Endika appeared by the Bilbao estuary. Liceranzu let himself be seen. And it wasn’t 1984. The past heroes of the Athletic Club, champions of the League and the Cup 40 years ago, sailed the waters yesterday on board a ship that followed the long-awaited barge, where the worthy successors were traveling: the new champions of the Cup. The past and the present of the century-old Basque entity came together yesterday in a historic celebration for the Cup title that brought together hundreds of thousands of people, the largest concentration ever seen in the Basque Country. Several generations of the team’s fans, arriving from all corners, intermingled to color the champions’ route in red and white. From children to the elderly, until now the only ones who remembered the previous day of glory in the fruitful eighties.
A popular song is to blame for the image that was seen yesterday between Las Arenas, the start of the route, and the Diputació de Bizkaia, before passing through Getxo, Portugalete, Leioa, Sestao, Erandio and Barakaldo. “Down the river Nervión went down a barge, rúmbala, rúmbala, rum”, said part of the stanza of a corranda about the Acero Club of Olabeaga, which after winning the championship of Spain B in 1924 took out for the first time once the barge down the estuary. The tune was engraved in the head of Cecilio Gerrikagoitia, manager of Athletic in the eighties and promoter of this peculiar celebration for the San Mamés. Athletic parked the Land Rovers and trucks, vehicles they used to celebrate the titles, and boarded the iconic barge, built in 1960 and renamed Athletic. The boat stopped transporting metals, concrete blocks and coal to carry, first, the 1983 League champions and then the double a year later.
After four decades, the ancient ship, parked for years at the Bilbao Maritime Museum and rehabilitated in 2021 with an investment of 200,000 euros, was decked out to toast Ernesto Valverde’s disciples with the well-deserved chapter in the club’s history. Captain Iker Muniain was once again the master of ceremonies for a team that was accompanied by the legendary exporter Chopo Iribar. The 18.5 meter long barge was the center of a naval procession that dragged hundreds of boats of all kinds, including that of Iñigo Martínez, Barça player and former Athletic player .
Among others, De Marcos, Yuri and a shirtless Nico Williams, for the sun that accompanied the day, chained chants and offered the Cup to the fans who filled all the banks of the estuary, the balconies and the roofs of many buildings. Altos Hornos, the Hanging Bridge, the San Mamés stadium or the Guggenheim Museum were witnesses to the apotheosis of athleticzale. “We are crazy, I have to pinch myself seeing all this”, said Iñaki Williams in the midst of river navigation.
With the barge moored at the quay, the party increased the decibels even more, if possible, when the lions walked to the steps of the Town Hall, where an aurresku linked the festivities with the Basque tradition. After being welcomed by the mayor, Juan María Aburto, the players were able to address the fans. “You don’t get an idea of ??how heavy the responsibility was. We deserve this celebration. You don’t need to win to boast of this unique philosophy, and the titles tell us that we are on the right path”, said Muniain inside the Consistory, hailed by the cry of “president”, before going out to the balcony with the rest of the staff to receive another mass bath from the thousands of supporters gathered at that point.
“We are the most fascinating club in the world, that’s for sure”, Valverde explained for his part, while Iñigo Lekue dedicated the title “to very important people” who “have instilled in him the feeling for Athletic”, some of deaths, such as his father. “I haven’t woken up from the dream yet. Aúpa Athletic!” shouted the MVP of the final, Nico Williams, during the round of speeches and chants by all the players. Then came the stop at the Provincial Council, where, once again with more parliaments of the footballers, the epilogue was put to a day, April 11, 2024, which was forty years ago since Athletic and its parish were waiting
