“Més que un club.”
Yes, there is an anti-fascist futbol club. FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 in Barcelona, the capitol of Catalonia, Spain. They currently play in La Liga, Spain’s top Soccer league. Catalonia has, for some time, been seeking independence from Spain. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930’s, Barcelona was a major stronghold against fascist forces. Catalonia fought on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War, seeking freedom and workers rights, and obviously opposed Franco and the fascists.
General Franco adopted Real Madrid as his favorite team (mostly for political reasons). Shortly after the Civil War started in 1936, fascists murdered FC Barcelona’s President, Josep Sunyol. At and after the end of the war, Franco’s forces murdered 35,000 Republicans in Barcelona. Barcelonans and FC Barcelona fans have never forgotten this. This is part of what makes FC Barcelona “Més que un club,” or more than a club.
Most teams in any sport are owned by one person, or a family. FC Barcelona is owned by 180,000 subscription paying fans, which makes it a cooperative not a corporation. It is truly a people’s team and the fans and the team reflect that in nearly every aspect of the club.
After the Civil War, Franco banned the use of the Catalan language. The stadium became the only place where people could speak their language with out being arrested. The team, the stadium and the players became symbols of Catalan culture, language, and antifascist resistance.
Each season in La Liga, FC Barcelona play against Real Madrid in a match that is now called “El Clásico.” It is a symbolic battle between the people’s team and the fascist’s team, cooperativism versus corporatism.
But there is even more to FC Barcelona. Founded in 1988, Futbol Club Barcelona Femení (women) is one of the oldest in the world. And they also have beach soccer, basketball, handball, roller hockey, ice hockey, rugby, futsal (3 on 3 indoor soccer), and men’s and women’s volleyball teams.
Resist Fascists 