JOSEP SUNYOL, PRESIDENT OF FCB AND FCF, IS MURDERED

Today is a sad day for FC Barcelona family. They pay tribute and remember Josep Sunyol i Garriga, the president of Futbol Club Barcelona who was murdered by francoist troops on a day like today in 1936, and whose body has never been recovered like thousands and thousands of victims of the Spanish Civil War, who are still waiting for justice and reparation almost eighty nine years later. We continue working for this recognition, and we won't stop until the last victim has been recovered, brought to his/her family, buried with dignity and honoured.

The Grandma wants to talk about Josep Sunyol i Garriga, who also was an important Catalan politician, and the president of the Catalan Football Federation.

Josep Sunyol i Garriga (21 July 1898, Barcelona-6 August 1936, Sierra de Guadarrama) was a Catalan lawyer, journalist and politician. 

He was president of FC Barcelona, a prominent politician for the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), and ERC deputy in the Congress of Deputies in 1931, 1933 and 1936.

Sunyol came from both a wealthy family and a long line of Catalan political militants. He was a member of Acció Catalana, a left-wing group and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya.

In 1928, he became a director of FC Barcelona and in 1930 he founded the left-wing newspaper La Rambla, which opposed the Primo de Rivera regime.

In 1931, he was elected to the Cortes as an ERC deputy. He was subsequently re-elected in 1933 and 1936.

He served as president of both the Reial Automòbil Club de Catalunya (RACC) and the Federació Catalana de Futbol (FCF).

In 1935, he was elected president of FC Barcelona.

On 6 August 1936, during the early days of the Spanish Civil War, Sunyol was arrested by Francoist troops in the Sierra de Guadarrama and was then murdered by one of Franco's soldiers.

A memorial stone to Sunyol was placed in a park nearby the location he was killed, and Sunyol is now described as the Martyr President by FC Barcelona.

More information: FCBarcelona

To speak of sport is to speak of race, enthusiasm, 
and the optimistic struggle of youth.

Josep Sunyol