The Club

JOSÉ CASTRO: "CRITICS ARE WELCOME BECAUSE THEY, LIKE US, ALWAYS WANT MORE"

04/10/2017

The Chairman analysed the important role of the Media in the growth of the club and took the chance to criticise those who have a solely negative focus

Here is Club Chairman José Castro's speech to close the José Antonio Blázquez and Ruesga Bono Awards for journalism:

"In a new year, we hold the Blázquez and Ruesga Bono awards so Sevilla FC can recognise the work of the media - shining a light on the best works related to the club. First I want to thank all the award winners today. Sevilla FC is clear that rather than just necessary, the media are indispensable to football. Indispensable because the media are the ones who shed light and popularity to those who follow the beautiful game. As they already know, great victories are worth nothing unless the media is there to tell the world.

But what's more, at Sevilla FC we understand the media is indispensable because they criticise and demand, because they don't just analyse the result, be it good or bad, but go deeper... And they ask for more, they always ask for more. And that, far from being a negative thing, is the best way to make steps forward. In our case, the press condition our surroundings and make it more demanding, less conformist... The press raise the bar for us and we, to the best of our ability, accept that challenge and force ourselves to meet those heights. Part of the responsibility for all of our recent success falls on the shoulders of the Sevillan press, of that I have no doubt. After another year the first thing I want to say is THANK YOU to all the journalists here. THANK YOU in capital letters, because your analysis and critique, often not without its bite, feed us. Because your verdicts, be they harsh or not, form a part of our internal self-assessments and drive us to keep learning and improving.

"Your analysis and critique, often not without its bite, feed us"

We want to keep growing and to do that we need you. As much as we may have achieved, yesterday doesn't exist in football. In football you can't live in the glory of the past, even if it is recent. In football if you sleep or you let yourself become complacent, you're done. And it's good - actually - fundamental, to have the local media in our surroundings reminding us of that every day. We don't want pats on the back, we want demanding and fair - above all fair - journalism in victory and defeat. Think about the state of Sevilla FC, and the state of its press; we're a club top of our Champions League group and second in La Liga will 11 matches played and just one loss. And criticisms are many, mainly constructive and ones we can pay attention to. And those criticisms are welcome, because even though the results might be praiseworthy, we, like you, always want more. With all that said, I'm happy to be part of this forum and to be able to reflect out loud.

We're used to being invisible in this country, to not getting the spot our sporting level deserves, and it's for that very reason we're recognising brave journalists like Rubén Uría today. It doesn't surprise us that we peak more interest internationally than in our own country. That's a battle we lose to the media circus. But the battle we will not lose is that which brands Sevilla only as a source of bad news, or a club typical of a backwards age. I know I can count on the media and the professional journalists of this city to help us.

"It doesn't surprise us that we peak more interest internationally than in our own country. The battle we will not lose is that which brands Sevilla only as a source of bad news"

What I insist we cannot allow is for the national media to publicise negative stories about us that happen frequently in other clubs... If we do something wrong, they should say so, that's no problem at all, but they should say so when other clubs do so as well. And we know that doesn't always happen. Sometimes we see journalists shamelessly look the other way elsewhere, but rub their hands together waiting for something to happen here, then report that news whether it happened or not. I say all of this because in the last weeks, we have even seen photos of our stands edited and manipulated. We do not accept lack of respect, nor exaggeration, nor manipulation. And I take the chance the applaud those who have denounced this in the past weeks.

"Sometimes we see journalists shamelessly look the other way elsewhere, but rub their hands together waiting for something to happen here"

I don't want to go on too much longer. I want to congratulate all the award-winners. To Díaz Salado and Viola for their fine work on our origins, to José Luis Roca for an iconic photo for all Sevillistas, to Javier Comas for his stunning piece on Sevillistas lost and to 'Estadio Deportivo' for always supporting Sevillan sport and often being the vindicating voice when we are feeling hard done by...

Finally congratulations to Rubén Uría for having the bravery to bluntly expose the sad reality of football in our country, where clubs like Sevilla seem to have to apologise trying to succeed but dream of heroic sporting achievements. We will not fall because we already are where we are, but now let's think about what we want to achieve. It remains clear, we will not apologise, nor will we stop dreaming of the greatest sporting feats."