Visit of Athletic Club Bastia

This Monday, June 3, the Italian team Athletic Bastia has visited the facilities of Athletic Club. The journey has started with the traditional visit to the stadium of San Mamés, and later tour of the Museum. From there, the “bianco-rossi” have been taken to Ibaigane Palace, from where the players have known first-hand the origins of their colors and the philosophy of the club.

In order to better understand this modest team of the Italian “Prima Categoria” we must go back to the year 2012, when some passionate fans decide to refund the local club taking the example of Athletic Club. Giancarlo Natalini, current president of the entity and founder of the club, bet on creating a team formed exclusively by players from Bastia Umbria. This town of about 20,000 inhabitants, divided in two by the Chiascio river and located halfway between Perugia and Asis, found in Athletic Club an example to reinforce the local pride that dates back to 11 centuries BC.

From the beginning it was obvious to them that anyone who wore the “maglia” of the Bastia in the Stadio Comunale should defend his people as his ancestors did for centuries. And if in the world of sport there is a club with such values, without a doubt, it is the Athletic Club.

Natalini and his team-mates already had an example to follow, but they had to make another important decision for the team: the colors. And if they had already looked at this irreducible Basque club to adopt its philosophy, why not also adopt the clothing? Said and done! Athletic Club Bastia was born 1,586 km away from Bilbao, playing with local “calciatori”, red and white t-shirt, black trousers and same color socks. As President Giancarlo Natalini has declared: “My relationship with Euskadi comes from a long way away, as I always had a very close relationship with the people of Bermeo due to labour issues. I was envious of the passion with which they spoke to me about their love club and I wanted to transfer this idea to Bastia. My passion for football and my people encouraged me to create this project, and thanks to the club the people of Bastia are now cheering on a modest team but with a unique sense of belonging.”

Since then, Athletic Club Bastia has grown into modest Italian football. However, every fortnight the stands of the Stadio Comunale are filled and all the fans remember the words presiding over the stadium: “lottare e soffrire per vincere”, fight and suffer to win.