ZOOM I 4,000 official Athletic Club matches

The derby against Osasuna was Athletic Club’s 4,000th official match. It was a historic night for the Athletic family. It was also an unforgettable match for Oihan Sancet, who scored his first hat-trick in the red and white jersey and helped the team come from behind to win.

A match to remember that will join a long list of memorable nights for Athletic Club fans, along with numerous LaLiga clashes, Copa finals, Super Cup wins and European contests.

There’s a lot of history among those 4,000 matches. Athletic’s first ever official fixture was a Copa tie against Espanyol in May 1902. Athletic, playing under the name ‘Bizcaya’ won 5-0 and went on to beat Real Madrid in the final.

Since then Athletic have won eight LaLiga titles, 24 Copas del Rey and three Spanish Super Cups in addition to reaching two UEFA Cup/Europa League finals.

Out of the 4,000 matches, 2,933 are LaLiga clashes, 607 are Copa ties, 202 are European nights and 249 come from other competitions such as Regional Championships.

With 614 appearances, no player turned out for Athletic more often in that period than José Ángel Iribar, and Telmo Zarra is the top goalscorer with 335 strikes.

Mr. Fred Pentland is the most successful manager in terms of trophies won with two LaLigas, five Copas and five Regional Championships, while Ernesto Valverde was in the Athletic dugout 306 times, more than any other manager in our history.

It would be impossible to come to a consensus on the best or most important match from these 4,000, but the beauty of football lies in its subjectivity and how it’s perceived by, and impacts, the life of the individual.

Before Monday night’s match at El Sadar, we asked Athletic fans from a varierty of different generations about their favourite memory from Athletic Club’s 4,000 official matches.