San Mames tribute to the 1983 champions

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Los Leones' LaLiga-title winning victory at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Athletic Club will pay tribute to the players and coaching staff from that team before our match against Real Betis at San Mames on May 4.

In the build-up to the game, the champions will attend an institutional reception and just before kick-off they will take to the pitch to receive a standing ovation from the fans. It will be a celebration of a team that gave us two LaLiga titles, a Copa and a Supercopa in addition to many nights of glory.

These are successes that deserve to be remembered. The first triumph came on May 1 1983, when Athletic won a seventh LaLiga title. After 27 years, Athletic lifted the trophy again thanks to a resounding 1-5 win at Las Palmas' old Estadio Insular and Real Madrid's defeat at the hands of Koldo Agirre's Valencia in Mestalla.

"Lads, you don't know what you've done", the legendary Piru Gainza told those young Lions as they entered the dressing room. What followed was an outpouring of emotion in Bilbao, Biscay, The Basque Country and in every corner of the world where there was an Athletic fan. 

It was a sporting triumph which served as a rallying point in complicated times for society at large. This was exemplified by the incredible images of the hundreds of thousands of Athletic fans that lined the river to catch a glimpse of their Lions on La Gabarra, the first time the club had used the famous barge to celebrate a title.

Athletic would like to thank the footballers and coaching staff from  the 1982/83 squad for their willingness to take part in the tribute.

On a similar note, we kindly ask that those planning on attending the match against Real Betis Balompié try to arrive to San Mamés ahead of time (kick-off is at 22:00 CEST) so they can also participate in this special celebration honouring our champions of 1983.