The Athletic Brand products come out of the corner and arrive in Italy

Italy is the first country outside of the Iberian Peninsula (Basque Country, Spain, Andorra) where you can find official Athletic Brand products on sale.

Walk On, the “physical” store (located in Milan) and “online” store (www.walkonmilano.com) with official football products has just released several red-and-white products, such as the first team home jersey (red-and-white), the away jersey (black with the lion), an Athletic polo, a scarf and a baseball cap.

The first contacts between Walk On and Athletic’s Marketing Department came about thanks to Lorenzo Barbiero, a member of the Leones Italianos Supporters’ Club, and to its management; however, most of the work necessary to import this merchandise is owed to Andrea Iacazzi, (remember that Andrea is a masculine name in Italian) the owner of Walk On and an avid historical collector of football jerseys.

The satisfaction of Italian Supporters is enormous. “Our Supporters’ Club has around one hundred members –explains Emiliano Gabrielli, President of the organization –but Athletic has countless fans and supporters in Italy. Our members usually acquired official Athletic products thanks to other supporters who travelled to Bilbao and bought merchandise for anyone that asked. But many other people who are not members of the supporters’ club have written us on our website these last few years asking how/where to obtain Athletic Club garments in Italy. We always had to respond that there was no way, but now things are going to change. An adapted link on our Website will send buyers directly to the appropriate Walk On web page and to all others that follow its example.”

“The fact that Italy is the first country outside of the Basque Country and the Iberian Peninsula that imports official Athletic products speaks volumes about the affection that many Italian football fans feel towards the club from Bilbao, and as a Basque living in Italy I know what I’m talking about –adds the Supporters’ Club Secretary, Igor Santos -.”

“We hope Italy is not the last “foreign” country that imports Athletic products –concludes the Supporters’ Club Vice-President, Simone Bertelegni. The Athletic Brand is a resource that the club should not disregard. Perhaps it’s not easy creating an international network of importers, but it is an investment that in the end will return benefits: I imagine that Athletic makes much more for their own product’s licensing rights, than if they were made and sold by another company. Besides, the Athletic Brand seems much more “ethical” to me than others, which are made in Third World Countries under repulsive labour conditions according to western standards.

In future –let’s hope it’s soon – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sell Athletic products in countries with strong Basque communities –Latin America, U.S.A., Germany, and Belgium, among others-. I hope Athletic facilitates the export process of its products. This way Athletic Brand would become much more profitable and it would be unnecessary to collect money through a sponsor which would “stain” the rojiblanca jersey, and at a lower cost than what has been talked about lately.”