History of Athletic Bilbao
Meanwhile, sons of the Basque educated classes had made the opposite journey and went to Britain to complete their studies in civil engineering and commerce. While in the United Kingdom, these students developed an interest in football and on their return to Bilbao they began to arrange games with British workers. In 1898, students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois founded the "Athletic Club", using the English spelling. In 1901, a meeting was held in the Café García, which established more formal rules and regulations. In 1902, the two Bilbao clubs formed a combined team, known as "Bizcaya", in the first Copa del Rey. They returned with the trophy after defeating Barcelona in the final. This would lead to the eventual merger of the two clubs as "Athletic Club" in 1903. In the same year, Basque students also formed "Athletic Club Madrid"; this club later evolved into Atlético Madrid. The club's foundation date is a subject of debate among football historians. The club itself declares 1898, but others claim 1901 or 1903 as the true founding year.
Athletic Bilbao B
Athletic applied to compete in the England-based Premier League International Cup, with most of the players selected for the Under-23 tournament drawn from Bilbao Athletic with some younger additions from Basconia and the Juvenil squads (a limited number of overage players are permitted, but Athletic do not use them). In 2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17 the club qualified from their group but were eliminated in the first knockout round, while in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 editions, they bowed out at the group stage.For playing big matches, they use San Mamés, the first team stadium.Note: this list contains players who have appeared in at least 100 games for the first team.