Athletic Club Celebrate 110 Years Of Zurigorri Colors
Athletic wearing the Zurigorri colors (AC)
Athletic have worn the traditional red and white stripes with pride for over a century. Through league titles and cup finals the Zurigorri colors have remained part of the club’s unique identity, but that wasn’t always the case. In the early years of Athletic the team actually wore blue and while and would have continued to do so if not for one man.
In late 1909 a player and director named Juan Elorduy was spending Christmas in London and was asked by the club to purchase 25 new shirts like the ones worn by Blackburn at the time. Despite his efforts, Elorduy was unable to find the shirts and eventually traveled to Southampton on his final day in the country to return to Bilbao.
While in Southampton, Elorduy once again looked for blue and white shirts to no avail. However, he did find shirts with thinner red and white stripes, the same colors of the flag of Villa de Bilbao, and made the decision to purchase 50 of the shirts to take back to the club.
Upon arrival and delivery, the club immediately accepted the shirts and donned the red and white stripes for the first time on 9 January 1910 in a friendly match against Sporting de Irún at Campo de Amute. Athletic soon changed the club crest to reflect the new colors which have been worn ever since. Today, Athletic celebrates the 110th anniversary of the Zurigorri.