“We played in this same stadium more than fifty years ago. We didn’t realize then everything that was starting,” Carme Nieto, one of the pioneers of women’s football at Barça, who played a match at the Camp Nou on December 25, 1970. Carme was not absent from the stadium. “Almost all the pioneers were there, together. We didn’t talk much, we were excited … We looked at each other, the emotion for what we were going through went far beyond words. I remember that when the players jumped on the grass we caught up. the hands “, comments the ex-soccer player. Like Carme, thousands and thousands of fans watched the match against Real Madrid with emotion. Now Barça are defending the title of Champions League champions, but to get here they have had to row a lot, believe in this team and bet on professionalising it.
“When I joined the board in 2010, I remember games in which there were more fans of the visiting team than Barça!”, Says Jordi Mestre. “I still remember the first days: it was an almost amateur section, then. But little by little, they saw that there was someone on the board who was interested in them and the team was improving. It was a turning point, but the first turning point for me was when we first qualified for the Champions League in 2012, after winning the League. of the Sports City, but at the Miniestadi, I think that’s when interest began to grow “, explains the former Barça vice-president. “I insisted that women’s football had to be professionalised. It couldn’t be that on the trips the players had to eat a sandwich on the bus, they also had to change the training schedules … Everything had to be done better. Finally, the 2015, with Bartomeu as president and after years of insisting on it, I succeeded “, recalls Mestre. “In the beginning the team was basically only made up of Catalan players and in the coaching staff, in the matches, there was only the coach, Xavi Llorens, his assistant and physical trainer, Berta Carles, and a physiotherapist and a delegate. Nothing to do with what is there now, “he explains.
Maria Teixidor, a former board member of Mestre, also worked hard to promote the women’s team and celebrates the achievement of the world record: “I lived the game with great emotion and happiness. It is one of those milestones that mark a point of ‘turning and consolidating a project and giving explicit recognition to what these footballers are achieving.’ Teixidor, who has run for the presidency of the new state professional women’s football league, added that “it is necessary to work very hard to ensure that there is continuous attendance at the stadiums”: “The message that is being sent to other clubs is that if there are project, investment and dedication, nothing is impossible “.
The debut in the Champions, key
Xavi Llorens, as Mestre, agrees that his debut in the Champions League was the first big turning point. “Playing that qualifier against Arsenal taught us all that one thing was the reality of state football and the other was the level in Europe. That’s when the players decided they wanted to be like their rivals: more competitive. , stronger, more demanding “, explains the Catalan coach. With the commitment of the players and the support of the club, it went from training at night and being an amateur team to improving the working methodology and the players being able to dedicate themselves to being footballers fully, to controlling the eating and resting habits, improving salaries and strengthening the team with renowned signings. “It was a job of years. We dreamed of winning the Champions League, but I never would have imagined that we could have filled the Camp Nou,” added the coach, excited. Vicky Losada, now at City, lifted the first Barça Champions League as captain and praised the world record: – visibility and that the institutions are on the side of the footballers, enhancing their talent and conditions “.
Llorens lived Barça-Madrid accompanied by Markel Zubizarreta, the women’s sports director, and Xavier Budó, Barça’s sports director. “It was a magical and wonderful day. It’s a reward for the players, who lived a symbiosis with a fan who was sublime and reached the world record. Everyone stayed after the game to follow the celebration,” he said. Budó. “Since we joined the club a year ago, we have been clear that we need to continue to strengthen and evolve the women’s team. When you are at the top and you are the best club in the world, you have to keep working hard to continue to be the benchmark. It’s key and we’re pushing the size of this project. We’ve done the Masia femenina and we’re taking care of women’s training “Taking the team to play matches at the Camp Nou is a sign of our commitment”, concludes the Barça executive. Turning the Camp Nou into a record stadium has been everyone’s business.
