First book about Athletic Club in the English language

Written by Welsh journalist Christopher Evans, 'Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao' was officially released on Monday March 4.

With a foreward by Athletic legend Andoni Goikoetxea, the book is a thorough examination of Athletic's history, from the club's origins up until the modern day. It also contains several interviews with important former players and figures such as José Angel Iribar, Javier Clemente and Julen Guerrero, among others, as well as Bilbao-based historians and journalists.

Athletic caught up with Chris and his family at Sunday's LaLiga clash against FC Barcelona at San Mames, where the Welshmnan told us what inspired him to publish the book.

"Like many people what first drew me to Athletic Club was the philosophy," Chris told Athletic Club before the match.

"Being Welsh was also a big thing. Wales and the Basque Country are very similar. They have similar climates, similar populations, and have both suffered cultural and linguistic repression. I've always had an interest in small nations. So, that's what first intrigued me about the Basque Country and then Athletic.

"I'm very proud to be the first person to write a book in English about Athletic. I really enjoyed researching it and the help I got from my Basque friends and other Athletic fans was amazing. I hope I've done the club justice and that by reading it people can fall in love with Athletic the way I did."

A 'Pitch Publishing' work, the book is available for purchase on Pitch's website and sites such as Amazon. Furthermore, in Bilbao it can be found at the sports bookshop Libros de la Ruta.