Origins At the end of 1901, the two most important clubs in the city were Athletic Club and Bilbao FC, and thus, a rivalry soon arose between them, playing several friendlies at the
Hippodrome of Lamiako, which the two teams shared since there were hardly any fields in Bilbao. Their duels aroused great expectation and served as one of the drivers of football as a mass phenomenon in Bilbao, Three weeks later, on 31 March 1902, Bizcaya played the return fixture at home, trashing the French side with a resounding 7–0 victory with a poker from
William Dyer and a hat-trick from
Juan Astorquia. Lamiako had its record attendance on that day, gathering a crowd of three thousand spectators, a tremendous amount at the time. and thus the Copa de la Coronación was born, the first national championship disputed in Spain and the forerunner for the
Copa del Rey which began in the following year. Following an invitation from Madrid FC, it was decided that Club Bizcaya would be sent to Madrid to represent the city of Bilbao, being one of the 5 teams that participated in the Copa de la Coronación. Dyer scored with a
penalty in what was perhaps the first-ever competitive penalty taken in Spain, while Evans scored a
hat-trick in what was perhaps the first-ever competitive hat-trick netted in Spain. In the semi-finals, Bizcaya defeated
New FC with a resounding 8–1 win thanks to a poker from Dyer, a brace from Evans, and a goal each from Astorquia and
Raymond Cazeaux. Finally, they faced
Joan Gamper's
FC Barcelona in the
final at the
Hipódromo de la Castellana on 15 May 1902, where captain Astorquia led by example, netting the opening goal of the final in the early stages of the game, with Cazeaux scoring also in the first half in a 2–1 win, thus claiming the trophy presented by the
mayor of Madrid and returning to Bilbao with it. Bilbao still has that trophy in their trophy room at the
San Mamés stadium. On 24 March 1903, Bilbao FC and its associates were officially and definitively absorbed by Athletic Club.
Copa del Rey 1907 The 1907, Club Bizcaya was "reactivated" by combining the best players from
Athletic Club and
Unión Vizcaino, for the sole purpose of participating in the 1907 Copa del Rey. Bizcaya made their second debut on 24 March against Madrid FC, winning 3–2 thanks to goals from
Charles Simmons (2) and Juan Goyoaga. The tournament was a five-team league, of which Bizcaya and Madrid FC finished as joint winners, meaning a
play-off had to be played on 30 March, which Madrid won 1–0 courtesy of a late goal from
Manuel Prast. ==Statistics==