Athletic confirmed on Wednesday that for the next three seasons, the logo of Bilbao-based oil company Petronor will adorn the famous red and white striped shirts.

The 110-year-old club, who retain a policy of only recruiting Basque players, have until now shunned the chance to cash in on shirt advertising, although they did promote the local region on their jerseys for free during their UEFA Cup campaign four years ago.

However, Macua insisted at a press conference that the agreement, worth around six million euros, would not trample on the club's traditional values.

"We decided that for our project to work, we need the backing of the local community," said Macua.

"This partnership will help us to defend who we are and give us a solid financial base to help make us competitive. We need to improve on our league placing last season, we need to try to qualify for the UEFA Cup or the Champions League, and aim to get to at least the semi-finals of the cup."

Primera Liga rivals Barcelona adopted a similar stance regarding shirt sponsors until two years ago, when they agreed a groundbreaking deal to carry the logo of child charity UNICEF.

Petronor president Josu Jon Imaz said that the Bilbao sponsorship was an "enormous honour" for the company.

"It gives me tremendous pride to team up with a club who represent the emotion, heart and togetherness of the Basque region."