New findings demonstrate FC Barcelona's commitment to Catalonia and the poor

Investigations by the FC Barcelona Documentation and Study Centre in the Catalan National Archives (ANC) have produced a series of fascinating discoveries in connection to the club's commitment to Catalan institutions, showing that its famous tradition of using sport to build bonds among society is something that dates back amazingly far. The findings will be explored in full in the latest issue of Barça Magazine, which comes out tomorrow.

It is no secret that FC Barcelona has been a fervent supporter of freedom for Catalan people and their language. It was way back in 1910 that presidents Gaspar Rosés and Joan Gamper made that an official club policy. Later on, in 1931, the club, in all of its many dimensions, including the board, its employees and its fans, were used as a vehicle for diplomatic representation in Catalonia during the first few months of the Second Spanish Republic, an era when the proclamation of the short-lived Catalan Republic raised many objections across the Spanish territory.

The latest findings include a letter in which Barça president Rosés informed the Catalan president Macià about a friendly match that had been arranged with Valladolid Deportivo at the old Les Corts ground on 31 May 1931. There were clear conciliatory motivations for organising that game, after an article had been published a few days earlier in Valladolid newspaper El Norte de Castilla by fervent anti-Catalan Juan Royo Villanova, a shameless attack on Macià and his aspirations for self-government in Catalonia. The Catalan president responded by trying to make peace, and Barça wanted to support this by holding a football match that would go on to receive considerable media coverage.