Athletic Bilbao B

The Bilbao Athletic name was first used in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, when both La Liga and the Copa del Rey were suspended; most of the top Athletic players had joined the Euzkadi XI, a team put together at the suggestion of José Antonio Aguirre, the president of the Basque Country (and himself a former Athletic Bilbao footballer). Euzkadi went on tour to raise funds for the Basque cause, and also played in the Mexican domestic league. However, at home the Campeonato de Vizcaya had resumed in 1938. With their best players abroad with Euzkadi, Athletic could only field weakened sides and, to avoid possible shameful results damaging the club's reputation, chose to enter under the name Bilbao Athletic (derived from the two clubs that merged in 1903 to become Athletic Bilbao – Bilbao Football Club and Athletic Club). Despite the low expectations, they still won the championship and entered the 1939 Copa del Generalísimo, as the club itself regrouped for a return to normality. In the 1940s, a reserve team called CD Bilbao played at regional level for a few seasons, but when they had the opportunity of promotion to the third tier, the club opted instead to send players to strengthen its more prestigious local partner Arenas de Getxo. The name was revived in 1964, when Athletic decided to establish a reserve team with Agustín Gaínza as coach. The new Bilbao Athletic initially played in regional leagues before winning promotion to Tercera División in 1966, under Rafa…

Segunda División B: 1982–83, 1988–89 Tercera División: 1966–67, 1968–69 1ª Regional league: 1965–66 Segunda Federación: 2023–24