'The contact with the club presidency is appreciated'

Pere Ripoll i Garcia, member number 299 of FC Barcelona, 88 years old, is one of the four senators who enjoyed the Barça v Sevilla match on Sunday from the presidential box at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, taking advantage of the Open Box programme. A Barça fan since birth, Ripoll has lived through much of the club's 125-year history. "Not long ago, I received the gold and diamond badge" he says. "But before becoming a member, when I was a child, I went to Les Corts. I’ve been following Barça since 1944."

Eighty years of Barça loyalty deserve the utmost respect, and an event like Sunday’s does him justice.

Before watching Barça beat Sevilla 5-1, Ripoll exchanged a few words with President Laporta and had his photo taken with him in the lobby. "I think it’s a great idea to invite the longest-standing members to the box" he continued. "In the many years I’ve been a member, there have been times when I’ve felt distant from the presidency. This connection is appreciated."

Since the Camp Nou opened in 1957, Ripoll has been a member with a season ticket in the covered lateral section. "I still have the ticket from the day it opened" he says.

As for the best game he has ever seen, he says "the comeback against PSG moved me more than any other."

And that's coming from someone who can remember all the way back to the days at Les Corts. "I remember the pushing we had to do, and the pushing we received, to get in. Those who arrived late pushed to squeeze in. There was one day when the railing at the south goal broke, and people jumped onto the pitch. The police thought it was a pitch invasion and started laying into them. The Civil Governor had to intervene."

Les Corts became too small, and that’s how what is today called the Spotify Camp Nou was born. Sixty-five years after its inauguration, it was time to rebuild it, and that has happened too.

"It was the right time" says Ripoll. "Major renovation was needed. There were areas that were very deteriorated."

Beside him, Mariona Ripoll, 16 years old, looks at him with the eyes of a proud granddaughter. Also a Barça fan since birth, and a member too, she accompanied her grandfather to the box at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, as did three other senators and their guests.