sports clothing and focused on street clothes and accessories with the club name.
13. In 2010-2011, the kit sported the classic cut of red and white elastic and polo necks. Umbro swapped the order of the red and white stripes, so that the centre one was red.
14. In 2011-2012, the shirt sleeves were changed to completely red and the neck became red and black in the form of a V.
15. In 2013, Nike took over from Umbro.
16. In 2017, Athletic Club reached an agreement with New Balance. “We would like to provide innovation and first-class products for the club and its fans, without overlooking the celebration of the historical heritage of the club,” stressed the general manager of the football division of New Balance, Richard Wright.