why did athletic bilbao change their name

Athletic Bilbao changed their name to Atlético Bilbao in 1941 due to a decree issued by Francisco Franco's dictatorship, which mandated the use of Castilian Spanish in all club names and banned non-Spanish language names. This was part of the broader Spanish nationalist policies of the regime. However, the club later reverted to its original name, Athletic Club, after Franco's death. The original "Athletic" name reflected the club's British origins, as it was founded by Basque students and British shipyard workers with a strong English influence in the early 1900s.