The Penya Sagi Barba is an entity that in 1932 had a powerful football team and organized anniversaries, dances and all kinds of social events. It was a sports and social penya that, with all its activities, brought together a large number of FC Barcelona members. According to La Vanguardia of January 9, 1932, the Penya Sagi Barba celebrated its first anniversary with a ball at the Ocell de Foc, where, among other things, “the ladies were presented with perfumery objects”.
Who was Sagi Barba?
We can consider the Sagi family as one of the most prominent in the history of FC Barcelona. Leaving aside Anna Maria Martínez Sagi, the first female board member of the Club and also sister and cousin of two FC Barcelona players (and before focusing on one of these two players), this Catalan family of sportsmen or relevant characters in many fields of society, sport or culture deserves a special mention.
To begin with, we go back to the world of music; specifically, to the famous Catalan baritone Emili Sagi Barba. He was married to the dancer Concepción Liñan and, while touring Argentina in 1900, they had their son Emili Sagi Liñan. Back in Barcelona, he immediately joined the Club’s youth teams and made his debut with the first team in 1916. He played a total of 509 games for FC Barcelona and scored 142 goals.
He played for Barça in two stages. The first, between 1916 and 1919, when he gave up football to get married and dedicate himself to his studies. His family never stopped traveling due to his father’s profession, so Emili was born in Argentina and returned at the age of three. During his childhood he had friends like Salvador Dalí or Josep Samitier, with whom, as they explain, he used to play soccer during his vacations in Cadaqués.
In 1921, Emili Sagi Liñan put on his boots again and remained at the Club until 1932, although he still played some friendly matches afterwards. During his career in the blaugrana shirt -the only one he wore-, he helped win 10 Catalan Championships, four Spanish Championships and one Spanish League.
A prolific family
From his father’s second marriage, his younger brother Lluís Sagi Vela was also an outstanding baritone, while his nephews Gonzalo Sagi-Vela, José Luís Sagi-Vela and Alfonso Sagi-Vela were outstanding basketball players. Another nephew, Emilio Sagi, son of his brother Enric, was a stage director and directed the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.
His son Víctor Sagi was a prominent publicist and pre-candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona in 1978, where he obtained more signatures than any other pre-candidate. Mysteriously, he withdrew his candidacy a few weeks before the elections. It should also be said that Sagi Barba was the great-grandfather of the Catalan actor and singer Bruno Oro, famous for his gags in the television programs Polonia and Cracovia, among many others.
Two prestigious siblings
But to see the extent of this family, let’s go back to the baritone Emili Sagi Barba and, specifically, to his sister Consuelo Sagi Barba. She had two children who were also related to the world of soccer: Armand Martínez Sagi and Anna Maria Martínez Sagi.
Armand was part of FC Barcelona between 1920 and 1925, where he was a second-tier striker. Born in 1906, he had a very long life until he died in 1997. He was the youngest player to make his debut with the first team, at 14 years 6 months and 16 days, and was also the youngest goalscorer at 14 years 10 months and 7 days. However, with the great competition in that Golden Age forward line, he decided to leave Barça and sign for the Mallorcan club Alfonso XIII. When he left football, he dedicated himself to Fantasy Billiards, a modality in which he was world champion in 1932 and runner-up in 1933.
As for Anna Maria Martínez Sagi, it is worth mentioning that she died in 2000 in a residence in Santpedor. Precisely, in one of the conferences we pointed it out and the authorities of Santpedor took note of it. After making all the checks, they decided to give the name of a street to the woman who, among other things, had been the first female director of FC Barcelona.
