Introducing Letters and Football 2024

Letters and Football 2024 is here. This year's event will be held from March 18-22, with all the discussions starting at 19:00 CET in San Mames' sports bar, Geuria!

Five days of cultural events with guests such as: Marwan, Antonio Agredano, Julián López, Miguel Gutiérrez, Antonio Pacheco, Carlos Marañón, Ander Izagirre, Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga, Carlos Marzal, Joan Jordi Millares, Carlos Martínez, Miguel Ángel Román, Andrea Segura and Julen Axpe.

Admission is free but tickets must be reserved on the Letters and Football 2024 website. (In Spanish and Basque)

Letters and Football is organised by Athletic Club and sponsored by Grupo Radimer, the Spanish Government's Ministry of Culture and Sport, along with collaborators BCD Travel, BCD Sports and Aránzazu Hoteles.

Monday 18: "Football and Music" with Marwan, Antonio Agredano and Ray Loriga.

Marwan Abu-Tahoun Recio, a musician and poet from Madrid (and despite this, a Barça fan), is one of the most interesting voices in today's music scene.

Marwan has released several albums and collaborated with musicians such as Jorge Drexler, Pedro Guerra and Ismael Serrano. His partners on the first day of the festival will be Antonio Agredano, a novelist, poet and columnist from Cordoba, and Ray Loriga, a writer, screenwriter and film director.

Agredano contributes to the newspaper El Mundo, the magazine Panenka, and is a regular on Canal Sur's political talk show.

Ray Loriga has worked as a scriptwriter for great Spanish film directors such as Daniel Calparsoro ("Ausentes", 2005), Carlos Saura ("El séptimo día", 2004) and Pedro Almodóvar ("Carne trémula", 1997). In 2017 he received the Alfaguara Novel Award for Rendición. 

Get your tickets HERE

Tuesday 19: "Know and Draw, Athletic Club Edition" with Julián López

"Saber y empatar" (Know and Draw) was a book written by Miguel Gutiérrez and Antonio Pacheco, with a foreword by Carlos Marañón, which inspired a YouTube channel and a podcast that offers absurd football knowledge.

Conversations about the game and its allure, vintage football and idols of yesterday and today, moustachioed players, stickers, disastrous teams and disappointing signings. All of this together with a guest who is either well-known or worth knowing.

The podcast will have a special Athletic Club edition for Letters and Football 2024 featuring Julian López, one of our most beloved 125th anniversary ambassadors.

Get your tickets HERE

Miércoles 20: “Football, Mental Health and Stories” with Ander Izagirre and Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga

At the festival's halfway point, Ander Izagirre and Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga, two old acquaintances of Letters and Football, will talk about mental health and storytelling in connection with their book "Subcampeón" (Runner-up).

Ander Izagirre is one of the most interesting journalists and writers on the current literary scene. He won the Euskadi Prize for Literature in 2017 and 2023 in the essay category, the English Pen Award in 2018 and the Kapuscinski Prize in Poland in 2022.

A former professional football player, Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga began a distinguished career as a television presenter and stand-up comedian after hanging up his boots. "Subcampeón", published in 2023, is a book full of humour that received the 2023 Panenka Award.

Get your tickets HERE

Thursday 21: "Sport, Childhood, Dreams and Nightmares" with Carlos Marzal and Joan Jordi Miralles

Carlos Marzal is the author of some of the most dazzling books of recent Spanish poetry. His book "Nunca fuimos más felices" (We were never happier) is a literary treatment of Epicurean philosophy that celebrates happiness and extols love, friendship, books and kindness through football.

He will be joined by Joan Jordi Miralles, one of the most renowned writers in Catalan in recent times. In 2022 he published "Triunfador" (Triumphant), a gritty novel about bullying and overcoming obstacles in the world of sport for children.

Get your tickets HERE

Friday 22: "Football commentators" with Carlos Martínez, Miguel Ángel Román, Andrea Segura and Julen Axpe.

The Letters and Football festival ends with a special talk show between some of the best-known voices in Spanish football.

Commentators Carlos Martínez, Miguel Ángel Román, Andrea Segura and Julen Axpe will talk about the peculiarities of live commentary, styles, languages, rhythms, silences, controversies and, of course, goal celebrations.

Get your tickets HERE