The Assembly of ex-players strengthens its links with Athletic Club

From the Board of Directors and the Athletic Club Foundation. The AEA, Athletic Club Ex-players Association, held its General Assembly this Sunday in the Jose Iragorri Hall at San Mamés. Present at the opening, president Aitor Elizegi wanted to highlight the work of veteran footballers and their importance “to understand your way of seeing this Club and to maintain and take care of the baton for those who come in the future”.

The players’ association seeks to maintain the two fundamental pillars of its activity: To attend to and help members who, after football, have work or financial problems. Maintain the social, charitable and representative work of the Club that the veterans’ football team represents, with its participation in the Solidarity League and in those friendly matches to which it is invited. As Juan Mari Zorriqueta, one of the members of the AEA board explained, “it is a question of achieving greater participation and a little more charm and renewal”. In recent months, the veterans’ team has played fraternity matches with other clubs that have visited Bilbao and Lezama, they have played matches to benefit the Red Cross, the Food Bank, research into rare diseases, and on many occasions they have raised significant funds with their presence.

Athletic Club, through its Foundation, will continue to help in the development of the reminiscence workshops for the elderly with the cession of the facilities of San Mamés and Lezama to carry out the workshops for the elderly. The success of this activity is due to its growth and the large number of requests from all over Spain. The 10 workshops that were completed in 2016 will reach more than 30 in 2019, thanks also to the dynamic work of Imanol Etxeberria and Tzibi Juaristi.

The AEA will also continue to take part in Club events, from the presentation of badges to members to visits to supporters’ clubs and congresses, including a couple of charity matches.

171 former players are members of the EAA. The association has a further 110 members among collaborators and special collaborators.