Three members of a family as Barcelona-based as the Montals, with two presidents of the club in the family tree; the Barça delegate since 1986; the voice that the public has heard over the public address system since 2016; the person in charge of maintenance; the former manager of the changing room tunnel who became famous without him looking for him at all and a masseur who made an era and who in turn succeeded his father. Given the farewell this afternoon to the Camp Nou with the match against Mallorca, 'La Vanguardia' has collected the testimony of eight people closely linked to the stadium that has been the home of Barcelona and Barcelona since 1957. Anecdotes, memories, emotions , illusions, hobbies and passions are amalgamated in this journey through different very particular visions of what the field located in the Les Corts neighborhood has meant in their lives. A journey through 66 years of history that is temporarily halted due to the construction of the new Camp Nou.
“The Camp Nou is my second home. Before moving our offices to the Ciutat Esportiva he was always there, he did everything there, he spent the day inside the premises. This goodbye brings me all kinds of memories, memories of more than half a century. When I was eight years old, my godmother aunt made me a member and took me to soccer. It was 1963. As a delegate I made my debut with Terry Venables at a difficult time because we had just lost the final of the European Cup in Seville (1986). I hope that when we return in November 2024 the essence of our audience, its spirit, will be maintained, even though the facility is more modern. The public has been changing with society, before the cards were passed from parents to children and grandchildren much more, now it is broader, there are not only members, tourists have come and it is normal, everything is changing. No footballer has told me that he didn't want to go out and play or that he was afraid of going to the Camp Nou. On the contrary, there have been players who have given me positive premonitions and which have later come true. Not so much in the sense of saying 'I will score so many goals', but rather 'I have very good feelings today'. The easy and fast thing is to stay with the victories, with the titles, with the good afternoon, but I prefer above all the familiarity, with the camaraderie, with the personal relationship with soccer players, with coaches, with the workers. It has been and is the day to day of my life. Without a doubt, my great dream would be to inaugurate the new Camp Nou as a delegate. It would be awesome."
“The first time I was at the Camp Nou it was with my father in the north goal in some locations that left us. He would say that it was a Barça-Atlético de Madrid. Johan Cruyff was the coach, so it must have been in 1988 or 1989. I was lucky because my first memories as a fan at the Camp Nou were with the dream team. For me, the stadium is a mixture of feelings, illusion, passion, profession, memories and emotions now that the last day is coming. To my predecessor, Manel Vich, I would say that his line of elegance, sobriety, and institutional patina is maintained. I am not like him, obviously, but I would tell him that we always try to maintain his legacy. The entertainer does have a more strident tone, but then I, when it comes to singing the line-ups and changes, I maintain the usual tone at the Camp Nou. I have been the speaker since 2016 and the most exciting game since then was the comeback against PSG. Crazy. Then I also remember all the prolegomena of the game on October 1, 2017 against Las Palmas that ended up being played behind closed doors or the games without an audience during the pandemic, in which we tried to keep everything as usual, but we listened to what the fans were saying. players and coaches. When I took office, Andrés Iniesta, always very friendly, had a very relaxed conversation with me at the Ciutat Esportiva. He had been captain for a short time and he wanted to have that detail with me ”.
“I was a ten-year-old boy when, in 1960, my brother took me to the recently built Camp Nou for the first time. It was to see a Barça-Madrid. I was able to see mythical figures like Ramallets, Kocsis, Luis Suárez or Di Stéfano play, among others. Who was going to tell me then that I would end up working there for so many years? In 1978 I began to collaborate until I became responsible for the pitch, television set-up, changing rooms, tunnel and mixed zone. From the beginning I was excited to go to the Estadi for the games. I would arrive a few hours before and leave a few hours later. My life began to be governed by the Barça calendar. I got involved until in the end I was at the Camp Nou all day and every day. My position on the exit ladder to the field was not to watch the game, but to deal with any incident. Because you have to take into account that between the game rectangle and where the stands start there is an average of 150 people including cameras, technicians, interviewers, ball boys, photographers, security, maintenance... You have to try not to interfere with each other. Still, on magical nights we all vibrated. Like in the comeback against PSG with Sergi Roberto's last goal. What a rush of collective joy! From the grass, in my position, the design of the open stands is in the shape of an opening flower, which adds to the feeling of grandeur and majesty. My job was to be invisible, but suddenly, without looking for it, one day the finger in the eye thing happened. I did not like the repercussion that I acquired. Visiting teams, including players and even managers, wanted to be photographed with me. Over time it has become a pleasant anecdote.
“I have been a member since I was 16 years old. My number is 994. The first time I went to Camp Nou I did it as a hockey player. I was a youth and I was part of the Camp Nou parade with my team. The field was full of people, but also athletes. It was an opening act with the symbology of Francoism, but at least we danced a sardana. The Montjuïc fountains colored the water blue and scarlet days before. They gave us a coin with the Barcelona shield that I still have. It was my father, Agustí Montal i Galobart, who bought the land to build the Camp Nou. I remember his tenure very intense and difficult due to Francoism. And that of my brother Agustí Montal i Costa, who also inaugurated the Palau Blaugrana, was also difficult. My brother dared to introduce Catalan into the public address system at the Camp Nou. One day he announced the line-ups in Catalan and the next day the civil governor called him and scolded him. The most intense matches were undoubtedly the classics. I was going with a whistle to the field. I suffered a lot. There was no one to stop Paco Gento. I remember that Olivella was the footballer who marked him and the poor man had a hard time. It was difficult to beat that Madrid. I always remember that two days after I got married in 1966 a classic was played. I was going on my honeymoon with my wife to Italy by car, but we were listening to the game. They did not whistle the end until Madrid tied when 15 minutes of time had passed. I still go to watch the games. My favorite player will always be Kubala. Now I really like how Xavi trains. We plan to go to Montjuïc”.
“Barça has always been part of my life. At 86 years old, I presume to have the lowest member number of all my brothers, 192. We used to go to see the games near the box with my mother and my brothers. Sunday afternoons were for the Camp Nou, a stadium with a lot of life and that has witnessed great football moments, but also historical moments for Catalonia. It began as a project for friends and family that allowed you to identify with Catalan culture in a really difficult time like the Franco regime. Barça marked the way, it was the instrument that opened many doors for the Catalans. My father, Agustí Montal i Galobart, bought the land and I remember that it was difficult. He fought a lot so that Barcelona had a large field that would allow him to be respected and grow. He made her happy to carry out that project despite the difficulties. He defended Catalan culture a lot, but he also brought Kubala because he thought he could learn a lot from people from abroad, from his football and from his way of seeing things. Then my brother's mandate came, which was not easy either because he insisted on recovering Catalan in membership cards and in official communications. He always believed in what his Barça had to be. The Barça in which I grew up has nothing to do with the one we see now. The hobby has changed a lot. There are many tourists and obviously it moves much more money than before. Now I don't go to the Camp Nou much because I'm older, but I still enjoy the games on TV”.
“My member number is 7,894. I am 64 years old and one year ago, specifically on May 23, 2022, I received the gold badge for my 50 years as a member. It is an act that made me very excited. I was moved to meet again with partners and partners that I had not seen for a long time. In the end, they are people you have met in the stadium of your life and with whom you have shared defeats and triumphs. I have experienced many things at the Camp Nou, a stadium that is very impressive due to its grandeur. I remember when I was a little girl, I felt very small every time I went. Especially the first time. I was eight years old. It always struck me that there were few women. My father, Agustí Montal i Costa, is remembered for being responsible for Johan Cruyff signing for Barça. But what many people are unaware of is that under his mandate he allowed girls to play soccer starting in 1970. He was well aware that much progress had to be made in this regard. He would be very happy to see that there is now a women's football team playing at the Camp Nou. My most special moment? Ugh, I have lived many inside the stadium. But perhaps I prefer the one I experienced in March 2017 when the entire stadium dedicated a minute of silence to my father. That day we played against Sevilla. Half an hour was enough for Barça to get rid of Sevilla (3-0). Luis Suárez opened the scoring and Leo Messi scored two more goals”.
When I was little I lived on Calle Vallespir and next to it was the field of Les Corts. This was very familiar. My father already worked at Barcelona and everyone at the club knew me. In addition, in the stadium facilities there was a house where a married couple lived. I would ring the bell and ask them: 'Can I come in?' And I would go in to play and shoot. It was that simple. When they said that Barcelona was moving, it seemed to me that we were going to the end of the world. It was a blow for me, who had everything at hand. I knew the land where the Camp Nou was located from having once walked through there and that was all agricultural fields. Later, when we saw the magnitude of the works, we were impressed. Bulldozers and trucks dwarfed within the expanse of the zone. When we saw the structure of the building, immense, we understood that the change was to be able to enjoy it better. In 1973 I started working for the first team and I have experienced many things at the Camp Nou. I have worked very comfortably there, living on the front line of fire. It's hard to choose. But I can say that there is a virtue that the Estadi had: what the fans felt, the explosion of joy in European Cup matches or that they were worth a League or the rush for a game that went 0-0, they transmitted it to them immediately to the player and to those who were close. It has been a very lively stadium, full of emotions. I haven't been at the club for 17 years now, but I live near the Camp Nou and I've continued going to the matches because I have some seats and I go with my wife or a friend. In the end, I have been more at the stadium than at home. And that in its day it seemed to me that we were going to the end of the world ”.
“I started working as head of maintenance at the Camp Nou in 1977, coinciding with the last year of Agustí Montal i Costa. I was in charge of keeping the Camp Nou in good condition. Open the doors on game days, but above all keep it well during the week so that it was ready when the team played. During all these years I have been in charge of fixing the leaks, the broken or worn seats, and also the accesses. I also supervised access 14 and the Barcelona Supporter Service Office. After President Montal I stayed to continue working with Presidents Josep Lluís Núñez, Joan Gaspart, Enric Reyna, Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu. I always felt valued by all of them. I retired four years ago, in 2019. It was an emotional goodbye, I take with me many memories of the club and the people who have been part of its history. What the members thanked me the most for was the installation of the transparent methacrylate plates in the third tier in 2016 to isolate the supporters of the rival teams. There were always complaints because there were hobbies that threw cans, bottles, bags of food and even chewing gum. A group of 200 partners went to see the Síndic del Soci, who called me, and I looked for the formula to solve it. I found some retractable methacrylate modules. Their installation gives the club the possibility of extending them throughout the third tier depending on the needs and the number of seats that are intended to be protected. It was a success. There were no more complaints and the visibility was still perfect. I have always been very cool. I will miss coming to the old Camp Nou”.
