1930 saw the beginning of British coach Fred Pentland’s second stint at Athletic Bilbao. He was well known for his bowler hat and eccentric style, and had previously coached the team from 1921 to 1927, during which time he revolutionised the way Athletic played, converting them to a short passing game which included patient build up play. Pentland left the club for a while to take over Athletic Madrid, Real Oviedo and the Spanish national team, before returning and leading Bilbao to back to back La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931, outplaying their rivals with an attractive brand of possession football. A +35 goal difference emphasised their dominance of the Spanish league. The club claimed four Copa del Reys all up between 1930 and 1933, and finished as La Liga runner-up in 1932 and 1933, inflicting FC Barcelona’s worst ever defeat of 12-1 in the process. Pentland then fled the country when the political situation became unstable and started showing signs of volatility, replaced by Patricio Caicedo who in turn was replaced by another Brit, William Garbutt.

 

Athletics successful run under the helm of British coaches continued under him. Garbutt had previously coached Napoli across the Mediterranean, guiding them to the top 3 in Serie A for the first time in their history and winning the Scudetto 3 times with Genoa. His arrival to Spain was met with excitement, even though almost nobody in his native England had heard of him. He had immediate success, defeating the reigning champions Betis Balompie 7-0 in only his second game in charge and managing Bilbao to another La Liga championship. Luckily, he had inherited a talented squad which included two of La Ligas top scorers – Guillermo Gorostiza and Bata, the latter of which scored 27 goals in just 18 games.  Garbutt also achieved this by promoting a young Angel Zubieta to the first team at the age of 17.

 

The 1936 title was decided on the last day of the season, with Bilbao defeating Oviedo 2-0 and finishing just two points ahead of Real Madrid. Just three months later, football ground to a halt due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and did not resume until the 1939-1940 season. Subsequently, the team known as the Lions of Bilbao were cruelly denied the chance to win additional titles. By the time Athletic Bilbao next claimed La Liga, Garbutt had been exiled by Mussolini’s fascists in Italy after returning there to coach Genoa. Athletic Bilbao’s success in this era stemmed from their “cantera” recruitment policy in which they only used Basque players who were brought up from the youth ranks as well as signing top Basque players from other clubs. To this day, Athletic retains this policy of only signing players native to or trained in the greater Basque Country, and has done so since foundation. The policy has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty and is considered a unique case in European football.

Achievements: La Liga – Champions x4
                         Copa del Rey – Winners x4

Star player: Bata DOB 11 May 1908, Barakaldo, Spain, nickname: El Terror de San Mames

Agustin Salto Arana, better known as Bata, was a striker who played for Athletic Bilbao from the late 1920’s to the mid 1930’s. His nickname came about because he used to wear overalls (bata in Spanish) that his mother made him to prevent him from staining his better clothes. He also had other colourful nicknames such as El Teror de San Memes (Terror of San Memes) and El Leon Enfurecido (Raging Lion). He signed for the club in 1929 and won both La Liga and Copa del Rey titles in his first season, achieving the same feat the following year. He was top scorer that year with 27 goals, 6 of them being scored in Bilbaos historic 12-1 demolition of Barcelona. He rejoined his hometown club Barakaldo CF in 1938 but had to wait until the end of the Spanish Civil War to be able to play as all games were suspended. Despite his success at club level, he only played one game for Spain against Italy in front of his adoring fans in Bilbao.