The City of New York and FC Barcelona honor the Club’s 1937 team who played the first ever U.S. exhibition games in Brooklyn

The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, and FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta honored the team that starred in the first ever Club tour to America in 1937 and played four exhibition games in the Hamilton Metz Field (then Commercial Field), in Brooklyn.

During the event, local kids (ages 12-14) playing in the Barça Pro Academy in New York as the South Bronx United, read the names of the entire 1937 team roster as a way to remember them and the Club’s long history in the States. The Club’s New York office created this remembrance as part of FC Barcelona’s 125th anniversary celebrations as the team embarks on its 3-city U.S. tour, playing matches in Orlando, Baltimore and New York/New Jersey during the preseason. Also in attendance at the ceremony were the directors Miquel Camps, Xavier Puig, and Joan Soler.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams: 

“The world’s game has a home in the world’s city, e are so excited to welcome FC Barcelona to New York City to commemorate their first-ever exhibition game in the U.S., which took place right here in Brooklyn, As we look forward to the FIFA World Cup Finals in 2026 and opening New York City’s first soccer-specific stadium for NYCFC in 2027, we also look back on our city’s rich soccer history and our role in the tour that made sure that superstars from Cruyff to Ronaldinho to Messi could lead the Blaugrana to glory and inspire children around the world."

FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta: 

"The first time FC Barcelona set foot on US territory was in 1937 in New York, which was crucial for the Club’s survival amid the Spanish Civil War. Our team played here, in Hamilton-Metz Field, in the heart of Brooklyn, which was a baseball facility known then as Commercial Field. In New York, Barça was received as an authentic ambassador of democracy, as a symbol of the Catalan identity and freedom in the fight against fascism. Without that tour, considered one of the most important moments in Barcelona's history, may not exist. On behalf of Barça, thank you very much New York City for your historic hospitality!"

Council Member Francisco Moya: 

"It is an honor to be part of this moment not only as an elected official but also as a long-time culé and member of the greatest football club in the world! As someone who calls Barcelona his second home, it is a privilege to honor F.C. Barcelona with a city proclamation, celebrating the 87th anniversary of their first game in the United States. This event not only commemorates a historic milestone but also recognizes the club's ongoing commitment to youth development and social change in our city."

The tour that saved the Club

FC Barcelona’s 1937 tour through Mexico and the United States is considered one of the most important initiatives in Barcelona's history, as it exponentially raised the Club's international profile at a time when Spain was suffering from the Civil War, and it allowed the Club to generate revenues to support them through the post-war period.

Since its founding in 1899, FC Barcelona has become a symbol of the Catalan identity for its public defense of Catalan rights. The Club’s strong stand against fascism led to the Blaugranas being offered the opportunity to represent the Spanish Republican Government, as well for Generalitat de Catalunya, to globally reinforce republican values in the fight against fascism. During the late 1930’s, FC Barcelona’s economy was struggling due the war efforts and lack of competition. The organization itself was also targeted by fascist rebels who executed FC Barcelona’s President Josep Sunyol in the early days of the war in 1936. For all of these reasons, Barça declined playing in Spain’s 1937 Copa de la República and instead, sent an expedition team of twenty players to America for its first U.S. preseason tour.

On Tuesday, May 18, 1937, the Blaugrana expedition began its journey by train to the French Atlantic Harbor of Saint-Nazaire, at the mouth of the Loire. The journey from Barcelona to the border with France was dangerous amid the war. In fact, on the verge of reaching Portbou, the last town in Catalonia before crossing to France, the train had to stop for hours in a tunnel because of an air raid over Girona in the North of Spain as it was being bombed by the fascists. Once the Club arrived to Saint-Nazaire on May 24, the team began a 16-day voyage to the other side of the Atlantic, arriving on the coast of Mexico on June 8.

Four games in the US

In North America, FC Barcelona was welcomed as an ambassador of the republican party, more than as merely a soccer team. In fact, the team was warmly received in Mexico by President Lázaro Cárdenas and his people, who showed strong support for the Spanish republican cause. Initially, Mexico was the only destination, but FC Barcelona extended the tour to the United States because at the end of August 1937 a group of representatives of the American Soccer League traveled to Mexico to offer Rossend Calvet, head of the Blaugrana’s expedition, the possibility of Barça playing four games in New York. Calvet accepted the proposal in exchange for five thousand dollars, so team travelled to the US for the very first time.

FC Barcelona’s presence in New York became a big attraction and local media reported that the team was valued at more than 250,000 USD from that moment, which increased interest in watching them play live. The first game was held in the heart of Brooklyn, at a baseball field known then as Commercial Field (608 Lefferts Ave,), against the American Soccer League team, Brooklyn Hispano, in front of 6,000 people. FC Barcelona won that game by 2-4 and the Spanish Republican Ambassador in the US, Fernando de los Ríos, was invited to appear in the picture together with the team before the game. That picture was censored by Franco’s regime after the war in Spain.

Barça also won the following game vs the New York team (3-4), in the American Soccer League, (0-2) and a Jewish Community soccer team (0- 3) which was played at night under lights, which was very rare at the time. During game 2 vs the New York soccer team, one of the goal crossbars broke and feel down, interrupting the game for 15 minutes. Fortunately, no one was injured. Years after the tour, FC Barcelona striker Josep Escolà, noted that it was very difficult scoring against the American team despite them not having much experience playing professional soccer teams such as Barça. According to Escolà, this was not because of their defensive tactics, but the fact that games were played in baseball fields with pitcher mounds.

In the end, the results were the least important thing on that tour. What was gained was much more valuable: the international prestige of FC Barcelona as an ambassador of freedom coming from a country that was fighting the fascism. The financial benefit of the 1937 tour was 461,799.10 “pesetas”, (12,500 USD), which was kept in a bank in Paris for the duration of the war. Essential funds that allowed the organization to recover in the post-war era.

Only half of the expedition came back

The dramatic situation in which Catalonia and the Spanish state found themselves because the war, players including Ventolrà, Urquiaga, García, Gual, Iborra, Pedrol and Tache, decided not to return to Barcelona and set up residence in Mexico. Players Balmanya, Escolà and Zabalo stayed in France. Half of the expedition team returned to war-torn Barcelona: the delegate Rossend Calvet, the trainer Patrick O'Connell, the team therapist Àngel Mur, the caretaker Modesto Amorós and players, Argemí, Babot, Bardina, Rafa, Pagés and Munlloch.