Monday was our last day. As we had our flight back in the afternoon, that morning we had a visit to the offices of Umbro. They are pretty cool, very modern, I do not know … things that freak, like a football table in the middle of a cafe, I would spend there all morning without working!

They have also kept the original office of the founder, Harold Humphreys, with a pile of press clippings of those times. I really liked the area in which the crests of the top teams who wear the brand were shown: England, Manchester City, Santos, and among them, Athletic Club.

Helene was the person who attended and explained the whole history of the brand from its origins in 1924. She told us that the Brazil team of 1958, the 1966 England world champions, the Liverpool European supremacy in the 70′s or Manchester United’s treble in 1999 were made under the brand Umbro. We saw all these shirts and many more displayed on mannequins, from the oldest to the most recent, signed by Wayne Rooney on the chest.

It was also cool the photos of an advertising campaign with models of different countries on kits with the colours of their country. Many of them are real girlfriends of players like Forlan, Crouch and someone else. You can freak out with the photos!

It was about time to say goodbye but when we collected our things to leave the airport, Helene noticed a bag of Nike boots that I had bought the previous day. So she joked a bit and asked if I preferred that brand to Umbro. Well, I told her, the truth is that the store had no other model to suit my shoe size. She laughed and told me to wait a bit and that maybe I was lucky.

At this moment she came back with a pair of Umbro Speciali boots personalized with the name of John Terry, captain of Chelsea and England, one of my favourite players. “They’re for you,” he says and as I was almost shaking me I could nothing but whisper, “Dad, John Terry wears the same size as me!” Thank you Helene!

Back on the plane, my second flight, already a veteran, I kept thinking about all the things we had lived this weekend. At this point it only remains for me to thank Athletic and Umbro for all the attention devoted to us, to all the people we met these days, to my Dad who accompanied me and my Mum who stayed at home. But especially to my sister Ane, who insisted on filling the voucher thinking with the premonition I was going be the winner.

Thank you very much.

On Sunday, after a walk around town we got dressed and headed to the City of Manchester Stadium. Actually I was dressed in a suit for the first time. My Mum and I had chosen it a few days ago as well as a white shirt and sky blue tie, the team colours.

The stadium is very modern, the glass facade and the interior are quite impressive, especially as it was empty when we arrived. We took some pictures before sitting at the table Umbro had reserved for us. There we met Kevin and his wife. He told us that he is been working at Umbro for a lot of years and now is responsible for the design team. Kevin has been involved in the Athletic kit development project, and as I had my shirt with me we all received a nice explanation about every detail of the fabrics, cutting, and materials.

Before the kick-off there was a ceremony to commemorate the death of Malcolm Allison, City player and coach in the 70′s, who led the team to win the Cup, the League and a Cup Winners Cup, a legend. I noticed that, instead of a minute of silence, the crowd went for a minute of applause. Kevin explained us that in England silence is felt as sad so they prefer to spend a minute clapping to celebrate life and the good moments that are gone.

Then I recognized some of the players who were in a semicircle: Tevez, Silva, Cesc, Sagna, Nasri, Arshavin, Touré Yaya … Such a list of names. The red card to Boyata in min. 5 largely influenced the game. From then on it was easier for Arsenal and Nasri scored the 0-1. While Cesc missed a penalty, they came back to score 2 more in the second half, leaving the final 0-3.

It was a shame, as I would have loved to have listened and joined the whole stadium celebrating a goal, especially after noticing that any corner was roared as half a goal!

After the game we returned to the hotel where we found Carlos, pissed off by the expulsion and the defeat. We went into a chat about all the details and soon we were laughing. He then asked about Athletics’ result that weekend just to realize that the game against Seville has just begun. When we saw him taking the TV command and searching throughout the sea of channels to find it we could not believe it. That was simply amazing!

I’d rather not talk about t he final 4-3 and the 2 penalties the referee invented for Seville … that’s another story … Of course, again 2 incredible goals of Llorente.

The flight was really cool, especially the take off and watching the coastal scenery from the air, and the landing. Emma was sitting next to me; she is the person from Athletic Club who accompanied us throughout the journey. She was very nice and spoke fluent of English, which was more than welcome.

Upon arrival at Manchester Tony, the driver who took us to the hotel met us. He asked for the reasons of our visit and when we told him that on Sunday we would watch the game between City and Arsenal he went mad. He is a fan of City and had tried to get tickets for it was sold out weeks ago.

That afternoon Jean, a guide who showed us the city and explained its whole story, picked us up at the hotel. We talked about the industrial past, factories and how everything has changed now, something very much like Bilbao. Moreover, it was cold with a persistent light rain, just the same style as home.

Walking through the city we passed Old Trafford, the Manchester United stadium that I have seen hundreds of times on TV in games of the Premier League and Champions League. That evening, back at the hotel while we were having some dinner we met Carlos, the head of the restaurant, which also turned out to be a City fan. He was more than pleased to tell us a lot of stories about football, the rivalry between the teams in Manchester and chants of the fans messing on the other team.

By the end of our first day in Manchester we had already noticed how football was printed on the city’s DNA.

My name is Xabi, I am 16 years old, I am an Athletic supporter and I had never travelled by plane until a few weeks ago. I also play football at Begoña and one or two times, when arriving at San Mames, someone confused me with Llorente … I’d wish.

So far there is nothing special at all, however what I would like to share is that a few weeks ago I had the good fortune to win the trip to Manchester organized by Umbro and Athletic Club. It has been such an incredible experience. I will try to tell all of you about and I will be also showing some photos, hope you like it.

The whole story starts with my sister Ane, she insisted my parents buy me the new Athletic kit as soon as it went on sale. At the Club store, the assistant offered the voucher to fill in the details and enter the draw but my Mum said, “No, these things never work”. Ane insisted and begged to fill it with my data because she knew that I’m a Premiership fan. Also, as I had never travelled by plane, if I won I was going to be the happiest guy.

So imagine the surprise when I get home one day and my Mum tells me there has been a phone call from the Club to inform that I had won the prize and had to go to Ibaigane and collect the prize. So there we went! Of course Ane also came; after all she was the one who gave me so much luck. My Dad could not come that day but he accompanied me on the trip, so I do not think he can complain ha-ha…

That day we were shown Ibaigane Palace and I found it very stylish and elegant. I clearly remember the stairs to the entrance where the new players are usually photographed shaking hands with the president. Wow, that must be really awesome!

In the picture, Xabi Corrales poses proudly wearing his Athletic Club shirt at Umbro’s headquarters in Manchester, surrounded by mannequins dressed with autographed kits by players from the England team.

The experience for our winner, who was accompanied by his father along the entire weekend has been fantastic and the stories that they told us on the journey back home are numerous: the visit to Manchester City’s official store, their presence in the game in between this team and Arsenal (victory for the Gunners from 0 to 2) and even an incredible story about John Terry’s boots.

Therefore, in the coming days we will offer you a more detailed report of that unforgettable weekend. However, we would like to send a warm MUCHAS GRACIAS to all the people of Umbro and Manchester.