More Than a Sport, it’s a Religion

While traveling to three different cities in Spain I was blessed to see some of the most interesting architecture, cultures, and people I have ever seen before. Of all of the new and interesting things I was hallowed to see in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid, the most interesting and eye opening experience I had was the Football Club Barcelona’s stadium.

I am from Columbus, Ohio, arguably the college football capital of the world. I have spent many Saturday afternoons in my life in Ohio Stadium, better known as “The Horseshoe”, which holds over 102,000 people. Before traveling to Barcelona I would argue that American football in Columbus is more than a sport, it’s a religion. After touring around the F.C. Barcelona stadium, I can safely say that American football in Columbus as a religion is dwarfed compared to soccer as a religion to the people of Barcelona.

Barcelona’s stadium is by far the largest soccer stadium in Europe, holding just under 100,000 people. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing stadiums I have ever seen, with lush green grass, colored seats which fit the colors of the team (blue, red, and yellow), and a beautiful locker room with perfectly polished floors, showers, and hot tubs.

http://www.stadiumguide.com/noucamp.htm

Before touring around the stadium, my friends Dave, Brian, Kathleen and I weren’t sure if it would be worth traveling all the way across the city through 10 train stops and pay 17 Euro for admission just to see a stadium. We asked ourselves, “Would it really be worth so much time and trouble just to see another stadium? It wouldn’t be anything we haven’t seen before.” The stadium was built outside of the city center, nowhere close to La Rambla. It was built in 1956 on the outskirts of the city, well outside where the medieval city wall used to be located. The stadium is so large that it had to be built on the far end of the city because there simply was not enough room to put the giant mass in the middle of the city. Luckily we were also traveling with Taylor, a big soccer buff who said he wouldn’t leave Barcelona until he saw the giant sports ground.

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/maps/barcelona-map.html

The tour started in the locker rooms, which are the most refined set of lockers I have ever laid my eyes on. We quickly went on with the tour which took us directly to the playing grounds. The grass was so flourishing I felt I could use the grass as a bed. The tour then took us up into the stadium seats, and then up into a press box which holds over 300 people. While up in the press box, previous recordings of announcers calling soccer games was being played. Clips of these recordings were in all different languages from Spanish to Catalan, and even in English, showing how important the sport is to the people in Barcelona. The tour then concluded by taking us into a long hallway which played numerous video clips of past F.C. Barcelona games. Considering I am not a huge soccer fan, it is necessary to say that these clips were so intense I had goosebumps the entire 15 minutes I was watching them. The clips consisted of goals, saves and roaring crowds which sounded louder than standing next to an airplane with all its engines on. From this point on I could truly see how soccer was more than a sport to the people of Barcelona, it is a religion.

Similarly to how the Catalan language helps differentiate the people of Barcelona compared to people from Valencia or Madrid, I would argue that soccer in Barcelona equally defines them as a people. If you are from Barcelona and you do not cheer for their football club, you are a foreigner to the Catalans. In our readings in Geography, it has been mentioned a few times how Catalans view themselves as their own nation rather than being a part of a Spanish nation. This can be seen through the Football Club Barcelona. In Barcelona the Catalan people view F.C. Barca as their national team and value this team above any other including the Spanish national team. Their soccer club even has players who are not from Barcelona or even Spain as a whole nation such as Lionel Messi and Theirry Henry. Even these players who are not natives are still viewed as natives and seen as one of Barcelona’s own, which can’t be said of some people who were even born in the Catalan region. In the seats of the stadium in yellow letters it reads “Mes Que Un Club” which means “more than a club”. This holds true to the people in Barcelona. F.C. Barcelona is more than a club; it’s a way of life: a religion.