Showing posts with label Les Corts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Les Corts. Show all posts

16.12.14

Barcelona's Stadia



Velódromo de la Bonanova (1899)
In their first ever match, (08.12.99) Barcelona played a scratch team of English expatriates (some of whom were founder members of the club) in Velódromo de la Bonanova in the Turo Parc area. For the uninitiated a velodrome is a cycling track, as you can see from the photographs above, which shows the banked track in the background. 

Hipodrom De Can Tunis (1900-01)
Matches were also occasionally played at this former horseracing track.





Camp del Hotel Casanovas (1900-01)
The estate of Hotel Casanovas was near to where Sant Pau hospital now stands. Walter Wild, the club president, negotiated the use of some of this land as a football ground.Barcelona first played there on 18.11.1900  The result was 0-0 against Athletic Club. According to contemporary reports the attendance was about 4,000.

Campo de la Carretera de Horta (1901-1905)
The club played its first game here on 23.11.01 against the Calliope (crew of a British ship). Barca won 4-0. Joan Gamper scored the first goal. The club had to move on when the land was developed.





Campo de la calle Muntaner (1905-1909)
Scene of the first ever Barcelona v (Real) Madrid (FC) clash, a 5-2 win for Barca in 1906. Later became the home of Club Deportivo Español .

Plaza De Armas (1909)
  Occasional use only

 La Fuxarda (1909)
The municipal stadium was used for 2 games against Sparta Prague. 




Campo de la Calle Industria (1909-22)
The first ground owned outright by the club had a capacity of 6,000 and featured a novel double-decker stand. It was the first ground in Spain to have floodlights. The beginnings were more modest, though- initially there were no changing rooms or running water!
The ground was officially opened on 14.03.09, and was used until the club's success saw them outgrow the stadium in 1922. 





Camp de Les Corts  (1922 -57)
The club therefore started the construction of a new stadium, and  Les Corts opened on  20.05.22, Barcelona playing Saint Mirren. The initial capacity was 22,000.
In 1925, a display of Catalan nationalism on the part of the crowd at Les Corts led to the authorities closing the stadium  for 6 months (later reduced to 3).



24.7.13

Copa Barcelona


It would appear that The Copa Barcelona was contested only on two occasions. Barcelona was a very popular venue for British touring teams in the 1920s and in 1922 and 1924 the tourists played each other in Les Corts for the Copa.
(There was an earlier, unrelated Copa Barcelona, an early edition of the Catalan championship held in 1903 and won by...Barcelona).

1922
The 1922 Copa Barcelona was contested by St Mirren and Notts County. The match marked the official opening Barcelona's new stadium at Les Corts.  
Saint Mirren had finished 8th in the Scottish League in the 1921–22 season.Their opponents had finished 13th in Division 2, but had (as the poster tells us) reached the semi finals of the FA cup.
Saint Mirren won 2-1 after extra time thanks to 2 goals by Dunky Walker (Saint Mirren's highest scorer of all time).





Action from the Saint Mirren v Notts County game- Saint Mirren in the dark jerseys.



1924.

In May 1924 FA Cup winners Newcastle United took on Everton at Les Corts.
On this occasion the Copa Barcelona was won by Everton, the score being 3-2.
The Everton minute books reveal some interesting details of the preperation and negotiations regarding the tour:


Spanish Tour - The Secretary submitted new quotations re the proposed trip to Barcelona & stated that the price was now increased by over £11 per head. It was agreed that the Chairman go fully into the matter & if necessary obtain further quotations. An application for us to play 2 matches in Madrid following those in Barcelona was gone into & it was decided to ask the Real Madrid FC for a guarantee of £500 for these.


Spanish Tour-  Sec. reported receipt of a telegram from the Barcelona F.C asking if we would play a match v N'cle United on the 22nd May in place of the match on the 15th. It was agreed to do so subject to their paying us an additional £200.


Continental Tour -The Secy reported & presented a statement of a/cs for this amounting to £1009 & these were approved. The Chairman gave a report of the Tour & stated that same had been very satisfactory having beaten Barcelona FC 2-1 lost against same team 1-2 & beaten N'cle United 3-2 for which we had received a Cup.