Offering at the Basilica of Begoña

The Athletic Club first teams, along with Club president Jon Uriarte and members of the Board, attended the traditional floral offering to the Virgin Mary - Biscay's patron saint - at the Basilica of Begoña in Bilbao.

In a brief speech, Jon Uriarte said: "What we do is a question of pure faith. This is what we fans demand of the players, that they are aware of the fact that by defending these colours they can make the entire city proud." In addition, Uriarte paid tribute to all those who have passed away recently while encouraging fans to rediscover their joy after having to suffer through the pandemic.

Jose Luis Achútegui, Begoña's parish priest, officiated the ceremony, which has been held every year since 1930 and this year ended with a minute's silence for all the Club Members and fans who have left us in recent times.

Athletic Club captains Iker Muniain and Garazi Murua, acting on behalf of their teams, wished for a prosperous year. After two years without being able to hold the event in open, a group of fans, some of them very young, were in attendance along with the squads.

Hopefully it will be a successful year for both teams and for the rest of the Club, although the greatest triumph today was to seeing fans at this service again after two long years.