‘Your identity is your most valuable possession.’ Elastigirl (The Incredibles).

Ok, so it’s not exactly a quote from a renowned writer or philosopher. A Pixar created Disney produced computer animated film isn’t where you expect to find the profound but there are meaningful messages in some movies of this genre and some great quotes to go along with the messages.

Identity is important to all of us, our interaction with the world is set by the way it clothes our psyche. An organisation is no different, it has an identity that determines the way it is viewed by the world. For a sporting club its identity is to be found in the kaleidoscopic relationship of its home area and fan-base demographic overlaid with its history of catastrophes and cups. Nowhere is this more the case than with FC Barcelona.

Barça was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper, a Swiss immigrant who along with two other Swiss, two Brits, a German and six Catalans formed the club. From its inception it was bound up with the Catalan identity and underpinned by the republican values of social integration and democracy. The motto ‘More than a club’ coined in 1968 could not be more true. However in the chaos of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath Barça’s identity caused the clubs very existence to be under threat. As the internecine conflict progressed and Franco’s nationalists marched to victory the injuries inflicted on the club grew. Players purged and exiled, club headquarters bombed, club badge and name forcibly changed, military and civil centralist involvement to change the club from being an ‘anti- Spanish’ icon into what the Francoists deemed a ‘model’ Spanish club.

As noted earlier significant events overlay their tone on a club’s ‘geographic’ identity. For Barça one such event, terrible in nature, occurred in 1936. Its then president Josep Sunyol who was also acting as envoy of the catalan parliament was stopped at a checkpoint outside Madrid by Franco’s nationalist militia. Because of his position both as a prominent Catalan and president of a club entwined with the Catalan identity and republican values he was taken from his car and summarily executed.

The club shared in the post war privations doled out to all republican supporting regions. One that perhaps cut the deepest societally, its aim being suppression of regional identity, was that only Castilian Spanish was allowed to be spoken in public. Catalan was forbidden as a language outside the home. In Catalonia the only public place that this law couldn’t be enforced was on the terraces of Barça’s stadiums of the time (Les Corts Stadium initially then the Nou Camp after its construction in 1950) where first 60,000 and then 90,000 people were present and freely able to converse in their native tongue without fear of arrest. There could be no stronger manifestation of a club being home for a regions identity.
As Spain emerged from the Francoist years its regions gained more autonomy. Barça had enjoyed periods of success as well as lean times since the 30’s and most significantly Johan Cryuff had, during the 70s, imbued the club with his vision of how the game should be played. The quick passing style would be how the club was to ply its trade in the future. Despite all of this when Joan Laporta took control in 2003 the club was in dire financial straits. Between 2003 and 2010 they first appointed Frank Rijkaard and then turned down a certain J. Mourinho as new manager and appointed a managerial unknown quantity from its former playing staff called Pep Guardiola. They invested in the famous La Masia academy and produced Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Pique but also indulged in a spot of galactico purchasing in Ronaldinho, Eto’o and Ibrahimovic.

Laporta increased membership by 60% and aligned the club more directly with Catalan separatism, Cruyff was back as an advisor. Unicef were the shirt sponsor but unlike other superpower clubs Barça uniquely payed for the privilege, €7 million, rather than the other way around.

All this and the trophies flowed in as well. Barça truly were ‘mes que un club’ as they wooed the world with their brand of football. They were arguably the best side on the planet.

And if that fleeting blend of altruism and success could have been captured for perpetuity perhaps the perfect blueprint for a football club had been invented, however the river of time flows on.

In 2010 Sandro Rossell became president followed four years later by current incumbent Josep Bartomeu. The club emphasis shifted to financial success and global brand marketing and whilst success on the pitch was desirable (and achieved) the aim was that it wasn’t pre-requisite for success of the club. A more Madrid inspired galactico policy was followed as the talent from La Maisa dried up. The Unicef logo moved to the shirt tail to be replaced on the front by paying sponsors names. Naming rights for an expanded Camp Nou will be sold to the highest bidder and most tellingly the club distanced itself from Catalan separatism, after all those new markets in the far east have their own separatists. Who wants an adoptive football club to be championing a separatist cause back home?

Some are in no doubt that the phrase ‘mas que un club’ has now transformed into a commercial strapline the equivalent of ‘finger lickin’ good’ and the original identity is now present in name only. Bernd Schuster stated ‘Barcelona are a team that are slowly coming to the end’. Cruyff stated ‘Money is secondary. Before anything else there should be principles, values. Barça has lost them’.

Does it matter if Barça set aside their origins and join the cabal of world super clubs like United and inveterate enemies Real? Can they buy a global brand insurance policy against future on-field failure when galactico purchases fail and the La Maisia dry spell turns into a drought?

Will Barça retain a place in Catalan hearts? Certainly but tinged with bitterness at the club’s transformation. Will Bartomeu and those who follow him care? Probably not.