Alfred Mills

Alfred Edward Elvin Mills (15 December 1874 – 15 October 1929) was an English footballer who played as a defender for Spanish club Athletic Club. He is best known for being the only foreigner among the 33 founders of the club, the 'Inglés en Bilbao'.

He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of Athletic, co-founding the club and then serving as a board member and a captain, winning the 1904 Copa del Rey. At some point in the early 1890s, Mills arrived in Bilbao with his father to work for the cable company that connected Spain and Great Britain by telephone.

Playing career In the early 1890s, Mills, a telegraph operator in his teens, was one of the individuals who founded the Bilbao Football Club, a team made up of British residents in the region that played several matches at the Hippodrome of Lamiako against the Club Atleta, a team that mainly consisted of the British workers of the Nervión Shipyards. He was also a good cyclist, it was normal to see him on the streets of Bilbao with his bicycle.

On 5 September 1901, Alfred Mills was one of the 33 founding members signing the statutes (signed as Alfredo Mills) in the infamous meeting held in the Café García, which officially established the Athletic Club. Mills was the only foreign-born person among the 33 who signed the documents and the club's only foreigner in its ranks, In the 1901 statutes even named him as the captain of the second team and therefore a member of the founding board of directors. He initially played in defence in a partnership with Perico Larrañaga and later was used in midfield with another Englishman, George Cochran. However, there are conflicting reports about Mills not having gone to France, as the match report of the second game noted that "Careaga was replaced by the kind Mills", which implies that Careaga was the one who played in France. The Englishman was intermittently involved in matches throughout the rest of the decade; for instance, he was part of the first-ever Athletic line-up that faced Madrid FC (now known as Real Madrid) on 24 April 1904. On this occasion, his side won by 2 goals to 1.

Honours Athletic Club Copa del Rey: Champions: 1904