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CD Borgonyà wants to have a women’s team that will play on the most beautiful football field in Catalonia

BogonyàAlien to the passage of time, the colony of Burgundy receives visitors with a large Scottish flag. Wave at the top of the chimney of the old factory. The chimney had to be made in two phases because initially the church rejected the bell tower being below an earthly element. When the church moved up the bank, the chimney was able to grow from 33 meters to the current 46. The Scottish company Coats built the textile colony in the late 19th century. And Borgonyà, part of the village of Sant Vicenç de Torelló (Osona), changed forever: until then, 25 people lived there between four farmhouses and a hermitage. Suddenly, more than 200 Scots arrived from Paisley, home of the Coats. And football also came from the British Isles, so closely linked to the industrial world in those years.

In the spring of 1895, the first two matches were played between teams from different Catalan municipalities. The Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona, ​​the embryo of Barça, and the Torelló Foot-Ball Association, made up of Scottish workers from the Coats colony, faced Barcelona (5-3) and Osona (8-3). The modest Club Deportiu Borgonyà was set up in 1941, but the organization claims that 1895 as its date of birth. “We have a lot of history. We are a town of 300 inhabitants and we only have a first team, but the club has always survived. Thanks to the people who love it. It will never disappear,” smiles Joan Sadurní. Former player and former coach of the club, he will be the president until this Thursday, when he will be replaced by his son Eric. “He was the Burgundian I met as a child: few well-to-do people, a small club in a small town. That’s why many of us share surnames,” says the son.

El Borgonyà, the Catalan fourth team, is the pride of the colony. “It is our symbol,” remarks Joan Sadurní, mayor of Sant Vicenç for eight years. The colony retains the Scottish aesthetic it acquired in the late 19th century: Scotland, Paisley or Coats streets are rows of semi-detached and single-family houses of undoubted British style. The factory closed two decades ago, but strolling through Burgundy is still like strolling through Scotland. At the back of the neck, the Borgonyà players carry the flags of Scotland and Catalonia on their sides. The shirt is black and white: it was thought to be so because it was the colors of the yarn that was produced in the colony, but years later it was discovered that it was the colors of Saint Mirren, the Paisley club. For many, Burgundy is still the village of the English.

The football pitch also maintains the Scottish aesthetic, 15 minutes from Vic. The newspaper archive says that it was built a hundred years ago, in 1922 or 1924. And everyone who has stepped on it says that it is one of the most beautiful in Catalonia, if not the most beautiful. Boxed between the river Ter and the canal that fed the factory, it is hypnotic. In summer, daisies even grow there: it is still made of natural grass. The lawn, in fact, could not be changed even if it was wanted: the colony was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 2013 and is protected. In October 2018 the field was devastated due to the hurricane Leslie, but it has already regained its greenery and beauty. Saint Mirren fans raised more than 2,000 euros to help. Before the field had already passed the floods of 1940 and 1982. “It’s a treasure. The atmosphere here, between trees, is unique. There is no plastic here, it’s all stone,” says Eric Sadurní.

The commitment to a women’s team

Sixteen girls stepped on the field last week: now Burgundy wants to have a women’s team. “The story is very pretty, but you also have to look ahead because the story alone can’t stand you. And for a women’s team to be made now is the wafer,” says the father. “We can’t always be a team with a lot of history. We want to protect and defend history and, if we can, make it bigger, always remembering and loving where we come from. Burgundy is a diamond and this diamond can’t be only for men, ”the son continues. “It’s very nice that Borgonyà has a women’s team. I love it. It makes me happy. It’s very nice that women can also enjoy this whole story and that the club is modernized,” said Paula Sadurní, Joan’s daughter. Eric’s sister.

It is one of the visible faces of the new project. “The Burgundy is the epicenter of colony life,” he acknowledges. His grandfather had also been a player and coach, as had his father and uncle. The case of the Sadurní family illustrates how love for the Burgundy has been transmitted from parents to children. “It’s not an isolated case. There are a lot of families like ours,” the father clarifies. And he puts on the table the name of Bruna Vilamala, a Barça first team footballer born and raised in the colony: “His two aunts had played for Borgonyà”.

The Burgundian wants the new women’s team to start competing next year. For now, it already has about twenty names. A second training session will take place this Monday. Before the first one, last Tuesday, Èric Sadurní spoke in front of the footballers. “The fact that it can be a reality excites and excites us. We will do everything possible to materialize this dream,” he said in front of the benches. Her first memories, she adds now, are of this field, as in Paula’s case: they remember going out to play at the break, throwing firecrackers to celebrate promotions. Eric says: “For me this club is the best. The Burgundian transcends personal interests: it belongs to everyone. It may not be a life project, but it is a project that accompanies you all your life. As in the case of my father. I would like to be linked to this club until the day I die, because I love him. “

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