Before Joan Laporta, true to himself, broke the institutional rigor with his irresistible monologue spirit, the Auditori 1899, still standing despite the works, hosted a sober and at the same time emotional event to which David Carabén gave intellectual substance. The singer and composer of Mishima, columnist for La Vanguardia, has been chosen by the board as commissioner of the events of the 125th anniversary of FC Barcelona. The date justified the meeting. The Blaugrana club turned 124 years old yesterday, so there is only one more left for the event to be elevated to an anniversary.
With the aroma of the restorative qualification for the round of 16 of the Champions floating in an atmosphere of thick Barcelonaism, Carabén spoke before a full audience, full of representatives from all sports sections and different families. There was no shortage of Joan Gaspart, a regular, nor descendants of the founder Joan Gamper nor members of the Montal lineage. Laporta made reference to all of them and also had words of affection for Danny Cruyff, Johan’s widow, sitting in the first rows next to her friend Marjolijn, mother of the morning’s protagonist and wife of Armand Carabén, who was one of the main responsible as a manager when it came to bringing the flying Dutchman to the Camp Nou in the early seventies. Carabén, David, accompanied in the room by his partner, Flora Saura, began to read a manifesto prepared for the occasion surrounded, therefore, by his people. Maybe that’s why he felt so comfortable, maybe that’s why his speech connected with the audience, who thanked him with a standing ovation.
What did Carabén say? His was a gloss served in careful but not cloying Catalan prose, through which he argued with undisguised partiality what Barça means and, more than that, what distinguishes it from other clubs to remain in shape after going through three centuries. Catalanness expressed graphically by establishing links between the rondo, the sardana and the casteller world; football uniqueness (“we adopted Scottish football, with a low and short pass, before the English, more direct”) and mythologization of the ball as a permanent center of gravity. “It is no coincidence that the ball is always on our different shields throughout history,” Carabén emphasized with the conviction of someone who feels heard by the entire world. With a desire for transversality despite his adoration of the figure of Cruyff, Carabén, now outside the script set by the manifesto, exuded generosity with all those who throughout history have contributed to making Barça the surviving giant that it is today. “I can’t stick with just one name because you create myths as a child and at that stage you can be captivated by a gesture, a hairstyle… Everyone has their own hero.”
The event ended with Carabén and President Laporta blowing out the candles on a commemorative cake and unveiling the logo that will be used for the duration of the 125th anniversary events. There will be surprises and they will be revealed, but the logo sticks to the obvious. In the center, a sphere with the number 125 integrated. “We have wanted the ball for 125 years,” Carabén recalled. And he is right.
