Accolade for July Ambassador Juan Villoro in Aguascalientes

On Wednesday, Athletic Club officially recognised Mexican writer Juan Villoro as our 125th anniversary July ambassador. Athletic president Jon Uriarte and general manager Jon Berasategi presented Juan's wife with a commemorative badge and a shirt in his honour. The symbolic scene took place at the Victoria Stadium.

As fate would have it, a series of misfortunes with his flight connections from the United States and Mexico prevented Villoro from arriving in time for the match against his home club Necaxa. Fortunately, his wife, Sofia Gonzalez, was on hand to receive the gifts on his behalf.

"I feel an enormous sadness for not having attended the match with Necaxa. I regret it like a player who has given everything on the pitch and yet suffered a bitter defeat. Sometimes life is too much like an unfair match," wrote Villoro, eternally grateful to Athletic Club and our president.

The exciting experience that Juan Villoro had dreamed of turned into something of a nightmare. However Athletic Club has invited him to visit us again at San Mames, something he gladly agreed to.

The Mexican already soaked up our spirit to the hilt during Thinking Football 2022. A night in which he was also able to enjoy a mini-concert by Orsai. He was looking forward to greeting them one by one in our hotel in Aguascalientes and experiencing the historic match between the two clubs that share his heart.

Villoro had found flight combinations that allowed him to arrive to Aguascalientes with plenty of time for the tribute Athletic had organised. "Chronicle of a disaster", the Mexican wrote to us with a torn heart. He left on Tuesday 18th from Vermont, where he had given lectures at Middlebury University.

He boarded a flight to New York to connect in Mexico City, where he would pick up Sofia so they could fly together to Aguascalientes. When the trip was cancelled due to a thunderstorm, he found an alternative from Albany to Atlanta to Guadalajara. He arrived to Albany without having slept only to discover the flight was six hours late.

He took different flight to Detroit, to then go on to Mexico City and Guadalajara. However, due to further misfortunes, he missed the connection to the city where we played against Chivas.

After evaluating new options and knowing he would not arive on time, Villoro stayed in Mexico City and asked his wife to represent him in spirit and soul on the occasion.