The name ‘Barça’ is 100 years old

The name ‘Barça’ is 100 years old

The earliest known reference to this word to describe the club appeared in a comic strip on 8 December 1921

Nobody knows when the name “Barça” was first used as a term of affection for FC Barcelona, but we do know when it first appeared in print. And it was exactly one hundred years ago today.

Originally written "Barsa", it appeared in a comic strip titled Història del Barcelona published on 8 December 1921 in a special edition of the sports paper La Jornada Deportiva. The piece was written and illustrated by a famous Catalan artist of the era, Jaume Passarell. However, the significance of the publication was not known until an enthusiast of Barça history, Nicolás Sanz, picked up on it in 2016.

The piece described the club’s history from its foundation in 1899 until the time that Les Corts stadium was due to open, eventually in May 1922. In 48 pictures, Passarell looks back at different episodes in the FC Barcelona past, introducing the founder Joan Gamper, the early games against English teams where he "taught us to score goals”, the conflicts with the federation, the great Filipino star of the era, Alcántara, and FC Barcelona’s famous victory over Real Sociedad in the final of the 1913 Spanish Championship, which is where the famous name first appears: “In the final, without bars / ‘Barsa’ beat the ‘Donostiarres’.

A historic document, published one hundred years ago today!

 

Força Barça
Força Barça

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