For those who have departed and to those who remain...
Another year has passed us by and once again we're grateful as always for your company. This has been a special year for AS as we celebrated our 50th birthday. This provided us with an opportunity to celebrate the event with many friends from the world of sport and it was an honour to have the King and Queen of Spain attend the event along with many of the original founders of the paper also being present. AS remains a daily newspaper but now augmented by it's digital version and with many country specific editions in South America and the soon to be launched AS Arabia.
2017
Some of the biggest names in sport attended the gala in December but as always it was also a moment to reflect on those who had passed away during the discourse of 2017. One of the biggest absentees was possibly Ángel Nieto who was dearly loved by everyone and a close friend to us all here at AS as were the likes of Severiano Ballesteros and Paquito Fernández Ochoa in the past. To those who have departed and to those of us who remain we should never forget the happiness many of these sportsmen delivered to us over the years in their drive and quest to struggle to achieve greater things.
Happy New Year
The past 2017 saw some excellent sporing achievement for Spanish athletes. Rafa Nadal recovered the No. 1 position in the world ranking, Real Madrid had a truly successful year lifting five trophies with Cristiano an inspirational figure, the Spanish national team have looked good as they prepare for the World Cup in Russia next summer. Women's sport has made a leap forward led by the likes of Mireia Belmonte, Ruth Beitia, Carolina Marín and Lydia Valentín. For our sportsmen and women, for us, for you all I raise my glass of Catalan champagne and take the opportunity to wish you all the best best for 2018.