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FC Barcelona Stadium Tour FC Barcelona Tickets
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| FC Barcelona Stadium Tour "Nou
Camp" | |
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| CAMP NOU |
| History and
opening |
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When Kubula arrived, the old Les Corts stadium proved to be too
small and it was necessary to find a new site. From when the idea was first
thought of until the day it was opened on 24th September 1957, there were
difficult moments for the Camp Nou, but the dream eventually became a reality.
In this section we will explain how this ambitious project was
realized. |
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The background (1948-1954) |
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Even though the first voices to call for the construction of
a new stadium were heard in 1948, it was the huge expectation surrounding the
arrival of Hungarian star Ladislau Kubala (June 1950) that suggested that Barça
had outgrown the Les Corts stadium. The Old Ground had been founded back in
1922, and after several extensions, was able to hold 60,000 spectators, a figure
that was practically impossible to increase any more. So, on September 19, 1950,
FC Barcelonas Board of Directors, presided by Agustí Montal Galobart, purchased
a plot of land next to the Maternitat, fairly close to the site of the old Les
Corts ground. |
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A troublesome period followed, when the new stadiums
commission (February 9, 1951) changed their minds about the site of the project,
opting for an area at the top of the Diagonal. Negotiations with the
Administrators bore little fruit and never reached a definitive agreement. The
issue was left on hold until Francesc Miró-Sans was elected president of FC
Barcelona (November 14, 1953). The new president was particularly insistent that
the project for a new stadium should go ahead immediately and one of the first
things he did after coming to power (February 18, 1954) was to situate the new
site on the land purchased in 1950 and not at the top of the Diagonal. So it was
that, on March 28, in front of 60,000 fans, he laid the first stone of the Camp
Nou, watched by the president of the Civil Government, Felipe Acedo Colunga, and
blessed by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Gregorio Modrego. |
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The construction (1954-1957) |
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The project for the new stadium was entrusted to the
architects Francesc Mitjans Miró, Miró-Sans cousin, and Josep Soteras Mauri,
under collaboration with Lorenzo García Barbón. More than a year later, on July
11, 1955, the Club handed the construction rights to INGAR SA, who put forward
an estimate for 66,620,000 pesetas for completion of the building in 18 months.
However, the eventual cost was considerably higher than the original proposal,
reaching 288 million pesetas, a figure that had to met by successive emissions
of obligatory mortgages (100 million pesetas) and bank loans (60 million
pesetas). This was enough to finance the construction of the stadium, but the
Club would be repaying that debt for several years afterwards. |
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| The
inauguration |
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The date for the inauguration of the Estadi was set at
September 24, 1957. An organising committee was formed to plan a special opening
ceremony, which was presided by two people: Aleix Buxeres (public relations) and
Nicolau Casaus (organisation). On September 21 in the Barcelona Councils
Assembly Room, José Maria de Cossío, a member of the Real Academia Española,
read the proclamation that officially opened the celebrations of the
inauguration of the new stadium. That September weekend, members of different
sections of the Club appeared in a series of international sports meetings at
the Les Corts stadium and the Palau Municipal dEsports. Those important events
were enough to inspire the renowned poet Josep M. de Sagarra to write a sonnet
entitled Blau Grana, and the creation of the FC Barcelona Stadiums hymn with
lyrics by Josep Badia to the music of Adolf Cabané. |
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On that day of the Mercè festival in 1957, the city was
clothed in the colours of the Club. The inauguration began with a solemn mass
and the blessing of the stadium by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Gregorio
Modrego. Immediately after, the Gracienc Choir sung Händel`s Hallelujah and
enthroned the image of the Mother of God of Montserrat. Several dignitaries from
the worlds of sports and politics sat in the presidents box alongside Francesc
Miró-Sans, including José Solís Ruiz, general secretary for the Ministry of
Movement; José Antonio Elola Olaso, president of the National Sports Delegation;
Felipe Acedo, Barcelonas civil governor, and Josep M. de Porcioles, mayor of
Barcelona. |
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The terraces of the Camp Nou, still not quite complete, were
opened to more than 90,000 people, as representatives of all of the football
clubs of Catalonia paraded across the field, along with members of the sections
of the Club, Barcelona fan clubs and different teams belonging to the Club. The
aforementioned hymn was then sung, followed, at four thirty in the afternoon, by
the inaugural match. FC Barcelona played a Polish team from Warsaw. The
Barcelona line-up in the new stadium was formed by: Ramallets, Olivella, Brugué,
Segarra, Vergés, Gensana, Basora, Villaverde, Martínez, Kubala and Tejada. In
the second half the Barcelona eleven was the following: Ramallets, Segarra,
Brugué, Gràcia, Flotats, Bosch, Hermes, Ribelles, Tejada, Sampedro and Evaristo.
The game ended with Barcelona winning 4-2 with goals from Eulogio Martínez (who,
in the 11th minute scored the first ever goal at the Camp Nou), Tejada, Sampedro
and Evaristo. During the break, 1,500 members of the Agrupació Cultural
Folklòrica de Barcelona danced an enormous sardana and 10,000 doves were set
free. And so began a new era in the history of FC Barcelona. |
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