Josep Llobet (1875 – 1937) was a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender and midfielder for FC Barcelona between 1899 and 1904. He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of FC Barcelona, being among the 12 founders of the club in 1899, and then serving Barça as a player for six years, featuring in the club's first-ever match and winning the

1901–02 Copa Macaya The 1901–02 Copa Macaya was the 2nd staging of the Copa Macaya. This tournament is best known for being the very first trophy won by the Spanish club FC Barcelona. The competition was held on the road between 22 December 1901 and ended on 12 Marc ...

, which was the club's first-ever official title. In addition to football, he also practiced other modalities such as fencing and sailing, belonging to the ''Club Regatas de Barcelona'', and in his civilian life, he was a pharmaceutical representative.

Early life

Josep Llobet was born in 1875 as the child of Josep Llobet i Vilaclara and Madrona Llobet i Mateu. The parents had 12 children and lived in Palau Llobet, which stood on . He married Juanita Gaitx in 1915, when he was 40 and she was 19, and the couple had nine children: Josep Maria, Joana, Concepció, Juli, Núria, Miquel, Maria Rosa, Jordi, and Luís. The family residence stood in Sant Pere. Along with

Luis de Ossó Luis de Ossó Serra (17 October 1876 - 1 February 1931) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona. He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of FC Barcelona, being among the 12 founders of the ...

, he was a member of the ''Club Regatas de Barcelona'', serving together on the ship ''Colón'' and taking part in countless sailing races together. He also liked fencing,

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, and shooting, so he regularly participated in these competitions as well.

Playing career

1899–1900 season

Llobet was one of the twelve men who attended the historic meeting held at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November 1899 which saw the birth of Football Club Barcelona. Ten days after its foundation, on 8 December, Llobet went down in history as one of the ten footballers who played in Barcelona's official debut, played at the

Velódromo de la Bonanova The Velódromo de la Bonanova was a sports venue in the city of Barcelona, Spain. It was the first velodrome in the city, although it was located in the neighboring municipality of San Gervasio, which in 1897 was annexed to the Catalan capital. L ...

against a team known as ''

Team Anglès Team Anglès or English Colony Team, was a football scratch team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed only during the year 1900, playing a total of four friendly matches against the likes of FC Barcelona and Català FC. The team mainly consist ...

'', which consisted of members of the British colony living in Barcelona. However, he did not often play in the following matches, preferring to play with the second team which was created in 1900 by Ossó. With the club's subsidiary team which was mainly made up of Catalans, Ossó participated in marginal and less important games and won prestigious trophies such as Concurso Pergamí and the

Medalla del Ayuntamiento The 1902 Medal of the Spanish Gymnastics Federation also referred to simply as Medalla de la Federació and Medalla del Ayuntamiento was a football competition that was held in Barcelona between February and June 1902. The first edition used the le ...

, which were organized by the Spanish Gymnastics Federation. Between 1901 and 1907, Llobet was a member of the board as the club's treasurer (1901–02 and 1903–05), vocal (1902–03), and on 6 October 1905, he was also elected vice-president, a position which he held until 1907. In total, Llobet made 54 appearances for Barça; 50 in

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

and only four in official competitive matches; scoring a total of six goals, all in friendlies.

1900–1901 season

Llobet made his official competitive debut for the club's first team on 14 April 1901, starting in the last match of the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the

Copa Macaya The Hispania Athletic Club Tournament–Alfonso Macaya Cup, popularly known as the Copa Macaya, was a football competition contested by clubs from Catalonia which ran from 1900 until 1903, disappearing at the same time of its organizers, Hispania ...

, which would decide the winner of the tournament between FC Barcelona and Hispania AC, with the latter only needing a draw to win it, which they did after holding Barça to a 1–1 draw.

1901–1902 season

In the following season, Llobet made two official appearances, the first of which was in the opening match of the

against

Club Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

on 22 December 1901, thus being part of the squad that ended up winning the tournament; the club's first-ever official title. The Copa Macaya is now recognized as the first Catalan championship. When Barcelona participated in the very first national tournament played in Spain, the

1902 Copa de la Coronación The 1902 Copa de la Coronación was a football competition in honour of the coronation of Alfonso XIII of Spain. The Royal Spanish Football Federation does not recognize it as the first season of the Copa del Rey, which began the following year. ...

, the club struggled with organizing the trip to Madrid since not all of its first team players could go, so they had to include members of the second team such as

Luis Puelles Luis Puelles Pàmies (1877 – Unknown) was a Spanish footballer who played as a Goalkeeper and defender for FC Barcelona. He played an important role in the conquest of Barça's first official titles, the 1901–02 Copa Macaya, which was the clu ...

Alfonso Albéniz Alfonso Albéniz Jordana (11 September 1885 – 27 September 1941) was a Spanish footballer and referee, as well as a renowned chemical engineer, lecturer and later a diplomat. He is best known for being the first-ever player to play for both F ...

, and Llobet. In the semifinals on 13 May, Llobet went down in history as one of the eleven footballers who played in the very first El Clásico in history, which ended in a 3–1 win to the Catalans; Barça lost the final 2–1 to Bizcaya.

1902–1903 season

At the start of the 1902–03 season, Barcelona was lacking multiple first-team players for unclear reasons, so they had to include members of the second team such as Albert Almasqué, Puelles, and Llobet, with each of them playing in all five matches held in November 1902, including in the opening match of the

1902–03 Copa Macaya Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

on 30 November against Hispania AC. Barça won the match 2–0, but the result was later declared invalid due to Barça's irregularities in the lineup of foreign players, so they withdrew from the tournament in protest. With the return of the missing first-team players, the role of Almasqué, Puelles, and Llobet was once again reduced to sporadic appearances, mostly in friendlies.

Later career

Llobet made his last official competitive appearance in a Catalan championship match against Espanyol on 24 April 1904, which ended in a 4–4 draw. He played his last match for Barcelona, official or otherwise, on 26 September 1906.

Death

Llobet died of a heart attack in 1937, at the age of either 61 or 62 years. A great-nephew of his became mayor of

Lloret de Mar Lloret de Mar (; ) is a Mediterranean coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. It is south of Girona and northeast of Barcelona. With a population of 38,402 in 2021, it is the second largest town in the Selva comarca of Catalonia. Lloret de Mar attra ...

, the town where Joan Gamper used to spend his

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

s, precisely at the home of another Josep Llobet who married, in a second marriage, one of Gamper's nieces.

Honours

FC Barcelona *

: ** Champions: 1901–02 * Copa de la Coronación ** Runner-up:

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llobet, Josep 1875 births 1937 deaths Spanish men's footballers FC Barcelona players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Barcelona People from Barcelona