Athletic Club celebrates a period of modernisation on 'Retro Matchday'

Athletic will take part in LaLiga's 'Retro Matchday' with a kit that pays tribute to a key moment in the club’s history: the period between 1970 and 1975.

Together with Castore, the club will reinterpret a legendary look that combined the red-and-white shirt with a roundneck collar, black shorts and  classic socks with horizontal red-and-white stripes.

This retro kit will be worn against Villarreal CF during our Matchday 31 fixture on the weekend of 12 April. Pre-orders for the jersey are now available via the following link.
 

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This kit pays tribute to a period of modernisation that shaped the club’s subsequent decades with hugely significant milestones, such as the restoration of our original name ‘Athletic Club’ after its use had previously been banned, the construction of the Lezama training centre, and the club’s unwavering commitment to its philosophy despite the opening of the transfer market to foreign players.

Added to that, we won the 1973 Copa against CD Castellón at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, with a squad that included legends like Jose Angel Iribar, Txetxu Rojo, Carlos Ruiz, Fidel Uriarte, Iñaki Sáez, Txutxi Aranguren, Ángel María Villar, Antón Arieta and Agustín Guisasola. The shirts worn by Iñaki Sáez and Jose Angel Rojo II during that final remain part of the AC Museoa archive.

This list of historic figures was augmented by players who signed for Athletic as part of what became known as ‘Operation Return’ – a plan to sign Basque footballers from other LaLiga clubs, such as Txema Lasa, Pedro Mari Zabalza, Jabo Irureta, Fernando Tirapu and Aitor Agirre.

It was a period of modernisation for the club, and 1973 was a very special year for Athletic as, in addition to winning the Copa, we celebrated our 75th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the club organised a friendly tournament featuring Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Rapid Vienna.

The competition was held at a refurbished San Mamés stadium, which now featured its new East Stand, allowing for the incorporation of a considerable number of new Club Members. The launch of an official magazine and the introduction of a match programme for games at The Cathedral were further developments during this period of change. 

What's more, at this time, demands for women to be allowed to become Club Members also came to the fore following a public debate sparked by Miren Edurne Salsamendi.

These were years in which society yearned to enjoy democratic freedoms and move from a black-and-white era to a new one in colour. Further evidence of this was the Basque language's cultural resurgence, exemplified by iconic works like Mikel Laboa's “Txoria txori”, now a familiar sound at San Mames.

In addition to the kit, Athletic Club will be running a series of initiatives, both in-person and online, to ensure the Retro Matchday has a wider reach and greater impact among supporters.