The trophy goes to Martínez

Javi Martínez will be awarded, on 3 November, in Zalla, with the VII ‘Corazón de león (Lion-heart)’ trophy, an award which the Zalla Supporters’ Club gives each year to those First Division players who are most identified with the values which Athletic Club represents. The event will commence at 7 in the evening and, as usual, includes a small colloquy in which the awarded footballer and the rest of the members of the Red-White Delegation, who will go to Zalla, will take part in.

The midfielder from Aiegi clearly prevailed in the votes, which determine the winner of this prestigious award, carried out by the members of the Zalla Supporters’ Club, and whose regulations rule out that a player can be awarded the trophy on more than one occasion. Besides Javi Martínez, other players who had received a significant number of votes were Gaizka Toquero and Fran Yeste.

In the previous edition, the counting of the votes resulted in a draw between Fernando Llorente and Armando Ribeiro, and both were fairly awarded with the trophy that has such names on it as Julen Guerrero, Carlos Gurpegi, Joseba Etxeberria, Ismael Urzaiz and Fernando Amorebieta.