Velódromo De La Bonanova
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The Velódromo de la Bonanova was a sports venue in the city of
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It was the first
velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
in the city, although it was located in the neighboring municipality of Sant Gervasi, which in 1897 was annexed to the Catalan capital. Later it hosted other sports competitions, especially
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, being the very first playing field of
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
. It had a 400-meter stretch of cement with two 120-meter straight lines and two 80-meter banked
cant CANT may refer to: *CANT, a solo project from Grizzly Bear bass guitarist and producer, Chris Taylor. *Cantieri Aeronautici e Navali Triestini CANT (''Cantieri Aeronautici e Navali Triestini'', the Trieste Shipbuilding and Naval Aeronautics; also ...
. The preferred grandstand measured 40 meters and had ten stands. There was also a gallery for the
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
and another for the
press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...
. The central field of grass was used for the practice of various sports, especially football, despite its irregularities, such as potholes and unevenness, and the usual presence of stones and thistles.


Early success

The initiative to build a
velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
in the city of Barcelona was launched for the first time in November 1892 by the magazine "El ciclista", which was the official organ of the Barcelona Society of Velocipedists. On 28 November, all
cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
fans in the city were summoned to a meeting at the "Centro Sport", and those present there formed a Society (Sociedad) for the construction and management of a velodrome. The chosen location for the velodrome was a 500,000 square span of land in Bonanova given that it was well connected to the city center thanks to the Sarrià train, an area which they agreed to purchase. The project was budgeted at 30,000 pesetas, which at the time represented a fortune, but the Society managed to cover such expenses thanks to 400 shares of 100 pesetas from its members and enthusiasts. The inauguration of the venue took place almost a year later, on 24 September 1893, thus coinciding with
La Mercè La Mercè () is the annual festival () of the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast ...
. Several races were held, the first of which was of international nature, and won by Lambrechts. A year later, on 26 July 1894, the cyclist Antonio de Sard set the Spanish record for the fastest hour without a coach, with a mark of 32 km and 415 m in 60 minutes.


Football

After the initial euphoria, the velodrome fell into disuse, which in December 1894 caused its owners to negotiate the rental of the facilities to the ''Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona'', a group of football pioneers in the city led by James Reeves, which was made up of members of the English colony of Barcelona who had been playing the sport of football at
Hippodrome of Can Tunis The Hippodrome of Can Tunis was a sports venue in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Originally an equestrian venue, it's now best remembered as a historic football and aeronautic venue. The Hippodrome of Can Tunis played a pivotal role in the early s ...
and were looking for a place of easier access to the city center. The first football match played in Bonanova took place on 27 January 1895 and was played by 16 players from the Barcelona Football Society divided into two teams: one dressed in blue and the other one in red. From that date on, Sunday football games became a regular event at the velodrome, with cycling races being often interspersed with junior and senior football exhibitions. On 17 March 1895, the crowd filled Bonanova to see the very first matches between teams from two different cities played in Catalonia, which set the Barcelona Football Society up against a team from
Torelló Torelló (, ) is a Spanish municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona, in the Province of Barcelona, Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute ...
(''Torelló Foot-ball Association''), ending in a local victory by 8–3. In addition to Reeves, this group of football pioneers also included
Alberto Serra Alberto Serra Guixà (10 October 1870 – 28 July 1912) was a Spanish football pioneer and sports journalist, who is best known for writing and signing the first chronicle of a FC Barcelona match, which appeared on page 7 of La Vanguardia on 9 Dec ...
, the Parsons brothers (
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
and
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
), the Morris brothers (
Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
and
Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...
), and in Torelló's side, George Cockram and William MacAndrews. Apart from football, the velodrome also hosted
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...
competitions,
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
and
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
matches, organized by the pioneers of said sports in the city. The year 1898 was the last year that the Bonanova velodrome hosted cycling events, which were moved to other venues in the city, such as the new velodrome on Aragó street. Despite this, however, the venue remained known as the Bonanova velodrome, the name that the press kept attributed to it. The venue thus become entirely dedicated to the practice of football, especially when it became the first playing field of the first two clubs officially founded in Barcelona:
Català FC Català Futbol Club, and later Català Sport Club, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed from 1899 until its dissolution in the late 1920s. It was one of the most important entities in the amateur beginnings of football in C ...
and
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
, both from 1899. The members of the Tolosa Gym that founded Català FC began using the ex-velodrome for their rehearsals on 22 October, and a few weeks later, on 8 December, the Bonanova velodrome hosted FC Barcelona's very first game in its history against ''
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 consis ...
'', a team from the English colony, largely made up of members of the defunct Barcelona Football Society, such as the Parsons and the Morris brothers, and new members such as the Witty brothers,
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
and
Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...
, being the former who netted the only goal of the match to seal a 1–0 English victory.


Rivalry between FC Barcelona and Català FC

In the following months, Bonanova witnessed the first great rivalry in
Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and others) as well as many playe ...
between FC Barcelona and Català FC. Being a rental field, Barcelona and Català had to share the velodrome, together with other groups in the city. The first derby between the two teams was played on the
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
of 1899, ending in a Barça victory by 3–1 thanks to a brace from
Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich. ...
, who thus become Barça's first-ever goalscorer, and the other from
Ernest Witty Ernest Witty Cotton was an Anglo-Spanish footballer, tennis player and businessman. In 1899 Witty, a Spanish national tennis champion, became a founding member of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona and in the early 1900s he played football for FC ...
. Despite the existing rivalry, both teams decided to join forces to face ''Team Anglès'' two days later, on 26 December, which ended in a 2–1 win for the Catalan side courtesy of another brace from Gamper. The meeting, which brought together a large number of people in the velodrome, was described by the sports writer
Alberto Serra Alberto Serra Guixà (10 October 1870 – 28 July 1912) was a Spanish football pioneer and sports journalist, who is best known for writing and signing the first chronicle of a FC Barcelona match, which appeared on page 7 of La Vanguardia on 9 Dec ...
as "the best party that sports athletics has organized in this city". The rivalry reached its climax on 11 February 1900, in a match between Barcelona, with eight Englishmen in its eleven, and Catalá, combined with
Escocès FC The Escocès FC, officially founded as Escocés Fútbol Club, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed only during the year 1900, playing a total of ten Exhibition game, friendlies against the likes of FC Barcelona and Català ...
, thus being reinforced with a group of six Scots. The match led to a fistfight between Stanley Harris and
Willie Gold William Gold was a Scottish footballer. He is best known for being the receiver of the very first red card shown in Spanish football. Gold was also a member of the side that won the very first Spanish club to win an official title, the 1900–01 ...
that the
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...
William Mauchan settled with the sending-off of both, an unprecedented event in Catalan and Spanish football. The scandal caused Joan Gamper, Barça's captain in this match, to resign from the position, and his partners agreed not to play again against the Scots of Català. The ex-velodrome was the home ground of FC Barcelona for nine months, until Català reached an agreement with the owners to exclusively rent it, forcing their rivals to move to Hotel Casanovas. Barça played their last match at the Bonanova on 23 September 1900, precisely against Català FC, which was also the first match of the 1900–01 season. The Barcelona team won 3–1 with goals from Gamper and Otto Maier, thus winning the club's first-ever piece of silverware: An art object made of bronze offered by José Canalejas.


Decline and Collapse

Català continued to play in the Bonanova until the end of 1910, the year in which the venue was demolished. The year of the enclosure is unknown. The last reference to its existence is from 1 December 1910, when the newly founded F.B. Lluro acquired the facilities (described as “the former field of Català”) and subsequently requested their entry into the Federation.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velodromo de la Bonanova Defunct football venues in Spain FC Barcelona Football venues in Barcelona Sports venues completed in 1893 Sports venues demolished in 1910