Més Que Un Club

More than a club. How many football clubs could get away with that as a slogan? Arsenal? Chelsea? No way. Newcastle? Getting warmer. Rangers or Celtic? Possibly. There are others we could debate about but there is only one who actually claims to be it, FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona is one of the biggest clubs in the history of football. I could run through their statistics and achievements but there is no point, we all know how successful they have been. Their success on the park is phenomenal but it is not why they are more than a club. What marks Barça out from much of the rest is their significance as an institution, their role in society. When I say society, I don’t mean world society, nor do I mean European society. I don’t even mean Spanish society. I’m talking about Catalan society and to fully understand Barça, you need to understand Catalonia.

Catalonia may officially be part of Spain but many Catalans don’t identify themselves as Spanish. Like most Scots are more likely to say their Scottish rather than British, most Catalans will say their Catalan rather than Spanish when asked. In the United Kingdom, the question of nationality isn’t really a problem (with the exception of Northern Ireland). The English are English, the Welsh are Welsh and the Scots are Scottish. British is what it says on our passports and how we compete in the Olympics but apart from that we don’t really talk about Britain and the British. We are much too absorbed in our own football, rugby and, for some, cricket teams.

However in Spain, it’s a different story. Spain may only have a population of roughly 46 million but it is divided into 17 autonomous regions. Of these 17 regions, 3 have a second official language in addition to Spanish. These 3 communities, known as the historic nations, are the Basque Country, Galicia and Catalonia. Of the 3 historic nations, Catalonia is the biggest, richest and most self-assured. With 580 km of Mediterranean coastline, the Pyrenees in the North and Barcelona as its capital, it’s no wonder the Catalans are self-assured. However what really marks Catalonia out from other parts of Spain and what causes most of the controversy is the issue of language. There are two other regions with another language but the number of Catalan speakers is much higher and the language is in a much stronger position than that of Galician or Basque. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, in comparison to Basque, Catalan is much easier to learn. It’s a Latin language with the same roots as Spanish. Secondly, in comparison to Galician, Catalan doesn’t carry a social stigma. However, probably the most crucial reason is that Catalans simply want to speak Catalan, it’s part of their identity.

So where does Barça fit in? Well for many years the Camp Nou was one of the few places where you could speak Catalan without fear of being arrested. Under Franco’s dictatorship the only language permitted in Spain was Spanish. This meant some football teams, such as Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao had to change their names. It also meant that for a whole generation of Catalans, Basques and Galicians their mother tongue was forbidden and speaking Spanish became an obligation rather than a choice. The idea was that if you speak Spanish, you’ll feel Spanish and Spain will remain united. A bad idea in theory and even worse in practice.

The Franco dictatorship is responsible for much of the current policies of the Catalan parliament. It is also the background to much of the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The ideas of Franco, of a united, Spanish speaking, centralized Spain go down a lot better with those who frequent the Bernabeu than those who go to the Camp Nou. However the rivalry continues to this day, 35 years after Franco died. That is due to the fact that Barça still have a cause despite Franco’s death.

So what is the Barça cause? In words of Barça’s current President, Joan Laporta, Barça is a tool to promote Catalan culture and language. Barça have become the de-facto national team of Catalonia. They speak the language of the Catalan people. They use the Catalan flag, on the strip, in the stadium and on the captain’s armband. What is more, they play beautiful football that makes the Catalans walk taller and feel even more confident. Barça is supposed to serve as an inspiration to the Catalans, a reminder (if they needed it) that they don’t need Madrid, that they can do better than Madrid.

You are always guaranteed good football at the Camp Nou but I consider myself very fortunate to have visited the place during arguably the greatest period in Barça’s history. Barça have enjoyed an unbelievable last year and half. Led by local hero Josep Guardiola and with a team made up mainly of canteros (players from the youth system), Barcelona have won 6 trophies on the bounce. In the process Barça won the league, cup and champion’s league, the only Spanish side to have ever done so. What’s more, on the way to winning the league they humiliated great rivals Real Madrid 2-6 in their own backyard. It doesn’t get much better than that and you can’t miss the feel good factor around the city and stadium.

Despite Real Madrid spending over 250 million on new players, the Barça steamroller has continued unabated. Barça are currently 5 points clear at the top and are still unbeaten. That didn’t change last Saturday against Getafe (2-1), despite Barça finishing the match with 9 men. So can Barça maintain the form from last season? Some say it’s impossible, that it’s difficult to stay motivated when you have won everything.

There are two reasons I think they can. Firstly, the stakes have been raised with Real’s spending spree. The Madrid media grinned and bared it last season but this season they were looking forward to a quick role reversal. It hasn’t happened and they are now getting nasty. There are daily reports emanating from the Madrid press suggesting Barça are winning because of conspiracies in the Spanish football federation. Every refereeing decision has been analysed to find proof of the conspiracy. The accusations have reached such a point that the normally calm Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona has become a vocal critic of the Madrid media. If Barça needed any motivation, they need only read certain newspapers. And the second reason? Well I said that it doesn’t get much better than what happened last season but I can think of one scenario that might top even that. The beauty of it is that it only requires Barça winning one trophy as opposed to three. If Barça retain their champion’s league title the feeling in Barcelona and in Madrid will be just as it was last season. Why? The final is in the Bernabeu. Still think Barça will struggle with motivation?