Barça celebrates a historical first with five players nominated for the Women's Ballon d'Or
Alexia Putellas has become the fisrt Barça Women player to win the Ballon d’Or. What's more, there were four other players from the team among the nominees: Lieke Martens, Jennifer Hermoso, Sandra Paños and Irene Paredes. Five candidates who have set another historic milestone for the club, which has never had so many players in the running for the prize before.
FC Barcelona celebrates the occasion with a video that showcases its famous values of teamwork, ambition, respect and effort - the foundations for creating a legacy that can be a benchmark, particularly for girls and women dreaming of a football career.
“We have a message for future generations”. A clear statement of intent and a striking start to the video featuring the five nominees - Alexia Putellas, Lieke Martens, Jennifer Hermoso, Sandra Paños and Irene Paredes. Their voices over clips of play show how they complement each other on the pitch and how further successes are only possible through teamwork, with the video ending with the strong statement: “I am part of my team and when I win the whole team wins”.
Barça continues to create records with these five nominations, as no other women's team has five nominations, as well as being the first time in the Club's history. A landmark to add to last season's historical treble of the Champions League, the Liga, and the Copa de la Reina.
Commitment to women's sport
Barça have an ongoing commitment to women's football and women in sport. A commitment made evident by the slogan ‘More than gender’, based on one of the pillars of the Club's uniqueness and identity, and for which it has become known world-wide - ‘More than a Club’.
This is a cross-sectional commitment and investment by the Club, clearly shown this year by the inauguration of the dedicated women's football training centre at La Masia. The new residents of the Barça training centre combine football and studying, following in the footsteps of notable players such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Leo Messi. Furthermore, women were the focus of this year's Sports Tomorrow Congress, organised by Barça Innovation Hub, bringing experts to Barcelona from fields such as medicine, nutrition, technology, and business in sport.
This commitment has now been fifty years in the making, as the 'Selecció Ciutat de Barcelona' - considered the fledgling side of the Barça women's team - played their first match in Camp Nou on December 25, 1970.