Joan Gamper
Encyclopedia
Joan Gamper (22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930) previously known as Hans Kamper was a Swiss football
pioneer, player and club president. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Catalonia
(Spain
), most notably FC Basel
, FC Zurich and FC Barcelona
.
, Switzerland
. He was the eldest son and third of five children born to August Gamper and Rosine Emma Haessig. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was eight and the family moved to Basel. As a youngster, Gamper was a keen cyclist and runner. Throughout his life he was a lover of all sports and, apart from football, he also played rugby union
, tennis
and golf
. In Switzerland, he was highly regarded as a footballer and was club captain at FC Basel
and co-founder and player of FC Zurich. In 1897, work took him to Lyon
in France
, where he played rugby for Athletique Union.
to visit his uncle, Emili Gaissert, who was living there. He was on his way to Africa to help set up some sugar trading companies but fell in love with the Spanish city and decided to stay put. He would later become a fluent Catalan
speaker and adopt the Catalan version of his name, Joan Gamper. As an accountant, he found work with Crédit Lyonnais
, the Sarria Railway Company and as a sports columnist, he worked for two Swiss newspapers. He joined the local Swiss Evangelical Church and began playing football within the local Protestant community in the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
. He also attended the Gimnasio Solé and helped publish a magazine, Los Deportes.
On 22 October 1899 Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on November 29 and Football Club Barcelona
was born. The founders included a collection of Swiss, British and Spanish enthusiasts. It is not known, if Gamper chose the legendary club colours, blaugrana, after FC Basel
. However, the other Swiss teams Gamper played for, and Merchant Taylors' School
in Crosby, Merseyside
have all been credited and/or claimed to be the inspiration. Although Gamper was the driving force behind the club, initially he chose only to be a board member and club captain. He was still only 22 and wanted to concentrate on playing the game he loved. He played 48 games for FC Barcelona between 1899 and 1903, scoring over 100 goals. His team mates included Arthur Witty
. In 1900-01 he was a member of the FC Barcelona
team that won the clubs first trophy, the Copa Macaya. This competition is now recognised as the first Catalan championship. In 1902 he played in the very first Copa del Rey
final. Barca lost 2-1 to Club Vizcaya.
for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. Several of the clubs better players had retired and had not been replaced. This soon began to affect the clubs performances both on and off the field. The club had not won anything since the Campionat de Catalunya of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. He was subsequently club president on five separate occasions (1908-09, 1910-13, 1917-19, 1921-23 and 1924-25) and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire their own stadium. Until 1909 the team played at various grounds, none of them owned by the club. Gamper raised funds from local businesses and on 14 March 1909, they moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. He also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Les Corts
. This stadium had an initial capacity of 20,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000.
Gamper also recruited the legendary player Paulino Alcántara
, the club's all time top-scorer, and in 1917 appointed Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the clubs fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Championat de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey
and four Coupe de Pyrenées
and enjoyed its first golden age. As well as Alcántara the Barça team under Greenwall also included Sagibarba
, Ricardo Zamora
, Josep Samitier
, Félix Sesúmaga
and Franz Platko
.
His final presidency ended in controversial circumstances and personal tragedy. On 24 June 1925, FC Barcelona
fans jeered the Spanish national anthem and then applauded God Save the Queen
performed by a visiting British Royal Marine
band. The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
accused Gamper of promoting Catalan nationalism
. Les Corts
was closed for six months. Gamper committed suicide after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems and was laid to rest on the Cemetery of Montjuïc.
president, Enric Llaudet
, created the Joan Gamper Trophy
in his honour. This is a pre-season tournament featuring international teams as guests and is traditionally used by the club to unveil the team for the forthcoming season.
The club also permanently retired his club membership number and the city named a street, Carrer de Joan Gamper in Les Corts district, after him. In 2002 the club marked the 125th anniversary of his birth. In 2004 the Winterthur Group
, a Swiss insurance company with offices in Barcelona since 1910, became sponsors of the FC Barcelona basketball
team, which led to the team featuring the birthplace of Gamper on their shirts and in their name Winterthur FCB
until 2007, after Winterthur Group was purchased by AXA
. Perhaps this and the fact that the club developed into a polideportivo, the very personification of Gamper, is the most fitting tribute to this all-round sportsman. Today Barcelona is "more than just a football club". It promotes amateur track and field sports and has rugby union
and cycling teams. All of these were sports played by Gamper. Barça also has professional basketball, handball and roller hockey teams as well as amateur indoor football, women's football, volleyball, baseball and field hockey teams. Over the years they have even had an ice hockey team.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
pioneer, player and club president. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), most notably FC Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...
, FC Zurich and FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
.
Early years
Hans-Max Gamper (his mother's maiden name – Haessig – is generally appended in Spanish sources) was born in WinterthurWinterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He was the eldest son and third of five children born to August Gamper and Rosine Emma Haessig. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was eight and the family moved to Basel. As a youngster, Gamper was a keen cyclist and runner. Throughout his life he was a lover of all sports and, apart from football, he also played rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. In Switzerland, he was highly regarded as a footballer and was club captain at FC Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...
and co-founder and player of FC Zurich. In 1897, work took him to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he played rugby for Athletique Union.
Founding FC Barcelona
In 1898 he went to BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to visit his uncle, Emili Gaissert, who was living there. He was on his way to Africa to help set up some sugar trading companies but fell in love with the Spanish city and decided to stay put. He would later become a fluent Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
speaker and adopt the Catalan version of his name, Joan Gamper. As an accountant, he found work with Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
, the Sarria Railway Company and as a sports columnist, he worked for two Swiss newspapers. He joined the local Swiss Evangelical Church and began playing football within the local Protestant community in the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is one of the biggest districts of Barcelona, situated on the north-west of the city, surrounded by districts of Les Corts, Gràcia, Eixample i Horta-Guinardo, and by the villages of Sant Just, Sant Feliu, Molins de Rei and Sant Cugat...
. He also attended the Gimnasio Solé and helped publish a magazine, Los Deportes.
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
was born. The founders included a collection of Swiss, British and Spanish enthusiasts. It is not known, if Gamper chose the legendary club colours, blaugrana, after FC Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...
. However, the other Swiss teams Gamper played for, and Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby is a British independent school for day pupils, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside....
in Crosby, Merseyside
Crosby, Merseyside
Crosby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Lancashire it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport, Formby and west of Netherton-History:...
have all been credited and/or claimed to be the inspiration. Although Gamper was the driving force behind the club, initially he chose only to be a board member and club captain. He was still only 22 and wanted to concentrate on playing the game he loved. He played 48 games for FC Barcelona between 1899 and 1903, scoring over 100 goals. His team mates included Arthur Witty
Arthur Witty
Arthur Witty Cotton , also known as Don Arturo, was an Anglo/Catalan footballer, club president and businessman. Witty played for FC Barcelona in the first Copa del Rey final and later served as club president between 1903 and 1905. He was also a successful trader and his family company, the Witty...
. In 1900-01 he was a member of the FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
team that won the clubs first trophy, the Copa Macaya. This competition is now recognised as the first Catalan championship. In 1902 he played in the very first Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
final. Barca lost 2-1 to Club Vizcaya.
Club President
In 1908 Joan Gamper became president of FC BarcelonaFC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. Several of the clubs better players had retired and had not been replaced. This soon began to affect the clubs performances both on and off the field. The club had not won anything since the Campionat de Catalunya of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. He was subsequently club president on five separate occasions (1908-09, 1910-13, 1917-19, 1921-23 and 1924-25) and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire their own stadium. Until 1909 the team played at various grounds, none of them owned by the club. Gamper raised funds from local businesses and on 14 March 1909, they moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. He also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Les Corts
Camp de Les Corts
Camp de Les Corts , commonly referred to as Les Corts, was a sports stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home ground for FC Barcelona until the club moved to the Camp Nou in 1957....
. This stadium had an initial capacity of 20,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000.
Gamper also recruited the legendary player Paulino Alcántara
Paulino Alcántara
Paulino Alcántara Riestrá was a Filipino–Spanish footballer and manager. He spent most of his playing career at Barcelona and was the first Filipino and Asian player to play for a European club. He also played for Catalonia, the Philippines and Spain...
, the club's all time top-scorer, and in 1917 appointed Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the clubs fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Championat de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
and four Coupe de Pyrenées
FC Barcelona in Europe
FC Barcelona, also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Spain. The club first participated in a European competition in 1910, and from 1955 onwards spent every season in one or more European competitions. The first international cup...
and enjoyed its first golden age. As well as Alcántara the Barça team under Greenwall also included Sagibarba
Emilio Sagi Liñan
Emilio Sagi Liñán , was a former footballer who played as a left-winger for FC Barcelona, the Catalan XI and Spain during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the son of, Emilio Sagi Barba, the Catalan baritone singer, and as a result, was widely referred to as Sagibarba...
, Ricardo Zamora
Ricardo Zamora
Ricard Zamora i Martínez was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for both the Catalan XI and Spain...
, Josep Samitier
Josep Samitier
Josep Samitier Vilalta , also known as José Samitier , was a Spanish footballer, manager and scout who played for FC Barcelona, Madrid CF, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI and Spain...
, Félix Sesúmaga
Félix Sesúmaga
Félix Sesúmaga Ugarte was a Spanish Basque footballer during the 1910s and the 1920s. Born in Lejona, Vizcaya, he played as a forward for Arenas Club de Getxo, FC Barcelona, Racing de Sama de Langreo, Athletic Bilbao and Spain...
and Franz Platko
Franz Platko
Ferenc Plattkó also known Franz Platko Kopiletz, Francisco Platko , also known as Ferenc Platko or Francisco Platko, was a Hungarian footballer and manager...
.
His final presidency ended in controversial circumstances and personal tragedy. On 24 June 1925, FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
fans jeered the Spanish national anthem and then applauded God Save the Queen
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
performed by a visiting British Royal Marine
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
band. The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...
accused Gamper of promoting Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism or Catalanism , is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence of Catalonia....
. Les Corts
Camp de Les Corts
Camp de Les Corts , commonly referred to as Les Corts, was a sports stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home ground for FC Barcelona until the club moved to the Camp Nou in 1957....
was closed for six months. Gamper committed suicide after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems and was laid to rest on the Cemetery of Montjuïc.
Epilogue
In 1966 the FC BarcelonaFC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
president, Enric Llaudet
Enric Llaudet
Enric Llaudet Ponsa was a Catalan businessman and sports leader who chaired FC Barcelona between 1961 and 1968.-Biography:...
, created the Joan Gamper Trophy
Joan Gamper Trophy
The Joan Gamper Trophy or Joan Gamper Cup is an annual friendly football competition held in August, before the start of Spanish club FC Barcelona's La Liga season. The competition is hosted by FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium and is named in honour of Joan Gamper, a founding member, player,...
in his honour. This is a pre-season tournament featuring international teams as guests and is traditionally used by the club to unveil the team for the forthcoming season.
Winterthur Group
AXA Winterthur is a multinational insurance company. The original company named Winterthur was founded in Winterthur, Switzerland, in 1875. Until June 2006, Winterthur was a Credit Suisse subsidiary. Now, Paris-based AXA Insurance has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Winterthur...
, a Swiss insurance company with offices in Barcelona since 1910, became sponsors of the FC Barcelona basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team, which led to the team featuring the birthplace of Gamper on their shirts and in their name Winterthur FCB
FC Barcelona Bàsquet
FC Barcelona Bàsquet, known as FC Barcelona Regal for sponsorship reasons, is a Spanish professional basketball club. It is part of the FC Barcelona sports club and was founded on August 24, 1926 which makes it the oldest club in Liga ACB. The club competes in the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto...
until 2007, after Winterthur Group was purchased by AXA
AXA
AXA S.A. is a French global insurance group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries. The AXA group of companies engage in life, health and other forms of...
. Perhaps this and the fact that the club developed into a polideportivo, the very personification of Gamper, is the most fitting tribute to this all-round sportsman. Today Barcelona is "more than just a football club". It promotes amateur track and field sports and has rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and cycling teams. All of these were sports played by Gamper. Barça also has professional basketball, handball and roller hockey teams as well as amateur indoor football, women's football, volleyball, baseball and field hockey teams. Over the years they have even had an ice hockey team.
Trophies won by club during Joan Gamper presidency
- Copa del ReyCopa del ReyThe Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
(3):- 1911-12, 1912-1913, 1924-1925