Athletic Club 2000/01 3rd (Medium)

The small Adidas logo on this shirt represents the end of an era for Athletic Club.

2000/01 was their final season with Adidas and instead of simply signing with another major sportswear company, Athletic chose a much stranger route.

In summer 2001, the club launched its own brand called 100% Athletic. The idea was to stop depending on the changing strategies of companies such as Adidas and gain direct control over kit design, merchandising and the club’s commercial identity. At the time, Athletic officials described the project as pioneering in football. Athletic’s own museum still describes the move as an important milestone in the club’s creative and commercial independence. 

That makes this red 2000/01 third shirt one of the last Athletic kits made by an outside supplier before the experiment began.

There is another detail that looks strange today: there is no sponsor across the chest. That was completely intentional. Athletic did not place commercial advertising on their shirts until Petronor arrived in 2008/09, after more than a century without it. 

So this unusually clean Adidas third shirt sits right before one of the boldest kit decisions any major European club made: Athletic deciding they would rather manufacture their own shirts than wear somebody else’s logo.