The Athletic Club announced that its team’s players will wear a black armband during the next game in Pamplona against CA Osasuna, as a tribute to the recently deceased former players Rafa Viteri and Juanan López. With this gesture, the club would like to pay tribute to two outstanding personalities in its history, whose contributions spanned different generations and sporting successes. As the Athletic Club itself reports, the deaths of both former footballers have led to condolences being sent to their families and loved ones within the Bilbao establishment, highlighting the importance that both had during their time at the red and white club.
Rafa Viteri died in Logroño at the age of 73. The Athletic Club reported that Viteri, a striker from Bilbao, began his career in Lezama and trained in the youth team, where he won the cup title in the 1969–1970 season. His performance with the reserve team was outstanding: he scored over thirty goals before moving to the first team. He only played one season for the main team and took part in 14 first division games, but left his mark with important goals: he scored on his debut in Valencia and in his first game in San Mamés against Real Oviedo he scored a brace. He also scored a goal during his visit to Atlético de Madrid in the same season.
In the 1972-1973 season, Viteri was part of the team that celebrated the cup title after defeating CD Castellón in the final, cementing a key moment in the club’s recent history, according to the Basque club’s official media. At the end of his time in Bilbao, he was transferred to Burgos, where he scored 33 goals in seven seasons and where he became a symbol of El Plantío. At this club he shared the dressing room with players like Juanito, who was later signed by Real Madrid. In the 1975–1976 season, Viteri became the team’s top goalscorer and made a decisive contribution to their promotion to the First Division.
Juanan López, the former Irún goalkeeper, died in Tenerife at the age of 91, according to Athletic Club. López joined the Deportivo Alavés first team and played eleven official games between 1957 and 1962. His greatest recognition within the club came in 1958 when he was part of the team that won the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid in the historic “Once Aldeanos” final; On this occasion he was a replacement for Carmelo Cedrún. The institutional media highlighted that López gave five seasons to the Rojiblanco club and ended his time at Athletic with the arrival of José Ángel Iribar.
The goalkeeper then defended the colors of RCD Espanyol for two seasons and also achieved promotion to the highest category. He spent three years with Recreativo de Huelva before retiring from professional football. Since his retirement, Juanan López settled in Tenerife, where he lived for almost six decades, remaining closely associated with the Athletic Club and acting as a sort of ambassador to the island. The club recalled its commitment to the colors red and white, mentioned during its last cup trip to Tenerife: “As we saw in the cup during our last first team visit to the island,” the institution stressed in its statement.
The Athletic Club expressed its “sincere condolences” to the family and loved ones of the two former football players, the company reported in its official statement. The decision to have the players wear black armbands is a symbolic recognition of the sporting legacy of Viteri and López and part of the club’s usual initiatives to honor the memory of those who contributed to building its history.
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