Fred Pentland
Fred Pentland was invited back to Athletic when they hosted Chelsea in his honour at San Mames in 1959

Athletic Bilbao fans will remember the legend of the Englishman with a trademark bowler hat and cigar if they mention the name Fred Pentland.

The first English coach to lead the Basque club was El Bombin, who left an unprecedented mark on the club's history.

In his first spell with Athletic, Pentland guided his side to the 1923 Copa del Rey; on his return he won the competition four times in a row - from 1930 to 1933 - and also presided over a 12-1 thumping of Barcelona.

His side played a brand of football that would soon be adopted by other teams in Spain and still survive today.

One of the people who has survived the passing of time is Fred Pentland.

Fred Pentland
Fred Pentland won two La Liga titles and five Copa del Reys with Athletic

Before moving into coaching with the German Olympic team in 1914, Pentland was an outside right who was an England international and had his most notable club spells with the likes of Blackburn and Middlesbrough.

At the outbreak of World War One, he was imprisoned at a camp near Berlin, where he organised football tournaments between prisoners, and later coached Strasbourg and France at the 1920 Olympics.

Pentland's reputation as a manager led Athletic to pounce on him in 1922.

Arrate saysAthletic made him a very good offer. They were interested in investing in a good coach. We were looking for a coach because it was an amateur club.

He established a foundation to make it a more organised professional sport by making a lot of discipline related to the training.

Pentland was a stickler for details, but he was also liked by the squad and his colleagues, despite the fact that he taught his players how to tie their laces properly.

He had a humane touch when he came to Bilbao after the war.

He had an interesting personality and was very smart. He was writing about how teams should play.

The principles of a passing game that Pentland encouraged his players to adopt has led to some comparisons with Barcelona.

According to the president of the Mr Pentland Club, there was a typical formation with five strikers.

I don't know if you could call it similar to what Barcelona used to do, but Mr. Pentland changed that to having more people in the middle and playing a short game.

He helped us believe in what we were doing and that's what made us successful. That's the most important thing he created.

Fred Pentland
Fred Pentland died in 1962 at the age of 78, but is still remembered in Bilbao

At a time when most clubs were amateur, he told board members to try to pay players if they really wanted to compete.

The first country outside the British Isles to beat England was Spain in 1929 and Pentland was part of the management team.

The most fruitful spell in Athletic's history, and one that cost him a lot of bowler hats, took place after he returned to Bilbao.

The British influence made Athletic a great team, according to Atxa. Strong links and economic ties exist. The city is a port.

Mr Pentland had a bowler hat, umbrella, and cigar. Everyone tells you that he was a very friendly person. He was very personable and would greet fans in the street.

He clicked with us because we like to have fun. We like to drink and eat.

The side Pentland built went on to win the Spanish title in 1934 and 1936 after he returned to England and the civil war broke out in Spain.

"You hear his name on the street and everyone knows it's a man with a bowler hat and a cigar," says Atxa, who counts members of Pentland's family among his supporters' group.

He has kept the status of a myth.

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