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.
Basque derby
By the 1909 event, the "Recreation Club" had evolved into "San Sebastián Foot-Ball Club" but aligned with Club Ciclista de San Sebastián to meet the entry requirements. They defeated Athletic in the opening round and went on to win the trophy.
The following year, the club was renamed "Sociedad de Foot-Ball de San Sebastián" and had received royal patronage, entitling it to add the prefix "Real". However a dispute occurred over the entitlement of Real Sociedad to claim the honour of champions, and two separate competitions were held (both of which were later declared official, meaning there are two 1910 winners). Although Real Sociedad hosted their version of the competition at their Ondarreta ground, once again they did not meet the requisite statutes and their players joined with another club to participate, this time "Vasconia Sporting Club". Once more it was a three-team league involving Athletic Bilbao and Madrid, with Athletic winning both of their matches to win the cup, with the decisive win being over Vasconia who are thus listed as runners-up (and in any case they beat Madrid to confirm that status).