Josep Samitier was the promoter of the Penya Solera in 1944, when he returned to Barça to take charge of the bench. The prodigal son’s return could not have gone better, as FC Barcelona won the league title for the second time in 16 years.
The Golden Age Barça star’s passion for the supporters’ clubs had already been with him since the intense 1920s, when he had no problem sharing the post-match celebrations with penyes and its members. No wonder, then, that they adored him. One of them was the Penya Ben Fets, which, as an article in La Vanguardia of 6 February 1926 shows, had a great bond and complicity with the player:
“The night before last, the expected banquet was held at the Hotel Colón, with which the enthusiastic members of FC Barcelona’s penya Ben Fets wanted to show the great Sami their affection and admiration for his extraordinary performances on the pitch”.
The naturalness with which the players lived this condition of being part of the Club led them to events like these, where the team’s top player would dine with the penya members as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Just like today…
The relationship with Penya Esportiva Blaugrana
There is not much information about another supporters’ club: the Penya Esportiva Blaugrana. In any case, according to an article in La Vanguardia of 27 May 1927, we can see that it was created that same season and was very dynamic, as can be seen in a report in Mundo Deportivo:
“The novel and active Penya Esportiva Blau-Grana has among other projects of immediate realisation that of calling a competition of caricatures of José Samitier. The aim of this competition is none other than to pay homage to this exceptional player and at the same time honorary president of this sports association. The caricature that wins the first prize will occupy the corresponding place in the meeting room of this supporters’ club. The rules of the competition will be published in due course”.
We are talking about a cultural or artistic initiative that we are not aware of in any current penya, taking into account the numerous events of all kinds that penyes, federations and Confederation develop. It is clear that history also opens up avenues for a similar initiative.
Great activity, linked to the team’s successes
The fact that Samitier agreed to be the honorary president of this penya, together with the link of this great reference in Barça’s history with many others, gives a firm and clear explanation of his passion for supporters’ clubs. This would undoubtedly lead him to create, as we have mentioned, and together with his friend Jaume Ramon, the Penya Solera in 1944.
On the other hand, it is also worth noting the fact that the caricature was hung in the “meeting room” of the penya, which proves that those entities of the 1920s also had their own premises. These are further proof of their enormous activity in that marvellous decade of the first football team, known as the Golden Age of FC Barcelona. Not in vain, it is considered the second best in history, evidently behind the one we Barcelonistas experienced not too many years ago.
