Origins of Athletic Bilbao kit

[danski]

Hi there,
I've seen several variations on how AB came to play in red and white, all of them basically sticking to the Sunderland story. But was it miners/shipbuilders/engineers? Did they actually help found the club? Can anyone here please tell me the definitive story?
Many thanks
Dan
dan@liberos.com

[Quango]

It's quite possible that the kit originally emulated an English club. I think Athletic was started by returning students, who brought futbol back from England. Althletic was formed in the late 1890's I believe.

[Bilbao2Brooklyn]

I will find out about the colors of the shirt.

However, I believe that they statred by wearing Blue and White shirts similar to Real Sociedad current shirt.

as for the british link, this from www.athletic-club.net (http://www.athletic-club.net)

"Athletic Club's genesis sinks his roots in the history of his country.The club is son of his time, from when, at the end of XIXth century, flowered commercial and cultural relations between Vizcaya and the raising England. The ships under British flag arrived at Vizcaya's coasts loaded with coal and full of English specialized technicians who joined to the emerging vizcaines industries. In a logician cultural exchange, ships leave Bilbao's port and next to the rich mineral of iron, numerous youngers of the incipient vasc bourgeoisie who went to the prestigious British schools to study, principally technical industrial course travelled.

This exchange made possible that the seed of a new English sport, the foot-ball, took root in a society that till then was centred in the traditional native sportif activities. The rowing, the pelota, the cut of trunks or the stonelifting saw emerging a powerful competitive. As if by magic the young vasc sportsman began fascinating to practise an strange game: two group of eleven boys in shorts pursuing a big leather ball. They have seen the crew of the ships practising in today's well-known as "Campa de los Ingleses" and since then would remain recorded by fire in their hearts.

The events happened at giddy speed: The first city football team came up. His name was Bilbao Foot-ball Club. This team celebrated his matches in Lamiako in front of the blast furnaces.The new sport keeps on his imparable advance and wins supporters among youngers of the renowned gymnasium Zamacois too, that will end becoming into market of contracting matches, and from where in 1898 the creation of the first vasc football club was thrusted: ATHLETIC CLUB. "

[Bilbao2Brooklyn]

I asked my friend in Txupa in the Basque Country this and this was his response.

please keep in mind english is his second language.

"What I´ve always heard is that Athletic´s kit comes from Southampton´s. (or could it be Sunderland?, nah I think the first) As you know Athletic was formed by english and during that time there were a lot of comerce between england and the industrially growing Bilbao, a lot of technicias came to Bilbao and a lot of students left to England. Thing is, when they decided to "import" an uniform for Athletic they brang Blackburn Rovers´ (which was our first kit for some years and it´s our second now) but one year there weren´t Blackburn´s kits left so they had to bring Southampton´s....until today"