Barca

Just finished this great read about one of the biggest football clubs – although I see they lost in Europe this evening, to “Rubin Kazan”. Wow!

The book is an amazing read. I knew there was a bit of history to a club like Barca. I also knew s a bit of Catalan patriotism contributed to this. What I didn’t understand was the history of the club within the context of the Spanish civil war, fuelling the Real Madrid rivalry. fuelled

But what about some of the stars – Cryuff, Lineker, Archibald, Maradonna, Ronaldo – not to mention Deco, Messi, Henry and Puyol. A bit before my time, but the author raves about Samitter and Sunyol.

You live and learn, but Barca were managed by Irishman Patrick O’Connell in the 1930’s – part of a pretty impressive list of managers over the years.

I’d recommend the read – great for footy fans, but a nice bit of context thrown in with Spanish civil war.