Soccer Politics / The Politics of Football

Pre-Franco History

It is both indicative and misleading that most histories of the rivalry ignore its formative years. Certainly, today’s heated animosity results from Spain’s Francoist era, but the roots of competition are ingrained in Spanish culture. Doubling as a history of both Spain and its soccer, Phil Ball’s Morbo asserts that regional rivalry has always existed within the whole of Spain, thanks to historic centralization policies of Spanish government. As he notes, “Madrid was built on and sustained by the notion of centralization”[i], physically at Spain’s direct center. The city’s location was purely based on such centrist symbolism, as Madrid “has no harbour, it is not at the meeting place of two rivers, it boils in summer and it freezes in winter.”[ii]

As a result, regional rivalries were natural at the very foundation of most Spanish clubs. Nothing illustrates this better than one of the very first meetings between the two clubs, at a mini-tournament in 1902. Held to commemorate the crowning of Alfonso XIII, the tournament featured two clubs each from Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Basque club Vizcaya.[iii] Barcelona beat Madrid FC (Real’s name at the time) in the opening match, 3-1, and fell to Vizcaya in the final, 2-1.[iv] However, the story finds its political significance in the “third-place match”, hastily arranged once tournament organizers became upset that a tournament for a new Castilian monarch was being largely contested by Basques and Catalans.[v] A trophy was even conjured and widely publicized by the media, even though as Ball puts it, “it must have been something hastily brought along from somebody’s personal silver collection”.[vi]

Such shared hostility remained as the teams continued to play each other over the next decade or so. These contests were mostly dominated by Catalans, to the tune of repeated and poor-spirited complaints from the direction of Castile. Overall, “the strife and struggles between the two clubs from 1905 onwards accurately mirror the main contests of 20^th century Spanish history… mainly through clear cultural differences.”[vii] If such differences in 1905 were the logs at the base of the fire, the ensuing political mayhem of General Franco’s reign ignited them into full blaze.

General Franco

In 1939, the end of the Spanish Civil War saw the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco take control of the country. After capturing Madrid on March 28^th to end the War, El Generalísimo set about unifying the newly formed Spanish state. He frequently used repressionist policies of murder, torture and political pressure to suppress any anti-Nationalist sentiment. [viii] Separatist causes in previously autonomous regions were most troublesome, and since Catalonia had fought Franco’s centrist policies bitterly, the region became a source of particular ire for him.[ix]

At the same time, football had become an important means of cultural expression. Therefore, naturally Franco used football as a propaganda tool for the new regime. He sought to disrupt the operations of Barcelona, a symbol of Catalonian pride, while supporting Real Madrid, Barcelona’s archrival from the capital city. [x] Franco had no real passion for the game itself, only a fixation on refocusing the State’s image on Castile through its most historic team.[xi]

History presents many examples of Franco’s systematic oversight of Spanish football. For instance, in enforcing the strict prohibition of regional languages, Franco demanded that FC Barcelona be translated to its Spanish equivalent, Barcelona CF.[xii] Symbolically, such a change was a cultural indication that Catalan society was not tolerated in the new Spanish State.

The story of the 1943 semifinals of the Generalísimo’s Cup (formerly the King’s Cup) more directly relates to the game of football. Barcelona were seemingly in control after the first leg, which they had comfortably won 3-0 at home.[xiii] However, upon visiting the capital they were surprised at a visit from the director of state security. Supposedly, he reminded the players of the State’s fortunate generosity at letting them remain in the country.[xiv] The players took the hint, and lost 11-1. Though much of Franco’ support remains shrouded in some mystery, there is no doubt that such support existed.

To continue to Franco Gets His Man, click here.

To return to the main page, click here.

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Ball, Morbo, 21

[iv] Ibid

[v] Ibid

[vi] Ball, Morbo, 22

[vii] Ball, Morbo, 22

[viii] “Spanish Civil War.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 15 Oct 09. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/558032/Spanish-Civil-War>

[ix] Riva, Francesco. “Brief Summary of the Spanish Civil War.” World Conflicts Documents Project. 2002. Italy. 15 Oct 09.  <http://www.geocities.com/iturks/html/beginningofcentury1.html>

[x] Murray, Bill. The World’s Game: A History of Soccer. United States: University of Illinois, 1996, p. 102

[xi] Ball, Morbo, 120

[xii] Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World: An (Unliklely) Theory of Globalization. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. (203)

[xiii] Ball, Morbo, 25

[xiv] Ball, Morbo, 26

Trackback URI | Comments RSS