Born in Madrid in 1951, Alfredo Relaño studied at the Higher School of Civil Engineers and at the Law School, until he opted for journalism. He graduated from the Official School of Journalism in Madrid and began his professional career in the sports newspaper Marca, a task that he soon combined with the Madrid correspondent for the Sports World of Barcelona. From there he went to Pueblo, an evening newspaper with general information, and to Arriba, until in 1976 he joined the founding office of the newspaper El País as editor of the sports section. Since then, it has always been in the media of the PRISA group, the publishing company of El País. In this newspaper he jumped from the sports section to the national section, moved to Seville, where he opened the newspaper's delegation in Andalusia - where he stayed for three years - and returned to Madrid as editor-in-chief of sports for the newspaper.
In 1987 he became Cadena SER, incorporated by the PRISA group, as director of sports, a position from which he promoted the creation of the El Larguero program and appointed José Ramón de la Morena to lead it.
With the launch by the same business group of the television channel Canal +, he joined the founding group of the same in 1989, as director of sports. In this role, he introduces paid football on Spanish television and launches a new model of highly successful broadcasts and sports programs, later imitated by the rest of Spanish television.
In 1996, when PRISA acquired the majority of the newspaper, he was appointed director of the same. Since its incorporation, As has reversed a trend of decline observed during the previous ten years and multiplied sales and readers. In recent years it has opened digital editions in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami, and the project to launch some more in Latin America as well as in the Gulf countries and the Far East is underway.
Alfredo Relaño is the author of Futbolcedario, an entertaining treatise on football terms, co-author (along with Enrique Ortego) of Gracias, Vieja, who narrates the memoirs of Alfredo di Stéfano, of Football told simply, where he explains the story with clarity and humor of football, of 366 world football stories that you should know, which includes some event in the history of football that occurred every day of the year (including February 29, hence the 366) throughout the 150-year history of football. Born to bother each other, it is the most documented story of the eternal rivalry between Madrid and Barça. So many worlds, so many stories, where he recounts, with anecdotes and curiosities, the 19 world championships that have been held so far: from the pioneers of 1930 to the 2010 championship, where Spain achieved glory by conquering the title of world champion for first time.
He currently maintains a daily column in Ace, which he combines with his presence as a regular commentator on Cadena SER and with a series, published on Mondays in El País under the heading 'Black and White Stories', part of which was already published in book form, with the same title.
