On June 14, 1925 he was recorded as one of the most transcendent episodes in the history of FC Barcelona. That Sunday was a friendly in the field of Les Corts between Barça —Centh Champion of Spain – and CE Jupiter, a team of strong labor and Catalan roots that came from winning the Spanish B. The meeting was organized in tribute to Orfeó Català for the success of his artistic tour in Roma. In the box of authorities, together with Joan Gamper, There were two heavyweights of the regionalist Lliga: Francesc Cambó and Joan Ventosa i Calvell.e
A tense context
The context was tense and dark. Since September 1923, El País lived under the dictatorship of the general Miguel Primo de Rivera. The freedoms were cut and any symbol of Catalan – including senyera and language – had been prohibited by a royal decree on separatism. In this climate of repression, Barça became a symbolic refuge of many citizens who felt orphans of political representation. The authorities knew it, and waited for any pretext to act against the club.
The spark
That pretext came at the break of the game. When a band of British sailors, invited to interpret the hymns, played the real march, much of the 14,000 attendees responded with whistles and boos. The musicians, baffled, believed that it was a criticism of their execution. But the misunderstanding was dissipated when the “God Save the King”, which was received with a closed ovation. It was, in reality, a spontaneous act of protest against the dictatorship, a popular expression of desire for freedom rather than a rejection of the Spanish nation.
The regime reaction
The answer was swift. On June 24, the civil governor of Barcelona, Joaquin Milans of the Boschsuspended FC Barcelona for six months. He claimed that in the club “there were individuals who commune with ideas contrary to the good of the country.” A day before the Orfeó Catalàalthough this sanction was raised in October. The punishment especially reached Joan Gamper, who was forced to resign and leave exile in Switzerland. He was forbidden to maintain any future relationship with the club. Suffering from personal, economic and mental health problems, Gamper entered a spiral that would end his suicide five years later.
The useless defense
Nine days before the punishment, Barça tried, without success, avoid the sanction. In a letter to Milans of the Bosch, the directive claimed that the club could not take responsibility for the behavior of the public in a show open to the general public. It was useless. For half a year, the club was paralyzed. Joan Coma assumed the presidency interim and the scarce meetings of the Board were monitored by a government delegate. At that time, there were hardly any institutional or sports activity.
Become proscribed
FC Barcelona was practically out of the law. On August 3, a neighbor from Sabadell named Emili Bragulat was arrested for wearing a club's badge in La Rambla. The anecdote reflects the level of repression to which it had been reached. However, the entity resisted thanks to its social roots. The 10,000 partners maintained their quotas and there were less casualties than in normal times. Even people outside the football made donations as a form of protest against the dictatorship. The Jover bank opened an account 5,000 pesetas to help the club, and no player left the team.
The return
On December 17, 1925, once the sanction was fulfilled, the aristocrat Arcadi Balaguer – a friend of King Alfonso XIII – was appointed new president. With him, Barça was well seen by the authorities. Five days later, the team came back in Les Corts.
The tribute that arrived six years later
With the arrival of the Second Republic, The weather had changed. On June 21, 1931, Barça was finally able to pay tribute to the Orfeó Català as he had wanted in 1925. During the rest of a friendly against Zaragoza, a parchment and a bond for his flag was delivered. The text, work of artists and partners Utrillo and Joan M. Guasch, recovered the spirit of that frustrated tribute:
“Today in Catalonia, art and sport are two twin columns that raise the invisible flag of the homeland to heaven. (…) You singing and we playing, we work day and night for the glory of a race. (…) For today's victory, for tomorrow's fight, FC Barcelona wants to live on your side.”
