Color the Athletic Bilbao logo for free

About this drawing

Imagine a major league team that only lets homegrown players on its roster, and you have the idea behind the Athletic Bilbao crest. The club fields soccer players born in the Basque Country and nearby areas, or those developed by local youth clubs. It is a rule almost nobody else in pro sports would dare to follow, and fans treasure it.

You might also wonder why a club in Spain has an English name. Bilbao was a booming industrial port in the late 1800s, shipping iron ore to Britain. British workers brought soccer with them, and Basque students came home from England eager to play, so the club that formed in 1898 kept the English spelling. It still does.

Now take a closer look at the emblem. The church and the old bridge of San Anton are two of the oldest images of the city, and the wavy lines are the river that made Bilbao rich. Despite recruiting from a tiny pool of talent, the team has never been relegated from Spain's top division. When it wins a major trophy, the celebration is unlike any parade you have seen. Players ride a working river barge through town while huge crowds cheer from the banks and bridges. It works as a floating victory lap, and locals wait years for the chance to see one.

• soccer
• team crests
• spain
• basque country