1894 Bilbao students v British workers football match
| Event | Pioneering football in Spain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 3 May 1894 | ||||||
| Venue | A horse racing course just outside of, Bilbao | ||||||
| Attendance | 100 | ||||||
The 1894 Bilbao students v British workers was a football match that took place on a horse racing course just outside of the city of Bilbao on 3 May 1894.[1][2] The match was contested by a group of Bilbainos who challenged the British residents in Bilbao to a football match, which at the time was a relatively unknown sport in Spain. The game was won comfortably by the British 6–0, but most important than the result was its historical significance, as it was probably one of the first ‘international’ matches in the history of the sport.[1][3]
Background
In the late 19th century it was common for well-off families in Bilbao to send their children to English schools so that they could study the English language and prevail in business knowledge. While in the United Kingdom those young men became fond of football, a British phenomenon that was giving its first steps in Europe. When the Bilbao students returned home they felt the need to practice this sport. Up to ten boys met every Sunday, and soon the number of fans increased to the point where they could form two teams.[4]
Bilbao, a city open to the world through the sea, kept close trade and industrial relations with Britain at the end of the 19th century, and thus there was an important British colony in Bilbao that also played football, but without mixing with the people of Bilbao.[4]
In the spring of 1894, a group of young students who were enthusiastic about this new sport was brave enough to challenge the clearly superior British people of Bilbao, and thus, the Noticiero Bilbaíno published a "challenge" to the English residents in Bilbao, challenging them to play a football match and the English did not take long to respond, accepting it. The game was held on a horse racing course just outside of the city and it was agreed to take place at half past ten in the morning of 3 May 1894.[4]
Overview
Admission was free and there were plenty of curious friends of the town's football players. The Bilbao students wore white shirts and the British workers wore cream-colored.[4]
The English choose the field with their backs to the sun, and from the first moment, they dominated. The Bilbao midfield, who played a lot, was containing the British and this excited the people from Bilbao, but the Britons reacted, they were stronger and easily outplayed the people from Bilbao. The English scored two early goals, but a section of the public was not satisfied with the British more physical approach and protested, and some of them decided to invade the field. The local players appease their friends and convince them that the English were doing the right thing.[4]
In the first half, the English were winning by three to nil, and at the break, the British gifted them eleven roasted chickens. It still is unknown whether that was just a display of courtesy or rather strategy.[3] The break was prolonged more than necessary due to the after-meal and the digestion of the chickens. When the game resumed, the English scored another three goals and won by a convincing six to zero.[4][2]
Final details
Bilbao students  | 0–6[a] |  British workers |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
just outside of, Bilbao
|
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Aftermath
The local newspapers, still quite unsure of how the rules of the sport worked, reported that the Englishmen had won by ‘six points’. After the match, the Brits brought the beaten team roasted chickens as a consolation for the heavy defeat, and a prize out of respect for the audacity of the challenge.[6]
The result did not discourage the local population, who continued their newfound love affair with the British sport, which was particularly popular among these Basque students who returned from the United Kingdom, in fact, this match coincided with the creation of the Zamacois Gymnastic Society, which was opened in Bilbao in that same year, 1894, by a group of enthusiastic sportsmen led by the gymnast José Zamacois Bengoa, a gym which would later be the catalyst for the founding of Athletic Bilbao.[7][6]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b "The Englishmen's Field: The place where football took root in Bilbao". www.athletic-club.eus. 2 August 2022. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Athletic Club - Historia (1898-1913)" [Athletic Club - History (1898-1913)]. web.archive.org. 28 February 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Euskal Etxeak" (PDF). www.euskadi.eus. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Los primeros años de foot-ball en Bilbao" [The first years of football in Bilbao]. memoriasclubdeportivodebilbao.blogspot.com (in Spanish). 8 September 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Juan A. Gisbert. "Total Football: History of Spanish football (I): The Origins". tikitaka-futbol. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ^ a b "An English field in Bilbao". thesefootballtimes.co. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Historia del Club Deportivo Bilbao" [History of the Bilbao Sports Club]. www.club-deportivo.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.