The Penya Barcelonista Villaverde was founded on June 7, 1955, with the arrival of Ramón Alberto Villaverde to FC Barcelona in the 1954-55 season. After years of playing and training players around the football pitches of the Sant Martí district (as they did not have their own pitch), in 1997 they decided to move to the Horta-Guinardó district, where they reached an agreement with the CD Penitents entity.
Both clubs had in common the training and education of players between the ages of 5 and 19, and this was the reason for their merger on July 17, 1998. From that day on, the Penya Barcelonista Villaverde-Penitents started to play at the Penitents Municipal Facilities, located in a privileged place in the Collserola mountain range, at the foot of the Tibidabo Mountain. Due to its location, almost daily they were visited by wild boars that came down from the mountain, and finally the rapport between the facility and the boars was such that this animal was adopted as the official mascot of the club. That is why many clubs know it as the wild boar.
Football reference in its neighborhood
Unfortunately, nature was degrading the football field until it became impracticable, and it was then that the neighborhood of Sant Genís dels Agudells, where the football field was located, fought very hard against the City Council to get it fixed or make a new facility for the neighborhood. It was not easy, but after many years, in May 2017, the City Council gave them the new Municipal Sant Genís facility, located at 9-19 Samaria Street within the same neighborhood.
More than 20 years after the merger, the club is at its best with 16 teams from U-7 to U-18 category, with a school included. To provide a team for these players when they finish the U-18 category, the Penya Barcelonista Villaverde-Penitents has a sponsorship agreement with Sant Genís-Penitents CD to incorporate them. The Penya Barcelonista Villaverde-Penitents is not just any entity; it is a neighborhood club where every child, regardless of their quality, social or economic situation, has a place to practice football. There is also room for children from foster homes or immigrants in situations of exclusion.
History of Sant Genís dels Agudells
Sant Genís dels Agudells is a neighborhood in the Horta-Guinardó district of the city of Barcelona, currently bounded by the Ronda de Dalt, the Arrabassada road and the Vall d’Hebron Social Security Health City. It is located on the slopes of the Collserola mountain range and was one of the initial parishes of the plan of Barcelona: the act of endowment of the parish was on July 4, 931. From 1359, it became dependent on the monastery of Vall d’Hebron.
Socially, it is a small residential neighborhood very well served by public transport with two subway lines and seven bus lines. By car, it can be accessed through exit 5 of the Ronda de Dalt and along the Paseo del Vall d’Hebrón. It has large green and landscaped spaces, a football field, municipal market, several supermarkets, stores and offices of three banks, as well as the Official Language School and a public school. The San Rafael Hospital and the Vall d’Hebron Health Residence are located in the same neighborhood. Sant Genís also has a Civic Center and a Senior Citizens’ Center.
As places of interest, we can highlight the Church of Sant Genís dels Agudells, which was founded in 931, although the present building dates from 1571. In 1359, it became dependent on the monastery of Sant Jeroni del Vall d’Hebron, but with its disappearance it was attached to the parish of Sant Joan d’Horta (1867). It is remarkable the cemetery that still exists next to the church, the only one that remains within the urban area of the city and that is not owned by the municipality. Several illustrious people have been and are buried there, such as Manuel Carrasco y Formiguera, a militant of the Democratic Union of Catalonia, shot in Burgos in 1938, who in 2001 was transferred to the cemetery of Montjuic. It should be remembered that Manuel Carrasco y Formiguera was the father of the former president of FC Barcelona Raimon Carrasco y Azemar.
