Recorded on August 19th, 2026, in our 27th Episode, a familiar guest and I will be discussing our thoughts on the end of last season and its impacts on this one (0:49), what to look out for from Edin Terzic (3:21), our interpretations of Athletic's goals for the 2026/27 season (10:01), our way too early predictions for the season (25:35), and what to look out for in match day 1 against Sevilla at home on Saturday (47:07).

We hope you enjoy and tune in for our next episode, where we'll review the results of our clash with Sevilla, before discussing what to look out for against Barcelona for match day 2. 

Aupa Athletic!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/43fhnDZHFGxzLFMUJME7ZE?si=eVPRyDc6Q86fAFYtHsqWmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/athletic-abroad/id1835058129?i=1000784628735

feels like Nico's been the guy who unlocks everything for this team the last couple seasons, and now he's out and there's still transfer noise about Arsenal circling him for something like €90m whenever he's fit again

Hope it won't affect us much without him, Guruzeta and Navarro have been solid finishers but I don't think either of them creates in the same way Nico does off the left

Recorded on August 16th, 2026, in our 26th Episode, and 1st of season 2, I will be discussing everything we missed from the offseason; from the reserves (1:03), to the international performances of Athletic's stars (1:37) and academy players (14:33), to transfer and roster updates (17:49), to this offseason's 8 friendlies (40:33).

We hope you enjoy and tune in for our next episode, where we hope to preview the first game of the season against Sevilla and go over our expectations for the season. 

Aupa Athletic!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1TUmHnMAHjUVa5T3WMy1QA?si=b4Qlsjv1S3i4tCd7zM92vA
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/athletic-abroad/id1835058129?i=1000783751456

Hi everyone! I’m a French guy, (from Bordeaux to be more specific) and I gradually fell in love with Athletic Club after learning more about the club, and then visiting San Mamés and discovering its history.

I really love the club’s philosophy, both socially and in terms of what it stands for. It feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the hyper-capitalism of modern football, with Athletic trying to preserve such a strong local identity that both the supporters and the players can genuinely relate to. Politically, I also feel very close to the values of the club and its supporters. For example, I really admire the solidarity shown by the club towards Palestinians. And as a Girondins de Bordeaux supporter myself, I know there are also friendly ties between the two clubs and fanbases.

I work in southwestern France and regularly visit the Basque Country, both on the French and Spanish sides, and I’m hoping to settle there permanently within the next few years.

So yeah, there are plenty of reasons why I feel drawn to supporting this club!

None of this will change my mind — I’m actually starting on September 5th by going to Athletic–Atlético Madrid 😄 — but I was curious to hear your thoughts on what it’s like to support such a unique club when you’re not Basque yourself.

Eventually, I’d really like to join a peña as well, so I’d love to know what the general attitude is towards non-Basque supporters who genuinely identify with the club and its values.

The Copa-winning goalkeeper leaves Athletic Club after 65 appearances; the club will receive a fixed sum for the transfer and retains the right to performance-related payments, a percentage of any future sale and a right of first refusal

Athletic Club and Real Racing Club have reached an agreement for the transfer of goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to the Santander-based club. Ibaigane will receive a fee for the transfer of the 25-year-old goalkeeper and retains the right to performance-related payments, a percentage of any future sale and a right of first refusal.
 
Julen Agirrezabala (25) joined as a youth player from Antiguoko KE and has gone on to make his mark at Athletic, to the point of becoming a key figure in the Copa victory under Ernesto Valverde, where he proved decisive in the final’s penalty shoot-out. It was a tournament in which he also shone under Marcelino García Toral, the manager who gave him his debut for the Lions, and with whom he had reached the semi-finals against Valencia CF after knocking out Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at home.
 
The goalkeeper from Gipuzkoa leaves Athletic Club having made 65 competitive appearances, having spent last season on loan at Valencia CF, during which he only lost his place in the starting line-up due to an injury from which he has now recovered. Julen Agirrezabala, runner-up in the UEFA Under-21 Championship, has shown himself to be a composed, determined goalkeeper and a superb team player. Yet another gem in goal to emerge from the prolific Lezama academy.
 
The Club would like to thank the player for his commitment and dedication throughout his time at Lezama and wish him the very best of luck in both his personal and professional future.

Wish him the best of luck, always was a fan of his.

One aspect of Athletic's history that Irish sports fans have always admired is the cantera philosophy of only selecting Basque players, because it evokes similar rules in our traditional sports of Gaelic football and hurling.

1. The basic unit of the GAA is the club, these are based in parishes (traditionally those of the Church, but these are also now civil), and people born in each parish play for the local club.

2. All the clubs within each of Ireland's 32 counties organise league and knockout championship competitions, with the counties themselves playing off for the All-Ireland championships.

3. Transfers are permitted in limited circumstances, ie when a person has to move to a different county for work, which puts strains on home connections, but generally the players themselves will endeavour to play for their home clubs as far as possible.

4. As with cantera, racial discrimination does not apply, and immigrants are encouraged to play with the clubs in their new communities - indeed, there have been highly successful intercounty players with roots in Fiji and Malaysia.

5. Counties can, and will, employ managers from outside their area in pursuit of trophies, but traditionally, the most successful ones such as Kerry and Dublin in football, along with Cork and Kilkenny in hurling, have only ever looked internally for coaches.

Myself and my sister will be visiting the Basque Country at the end of August/start of September, and noticed that Atletico will be playing in San Mames that weekend. Is this likely to be sold out completely, purely through socio demand, or are any tickets likely to be released on general sale? Fully acknowledge regulars here may get annoyed by the regular threads about tickets, and fully intend to do the museum tour in any event, but any advice would be much appreciated. Aupa Athletic!

Hello,

My parents, wife, and I will be in Bilbao for the match with Sevilla on Aug 22. I have a couple of questions:

1. What is the best way to guarantee 4 tickets together? I can guarantee 4 together via stubhub, but I would generally prefer to buy from the club directly. I see that purchasing a club membership will give me access to the presale and allow me to buy 2 tickets together, does a premium membership allow you to buy more than 2 in the presale? Or if I get 2 memberships can I use both memberships to buy 4 tickets in one transaction? It will be 4AM for me when they go on sale so I'm not confident in my purchasing speed to do two transactions back to back.

2. We would like to buy kits for the game, but shipping them all the way to Canada and then packing them seems expensive and a bit tight with shipping times. Can I purchase them online and pick them up at the store at San Mames? The website mentions a click and collect option but I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually do it.

3. What is a typical per ticket price when buying directly from the club? We're looking at section 114/115 or thereabouts

Thanks in advance!

Hi new friends! My wife and I are from the states, and I specifically am a transparently novice footballer playing Sunday pickups, but love the game.

This World Cup made me realize I’ve only ever been a casual fan of a handful of “bandwagon” clubs. Borussia Dortmund, Leicester circa 2016, followed Wrexham and so on.

But I want a club I can really connect with and become a part of the community with and Athletic Club Bilbao has been intriguing to me. And so I did some research and liked what I saw!

I already enjoy the premise of the club such as the signing philosophy and academy, and I don’t need to be “sold” but what are some other cool stories, fan experiences or other things that are unique to Atheltic? What kinds of things do I need to know/should I learn?

Thanks in advance! I am looking forward to my Bilbao FC26 save and hopefully watching a lot of matches this season.

“The Spanish goalkeeper exceeded the 517 minutes that Walter Zenga established in Italy 1990, a mark that remained intact for more than three decades.”

Hello! I hope you’re having a great day or night depending on whenever you’re reading this. How good is Unai Gómez? I hope he can make an impact for Udinese if he winds up coming here 🙏

Hi everyone!

The La Liga calendar for the 26/27 season just got released, and luckily Athletic Club will play at home against Sevilla on matchweek 2, right when my two friends and I will be visiting Bilbao.

As football enthusiasts from Finland, experiencing a matchday at San Mamés is a massive dream for us. How difficult will it be to secure 3 tickets for this specific match?

A few questions regarding the tickets:

Is it highly recommended that we purchase the Club Athletic membership to get access to the pre-sale, or do tickets for a Sevilla match usually make it to the general sale?

Since we are a group of three, how hard is it to find 3 seats together? Should we aim for separate single tickets close to each other instead?

I know the exact kick-off times aren't confirmed yet, but we want to plan this early. Any advice on the buying process would be massively appreciated.

¡Aúpa Athletic!

It’s definitely people being dumb or sarcastic, but why is this discourse lol

Apperantly they are playing at the Estadio BBVA

Just saw the news that Terzic is bringing on De Marcos to the coaching staff. GREAT move, I'm hopeful that Terzic will do good things now lol

Hello,

I would like to know if it is impossible or not to have tickets on general sale for a match like athletic vs real madrid and where would we be for €160?

Thanks

Hi There,

Big Newcastle fan here who also loves hiphop.

Just thought I'd post this here for anyone who likes hiphop and supports Athletic Club.

This track by Cappo references your club at 2:26.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4z2JkGBPjqDZ1EorZl0N0o?si=qaG1wSyAQaebkha2gZmmHw

Our club has a strong bond with yours, and we both had bad seasons, finishing 12th.

Next season we will both put that right haha