“We will be in Greater Barcelona”

In 1953 tennis was considered, and was usually defined as such, “a stately and aristocratic sport”. The champions who started as ball boys had not yet triggered the fans among the Barcelonans.

It was then that the new board of directors of the RCT Barcelona culminated the adventure begun a few years earlier with the construction of a new headquarters on property land. Designed for its associates but also to accommodate an international tournament that now, after 70 years, is one of the great annual sporting events that Barcelona can proudly display.

That board of directors was chaired by Carlos Godó Valls, Count of Godó, and among his direct collaborators there was another name closely linked to Barcelona and sport: Marcel Gamper, son of the founder of FC Barcelona. As Pedro Hernández points out in his detailed and essential studies on the history of the RCT Barcelona, ​​Marcel Gamper was even part of the small team that wrote the regulations for the first Conde de Godó trophy. Deep down, they were two entities, Barça and Tenis Barcelona, ​​united from their origins. Both born in 1899 and with shared families, like the Wittys and the Parsons.

“In the old headquarters on Ganduxer street, the club was something… how would I call it…? Shrunken. A modern sports club, even if it is based on a single basic specialty, is forced to develop others, which in Ganduxer street one could not even dream of fitting in”, explained Carlos de Godó in 1953, shortly before the inauguration of the new facilities. and the first edition of the tournament. An interview that is worth rescuing from oblivion because it allows us to understand first-hand the magnitude of the initiative launched and the concerns that afflicted the club’s managers.

Ganduxer’s headquarters looked suffocated, but also the owners of the land demanded exorbitant amounts to renew the lease. Before the journalist Ferran Fornells, Mr. Carlos explained: “Because of the added value of the land, which is becoming more valued every day in that area, it was also logical that the owners wanted to obtain a higher yield from it. But – he insisted – the main difficulty was its limitation. An agreement could have been reached, but it wouldn’t have taken us long to see ourselves suffocated by the neighboring houses, their galleries with their clothes hanging out to dry…”.

The search for a new location (in the interview the option, already rejected, to move to Sant Cugat was highlighted in particular) ended in the Can Canet de la Riera farmhouse, in Sarrià. Thus, a new club was born and carried by the hand the bet of a great international tournament.

Carlos de Godó explained: “There are six hundred thousand square feet of land, of which one hundred and fifty thousand have been ceded to us by the City Council as long as there is a tennis club there.” “The traditional thing, almost romantic, of the 16th century Catalan farmhouse” and the situation also had an influence: “We thought that, in a few years, the club will be within Greater Barcelona”.

The economic operation was not easy, as can be supposed. “It was agreed that each partner had to subscribe, at least, a contribution of five thousand pesetas and the number of associates contracted,” detailed the president. “But there are many who have signed numerous contributions and also people who love sports, Barcelona social life or simply sympathizers with our effort.”

The interview was published in mid-March 1953 and at the end the journalist tried to guess when the new facilities could be inaugurated. “I have seen the thing very advanced”, Insinuated Fornells. “Surely by May, even with the pool, that we have been interested in making it a regulatory measure… well, better say between May and June”, the Count of Godó finally specified. On June 3, the first edition of the Conde de Godó Trophy began.