Athletic Club | San Mamés

September 1, 2023

Athletic Club is a professional Spanish football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. Often incorrectly referred to by their former name Athletic Bilbao, the club was founded 18 July 1898.

San Mamés, Athletic Club, Bilbao — © Alex Amorós

Athletic play their home matches at the 53,000 seater San Mamés stadium which was regenerated in 2013, making it the 7th largest stadium in Spain.

The Basque side are known as Lehoiak (Basque for the Lions) because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés, which was named after a Christian Saint who was thrown to lions by Romans, only to tame them. Athletic share a fierce rivalry with Real Sociedad, against whom they contests the Basque derby.

Documentary photographer Alex Amorós has been building a project that focuses on historic football clubs, their stadiums and their surroundings. Recent projects have taken him to Barcelona’s Camp Nou, Valencia’s Mestalla and to The Estadio José Rico Pérez, home to his home town club Hércules CF.

Here, he explores the surroundings and focus on the architecture of the majestic and stylish San Mamés stadium.

“The San Mamés stadium is known in Spain as ‘La Catedral’ – the cathedral. It was inaugurated in 2013 and replaced the old San Mamés stadium in the same location. Founded in 1898, Athletic Club is one of only three clubs in the Spanish League that have always been part of the first division (along with Real Madrid and Barcelona).

“When you take photos of the surroundings of the stadium and San Mamés, you can feel the great history of this place. Do not forget, for example, that the trophy for the top scorer in La Liga is called the ‘Trofeo Pichichi’, named after a well-known Athletic Club player called Rafael Moreno Aranzadi who was known as Pichichi – who died of a heart attack aged only 29, but had scored 83 goals in 89 appearances for the club.

“In 1926, a bust was erected in Pichichi’s honour at the San Mamés Stadium. It was tradition for teams visiting the ground for the first time pay homage by leaving a bouquet of flowers at its base. Despite concerns that it might not be accommodated at Athletic’s new ground, a suitable spot was identified at the entrance to the players’ tunnel, allowing the tradition to continue at the new location from 2013 onward.

“The day I took my photos was the club’s world congress of supporters and I was able to meet some of them and chat. Athletic and the San Mamés stadium are really important in the history of the Spanish Football – in my opinion they both represent tradition, old fashion football and a philosophy totally different from any club in the world since all its players are of Basque origin.”