Més que un club

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‘Més que un club’ (more than a club) is the motto of FC Barcelona, a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its former president, Narcís de Carreras, in his acceptance speech in January 1968, used the slogan for the first time to describe the social meaning of it. Later, in 1973, Agustí Montal i Costa, in his campaign for re-election to the club presidency, gave it its definitive form when he adopted it during his election campaign. Barcelona is “quelcom més que un club de futbol” (“something more than a football club”), was the slogan used in the build up to the elections that were eventually won by Lluís Casacuberta. However, the roots of ‘more than a club’ go back much further.

[edit] Gamper and the basic idea

On December 2, 1908, at a dramatic assembly in the face of a collective desertion, Joan Gamper, the man who had founded the club, stood up to say “Barcelona cannot and should not die. If there is nobody who wants to try, I shall take full responsibility and look after it in the future.” Gamper, was now going to save the club from disappearing, but more important for its future was the way he wanted to run it. To the original reason why the club was founded, that of doing sport, he added another: for it to be a pro-Catalan club and actively serve its region. And so it was that the club approached the most actively pro-Catalan political sectors and had no doubts about coming out in defence of the cultural identity and national rights of Catalonia.

The ‘sport and citizenship’ programme created by the president Josep Sunyol (executed by the Francoist troops at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War), or the actions of president Agustí Montal in leading FC Barcelona to support the 1977 campaign for a Statute of Autonomy and to invite the restored president of the Generalitat, Josep Tarradellas, to the Camp Nou just a few days after his return from exile, were just a few of the practical applications of the idea of being 'més que un club' (‘more than a club’).

The spirit that Joan Gamper injected into FC Barcelona from 1908 (the year when it the club was ‘refounded’), has survived to this day and is present in the current club statutes. It is Article 4, describing the functions of the club, which states that the second objective is “complementarily, the promotion and participation in social, cultural, artistic, scientific or recreational activities that are adequate and necessary for maintaining the public representation and projection that the club enjoys, the fruit of a permanent tradition of loyalty and service to club members, citizens and Catalonia”.

[edit] 'Més que un club' beyond Catalonia

For different but not contradictory reasons, for many people living in the rest of Spain, FC Barcelona has also been seen as being 'més que un club' (‘more than a club’). If in the Catalan case the starting point can be dated to a deliberate decision made by the directors, or that of its president Joan Gamper, in this case the movement came from below. They were the left-wing intellectuals that become Barça supporters in recognition of its role to resist against fascism.

This movement reached its peak during the Spanish Civil War and under the Franco regime. Some particularly poignant episodes include:

• In 1937, during the club's tour of America, the team was received as an ambassador of the fighting Republicans.
• The trams' strike which took place in 1951, supported by the Barcelona fans -- this surprised the Francoist authorities who could not understand why, on that Sunday in the pouring rain, the fans left Les Corts stadium after beating Santander 2-1 on foot, refusing to catch any tram.

Moments like these, show how FC Barcelona represents much more than just Catalonia for so many progressive Spaniards.

The Franco regime explains much of the spread of 'més que un club' ('more than a club') in the rest of Spain. But it also goes back even further than that. Certain Spanish intellectuals had already alluded to the club back in the 1920s, such as poet Rafael Alberti, whose 'Ode to Platko' is the prime example. Others used the figure of Josep Samitier, another of the key people for understanding the way that FC Barcelona managed to reach much further than its natural sphere of influence.

[edit] Synchronous expansions

Football is now a global phenomenon, 'more than a club' is open-ended in meaning, and support for FC Barcelona has increased around the world. The number of penyes and of club members from outside Spain grows, and the club wants to respond to that show of passion around the world.

For one more time Barça is in the avant-garde. Selectively without a commercial message on its shirts, on 14 July 2006 announced a five year agreement with UNICEF, which includes having the UNICEF logo on them. In keeping with its ideals such as the defence of rights and freedoms, the club acts to set up international cooperation programs for development and to support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals undertaking a serious role to UNICEF’s humanitarian aid programs through the donation of €1.5 million for the next five years.