San Mames celebrates Atotxa Basque flag 50th anniversary

There are dates and moments that remain forever linked to the history of football clubs. What happened on 5 December 1976 at Atotxa forms part of the shared memory between Athletic Club, Real Sociedad and Basque society as a whole.

The image of both teams, captained by Inaxio Kortabarria and Jose Angel Iribar, carrying the Ikurriña (Basque flag) onto the pitch became a symbol of historical and social significance which remains undiminished five decades later.

Thanks to a joint initiative between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, that historic moment will be repeated on Sunday in the lead up to our LaLiga EA Sports fixture at San Mames.

José Ángel Iribar and Inaxio Kortabarria will walk onto the pitch carrying the original Ikurriña used at Atotxa and will be greeted by a guard of honour formed by the current Zurigorri and Txuri-Urdin players.

They will then all pose together to recreate one of the most iconic images in both clubs' recent history, thus paying homage to the iconic 1976 initiative.

The two clubs encourage all those attending the match to arrive at the stadium well in advance so they can take part in this tribute.