90 years have passed since a historic milestone for Athletic and LaLiga. On this day in 1931, the lions led by the legendary English coach Frederick Pentland endorsed a resounding 12 to 1 against Barcelona in San Mamés, in what to this day is still the biggest win in the history of the competition.. Put it to his compatriot James Bellamy.
In a stadium packed with over 18,000 fans, ehe rojiblanco team, which in the first half of the 1930s won four league titles and as many Cup titles, had no mercy against the Catalan team and at the end of the first half they were already winning by a resounding 6 to 1. One of the great architects of the win was Agustín Sauto Arana, ‘Bata’, who scored 7 of the 12 rojiblancos goals, which credits him as the only player, along with Kubala (in 1952, in a match against Sporting), in scoring so many goals in the same game. The Barakaldo striker was annulled one more by the Sevillian referee Tomás Balaguer.
According to the chronicles of the time, the key play of the match came in the 18th minute. Athletic was already winning 2-1, with goals from Bata and Barcelona’s Goiburu, when Martí withdrew from the game after damaging his right arm after hitting a post. That left the Barça team at a disadvantage since at that time there was no possibility of making changes. The Athletic eleven in this historic meeting was made up of Ispizua, Castellanos, Urkizu, Garizurieta, Muguerza, Roberto, Lafuente, Iraragorri, Bata, Chirri II and Gorostiza.