60 years of emotions and a collective dream

Today we are celebrating 60 years since the Camp Nou’s inauguration. It is a decisive date in our history and I want to express, in the Club’s name, our gratitude to all the people who have made our extraordinary successes possible. Members, supporters club member, fans, players, directors, architects, coaches, employees, thanks for experiencing the stadium with such intensity making it the scene of so many emotions.

The history of Barça will always be linked to its stadiums. From our first home on Carrer Indústria, where we settled for the first time and began to consolidate ourselves; to the stadium in les Corts, where football became a great popular show. Each stadium is linked to a stage in Barça and world football’s development.

In the 50s, the Board of Directors run by Agustí Montal and Galobart put forward a brave proposition to buy the land where the Camp Nou is currently located. The decision was approved by the members in a referendum, showing the Club’s democratic and participatory nature. That decision showed tremendous vision for the future as the Club bought more land than it needed allowing for the subsequent addition of the Palau and the Ice Rink. This strengthened Barça’s commitment to being a multi sports Club.

We also owe the construction of the Camp Nou to the Board headed by Francesc Miró-Sans, who commissioned the architects Francesc Mitjans, Josep Soteras and Lorenzo García-Barbón. Their brilliant vision helped create a modern and functional stadium which has been adapted to current needs with the addition of a third tier under Josep Lluís Núñez’s Presidency in 1982. It will also allow for the profound remodelling planned under the Espai Barça project which will convert the Camp Nou into a global reference point for the 21st century.

The Camp Nou is and will continue to be our home where all blaugranas have a special memory, where we have lived moments of glory and sadness, where our coaches and players have written sporting history. From Eulogio Martínez’s first goal in the inaugural match, in the team led by Ladislau Kubala, until the latest four-goal fest Messi provided against Eibar.

The Camp Nou is 60 today. During this time, it has adapted to unforeseeable needs when it was constructed. The base is solid but it is normal that we need to carry out an ambitious refurbishment after so many years. For this reason, we conceived the Espai Barça project in 2014 which was also approved by the members in a referendum and includes the transformation of all the Club’s installations in Les Corts with the remodelling of the Camp Nou, the construction of a new Palau Blaugrana, the Campus Barça, and the construction of the Johan Cruyff stadium at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper which started with the laying of the first stone on 14 September.

This collective dream of all blaugranas will allow us to continue growing and to transform our installations into the best sporting complex in the world in a great city. We eagerly await the celebrations for the Club’s 125 th anniversary in 2024 in the new Stadium with the Espai Barça dream a reality.

Long live the Camp Nou!

Josep Maria Bartomeu

President of FC Barcelona