Football Club Barcelona: A Model to Admire

Like many others, I am simply one more expatriate enjoying a comfortable life under the sun of Catalonia. Some have been here for decades and will remain here until the very end, while others have only spent a few days in Barcelona and intend to go back to their homeland right after the summer. However, regardless of the time one may spend in the city, one of the very things he or she will observe is the importance of the Football Club Barcelona in the daily life of Barcelona.

Some will merely perceive it as the efficient marketing campaign run by the club and symbolised by tourists wandering around the Ramblas with the latest Barça jersey on their shoulders. After all, the FC Barcelona is currently the second most profitable football team in the world behind their eternal Madrilène rival (Real Madrid). (more information here). Nevertheless, reducing the reach of the club to economic considerations only would be underestimating it greatly. Over the last few years, the club has not only been considered as a role model on the field but also as an omnipresent component in the social life of Catalonia conveying strong values admired by many – but obviously not fully grasped by all average football fans worldwide.

On the pitch, the recent titles acquired by the club speak for themselves. There is no doubt that the FC Barcelona has developed a successful model allowing the team to dominate the European Football of the last few years. Of course, the recruiting skills of the club along with the individual talent of the players have a lot to do with it. Leo Messi embodies pure genius and is without any doubt the best football player of the moment while others – Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and the likes – are equally creative to disorientate all of their opponents in a quarter of a second.  However, the power of individualities is not all. The philosophy of the game developed behind the scenes is crucial to explain the success of the team. Most of the first team players grew up together in La Masia, one of the finest academies in Europe, to cultivate this specific philosophy altogether since their very first years. The underlying meaning behind this statement is that the extraordinary ball possession and the brilliant collective game of the team unhinging the opposition are not just magic but the results of years of work carried by an almost identical team all along; where each member has developed the capacity to predict each and every single move of his fellows, to anticipate their behaviour on the field and to learn how to act in accordance as fast as possible. De facto, one will not be surprised to see that the starting team in the final round of the last Champion’s League in Roma was made of 6 players trained in-house, or that all of the recent successes achieved by the team were orchestrated by the ideal conductor made in Barça: Pep Guardiola.

Nonetheless, the supremacy of the institution reaches well beyond the pitch. From a social perspective, it can be seen as a role model in terms of integration. Within the historical team of the 2009-2010 campaign, one will find players considered as part of the Catalan heritage – like Carles Puyol or Gerard Piqué – along with other equally talented foreigners from all rich and developing parts of the world – Leo Messi and Dani Alves from South America, Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita from Africa or Thierry Henry and Eric Abidal from France among others. No matter the language they speak (Castilian or Catalan) or the flag next to their official picture, they all benefited from the open mind of the club, learned how to play together through hard work and eventually conquered every title they could possibly win. Therefore, one will easily understand the importance of the club for all the social and political leaders of the region. The FC Barcelona is seen by many as the strongest symbol of Catalonia representing this identity loud and clear while integrating the most talented individuals within the team no matter where they are from. By the same token, the corporate social responsibility policy of Barça is almost unique in the industry. While the large majority of clubs receive money to display the logo of a private sponsor on their jersey, the Catalan club is donating a share of its revenues to UNICEF and proudly display the logo of the organisation on its jerseys.

Writing a few lines to honour the club I belong to seemed to be a necessity and I hope one now understands better the extended meaning of the motto born by the club – Mes qué un club (More than a club),  guarantying the institution a special place in the world of football and unleashing passion in my heart…