Athletic's success under British coaches continued with the arrival of William Garbutt from Napoli which made it to the top three in the Italian Serie A under his command for the first time in the club's history in 1932–33 and again in 1933–34. He had previously won the "scudetto" three times with Genoa and as a result arrived in Spain in 1935 as a well-respected coach, despite his reputation being non-existent in his native England. His first season in Spain was a massive success as he won the Liga that year. He had inherited a talented squad which included strikers Guillermo Gorostiza, La Liga's top scorer in 1930 and 1932, and Bata, the top scorer in 1931. The year prior to Garbutt's appointment was not a success for the club; they only finished fourth (in 1934–35) despite having been the 1933–34 winners.