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De Marcos: “Athletic isn't just football, it's family”

De Marcos: “Athletic isn't just football, it's family”

De Marcos says goodbye in an emotional ceremony at Lezama which included a guard of honour full of pride and recognition, and a brilliant speech about what being Athletic means to him

Oscar de Marcos reiterated that he is saying goodbye to football, but not to Athletic Club during a beautiful farewell ceremony at Lezama on Thursday morning.

Lezama is where Oscar has spent half his life, and, with the arch of the old San Mamés in the background, our captain devoted a wonderful speech to Athletic

He said: "I feel privileged. These past few weeks during matches, training sessions and trips, I have been thinking about how I feel about Athletic: for many it's football, for me it's family."

 

 

This was the full speech:

Today I'm not here to say goodbye. I'm here to say thank you. To bid farewell at home, with my people, in the place where I have grown as a person and as a professional.

It's been sixteen years of giving everything I had, and receiving so much more in return. I arrived without knowing how long it would last. It could've been a day, a month, a year... and in the end I stayed, because here I found my place.

I was welcomed like one of them, like a son, and with time, I felt that I was part of this home. Lezama has been much more than a training ground. It was starting every morning with a purpose, with hope.

And San Mamés... San Mamés has been my temple. There I found shelter, patience, affection. There the fans made me feel as though I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Today I say goodbye, yes, but I'm not leaving completely. Because when you have experienced so much love, it leaves roots. Even if mybody leaves, a part of me will always remain here. Thank you for so much. Thank you for making this dream eternal.

I leave being who I am because here I was taught to be who I am. But first I would like to leave you with a reflection, or perhaps a conclusion, that I reached in Manchester. When everything feels like disappointment, there is always something inside me that turns it into a lesson, perhaps the answer to the question that I have repeated to myself so many times along the way. 

What is Athletic for you? 

For me, Athletic is not just a name, it is not just a football club. It is the tip of an immense iceberg, where the greatest part... is precisely what cannot be seen.

Underneath that shining word, lives the loyalty of a nation, faithfulness that is not negotiable, camaraderie that accompanies you.

It's always putting yourself at the service of the group. It's walking together, side by side, in silence.

For many, it's football. For me, it's family.

It's friendship to be celebrated, it's education that cannot be taught on a whiteboard but rather by example, by respect. By giving rather than asking, by keeping quiet when it's needed, by fighting to the last breath... and keeping going.

That's why, when I think of my children, I don't want them to learn to love a club. I want them to learn to live the life is lived at Athletic. Not with an eye on victory, but on how to travel through history.

I don't just want to show them a badge, I want to show them a way of being in the world.

I want them to know that being Athletic is not a shirt or a flag in the air. It's being faithful, fair, and honest - even if no one is watching.
 

As is Oscar's style, there were words of thanks for everyone. For presidents, with special mention for Josu Urrutia, managing director Jon Berasategi,  technical staff and previous head coaches. 

"Marcelo Bielsa, who gave me the opportunity to discover myself. Ernesto Valverde, who is a father to all of us, the other day he let slip that he feels like we are his children. He makes us feel like that. Thanks to him all this works." 

He also thanked all the employees at Lezama: "I know that you're all behind us to make everything work. It's amazing how you look after us."

Hubo halagos lógicamente a los compañeros con los que jugó desde que llegó, tales como Gurpegui, Villalibre, Aitor Ocio, Susaeta, Orbaiz, Gabilondo, Mikel Rico, Joseba Etxeberria, Iturraspe, Beñat, Balenziaga, Raúl García, Dani García o Aduriz: 

Naturally, there was praise for the different teammates he's played with since arriving, such as Carlos Gurpegui, Asier Villalibre, Aitor Ocio, Markel Susaeta, Pablo Orbaiz, Igor Gabilondo, Mikel Rico, Joseba Etxeberria, Ander Iturraspe, Beñat Etxeberria, Mikel Balenziaga, Raúl García, Dani García and Aritz Aduriz.

He added: "Thanks to them, I've been here for 16 years. It's essential to learn from people as good as the ones I had, always putting the group first. I would like to thank the team for the year you have given me, a magical year. It's a treat to work with you all every day."

Then came the special thanks for his friends in Laguardia and Bilbao. And of course for his wife, the most moving moment of the morning, whom he thanked for the way she takes care of him.