31 replies to this topic

[KNIGHTS2009]

Do you have a preference for whatever reason?

If pushed, who would you pick?

[KNIGHTS2009]

Mine would be Barca due to amounnt of times i have been there in recent years.

[Bulligerent]

Real; i actually picked up on the mystique and aura surrounding the club during two trips to the usual Spanish holiday haunts when i was a kid. By coincidence, i was in Malaga one year and Tenerife a couple of years later with my parents and Real were in town. My dad took me to watch and i was amazed by the amount of Real fans who were supporting them in an away stadium, not fully realising at the time just how big a club they were across Spain and the world and that actually, as many locals were at the ground to see them as they were the home team.

The whole atmosphere blew me away and i've been following them since and have been to the Bernabeu four times (the first time on a tour of the stadium and the latter three to actually watch them play albeit one was a friendly).

[marklaspalmas]

Tough one.

Franco's team? Never

Self-importants separatists? Not really.

The duopoly in Spanish football is potentially as damaging as it is in Scottish football.

An awful,lot of people from all over Spain "support" one of the big two at the expense of their perfectly decent local side. I'll never understand that.

[Kenilworth Tiger]

In El Classico probably Leeds as I can't stand Bradford CIty

[Chairman M]

Without a shadow of a doubt, Barca.

[nadera78]

Tough one.

Franco's team? Never

Self-importants separatists? Not really.

Barca definitely overdo the "holier than thou" thing. But there's no way I could ever support Real, the association with Franco is simply too strong a stench to ignore. Plus I love the city of Barcelona.

The frightening thing is the enormous debts both clubs have run up in recent years despite their envious position within Spanish and world football. No doubt Real will be able to call on the government to bail them out, again. Not sure if Barca would/could get the same from their regional authority.

[Steve May]

Do you have a preference for whatever reason?

If pushed, who would you pick?

Neither, but if pushed Barca

Anyone even slightly familiar with the history of the two clubs could never support Real Madrid.

[1976PMJwires]

Has always been Barca..............but the Special One is truly amazing!!!

Is this the biggest game in football, player value on the pitch!!

[steef]

Barca as Ronaldo doesn't play for them.

[marklaspalmas]

Quite a lot of disgruntlement here with the announcement that the game is going to be played on Monday night. An alien concept for most Spanish fans, especially armchair supporters who like to organise a good eating and drinking session round the soccer at the weekend. Monday evening is hardly going to be the same.

[KNIGHTS2009]

5 - 0
That one was a bit one sided.
Barca absolute class.

[Saint Rich]

So I'm ignorant. What was this link between Franco and Real Madrid?

[1976PMJwires]

Has always been Barca..............but the Special One is truly amazing!!!

Is this the biggest game in football, player value on the pitch!!

Not so special last night.


Barca totally controlled the ball for the full game.

Can my mighty Spurs beat them in the Champs League???

[Kenilworth Tiger]

.

Can my mighty Spurs beat them in the Champs League???

DO you want the short answer!!

[Stevo]

So I'm ignorant. What was this link between Franco and Real Madrid?

In as much as a city can 'support' a politician, Madrid was a strong supporter of Franco. There are also suggestions/ rumours/ innuendo that Franco ensured Real Madrid was the dominant team during his dictatorship.

But I'm not aware of anything that suggests RM players were facists storm troopers or anything* - if anyone has anything more on this topic I'd be interested to have a read of it.

I'd agree with the poster above (MarkLasPalmas) on Spaniards tending to support either of these 2 sides in preference (or at best, as well as) their local side. It's like Glory Hunting gone mad.




*NB - don't mention the England RU team's history at this point ;-)

[1976PMJwires]

DO you want the short answer!!

[marklaspalmas]

In as much as a city can 'support' a politician, Madrid was a strong supporter of Franco. There are also suggestions/ rumours/ innuendo that Franco ensured Real Madrid was the dominant team during his dictatorship.
But I'm not aware of anything that suggests RM players were facists storm troopers or anything* - if anyone has anything more on this topic I'd be interested to have a read of it.
I'd agree with the poster above (MarkLasPalmas) on Spaniards tending to support either of these 2 sides in preference (or at best, as well as) their local side. It's like Glory Hunting gone mad.

Kind of, but of course Franco wasn't a 'politician', he was a military dictator. Madrid wasn't by any means a Francoist city and the war for the nationalist forces to capture it was long and bloody.

Franco did have very centralist ideas with respect to his concept of "Spain" as a nation. As well as all the customary jingoism he imposed on the population, he also worked hard to crush regionalism, principally the basques & catalans*.

A big strong football team called Real Madrid, playing in white and dominating Spanish and European football (many successive European Cups) fitted in perfectly with his ideas, and so at boardroom level, every help & assistance was given to "Spain's club". This just made the fans of Bilbao, Barca, At. Madrid and all the rest hate them more. Safe in the knowledge that the administration (and often the refs) were in their favour, the Real fans developed that smug sense of entitlement and superiority which still marks them today.

When the catalan and basque languages were banned, the terraces of San Mames and Nou Cmap were two palces where there was sufficient safety in numbers to chant (often anti-franco) songs in their own language.

I don't think the players ever really had anything to do with it, but given that the situation was widely understood, then going to play for Real always had undeniable political undertones.

Despite the set up, Madrid's domination in the period 39 to 75 was far from complete.

During that time, the Spanish FA Cup was called the Copa del Generalissimo. This in itself was a fantastic motivation for a basque or catalan to try and win the Cup, just to watch the despicable midget's fce as he handed over the silverware.


* Although we tend to focus on those two regions, many many more people suffered as bad and much worse under the regime. The Canary islands crminally neglected by the mainland, the Galicians too (Ironic as Franco was gallego). Of course for anyone of less than firmly right wing, catholic, military tastes, times were permenantly grim.

[Andrew Vause]

Tough one.

Franco's team? Never

Self-importants separatists? Not really.

The duopoly in Spanish football is potentially as damaging as it is in Scottish football.

An awful,lot of people from all over Spain "support" one of the big two at the expense of their perfectly decent local side. I'll never understand that.

You have done some truly fantastic posts on our local web site but this is one of your best, Great post Mark I'm with you entirely.

The euskadi (sorry paises vascos) teams for me especially Alavez. If only people realised.

1) Can't support Real. The team that the Generalissimo adored, whilst banning the catalunyan players from the National side, having earlier allowing Hitler Stuka practise on the basques.

2) Or the Harlem globe trotters of Catalunya (even though, to be fair. the Madrillenos are more Harlem globe trotters at the moment) and la Azulgrana produced the majority of the World Cup winning team of Spain but you feel that their loyalties may have been elsewhere, checkout the magnificent "Charlie Puyol's" face when the world cup celebration pictures were taken.

Edited by Andrew Vause, 02 December 2010 - 12:40 AM.

[Andrew Vause]

So I'm ignorant. What was this link between Franco and Real Madrid?

Imagine you weren't a fan of the Queen, so you were shot, that's about the strenghth of it. An event called the Spansh civil war occured in the 20th centuty, have a read.

Then once you've read, ask yourself why Barcelona wear Crimson as one of their cherished colours.

It's a similar scenario to Glasgow Rangers wearing red bands at the top of their socks.

I think some of the mood of the Catalans at the time was attempted to be covered in the song "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next."

Edited by Andrew Vause, 02 December 2010 - 12:54 AM.