25 Facts About Narciso Masferrer

Narciso Masferrer Sala was a pioneer of Catalan sports, sports journalism, and Olympism throughout Spain.

Narciso Masferrer was present at most Catalan sports initiatives of the first third of the 20th century, founding and becoming director of a number of sporting projects, including some of the greatest sporting institutions in Catalonia, such as clubs, federations and sports press.

Narciso Masferrer is thus widely regarded as the father of modern sports journalism in Spain.

Narciso Masferrer was Spain's first sports promoter with a global and ambitious vision, and the first person who was clear about the need for national organizations for each sport, as well as federations for each national championship.

Narciso Masferrer left a big mark in cycling, holding the presidency of the Union Velocipedica Espanyola in 1911, from which he promoted the creation of the Volta a Catalunya, the first cycling race per stage in Spain and one of the oldest in the world.

Narciso Masferrer was a prominent member of the Spanish Olympic Committee and the main inspirer and promoter of the pre-Civil War Barcelona candidatures to host the Olympic Games.

Narciso Masferrer is known for his pivotal role in the founding of FC Barcelona, publishing Joan Gamper's famous advert in the Los Deportes magazine to find players interested in forming a football team, and then hosting the famous meeting at the Gimnasio Sole on 29 November 1899 that saw the birth of the club, of which he was a vice-president from 1909 to 1910, and he even held the presidency of the Catalan Football Federation in 1913.

Narciso Masferrer was born in Madrid in 1867 to Catalan parents and studied in France and Germany.

Narciso Masferrer married Esperanza Navarro in Madrid in July 1891, at the age of 24, and both he and his very young wife suffered from tuberculosis, a disease that wreaked havoc at that time.

Narciso Masferrer lived in Seville for four years until 1896, when professional reasons forced him to move to Barcelona, the city in which he would live most of his life.

In 1897, the 30-year-old Narciso Masferrer founded the Catalan Gymnastics Association and the fortnightly magazine Los Deportes, directing the latter from the Sole Gymnasium on Montjuic del Carme street.

At the beginning of 1898, Narciso Masferrer used Los Deportes, which he had founded the year before, to became the main propagandist of the Catalan Cycling Union, chaired by the doctor Manuel Duran i Ventosa, who created this entity to compete with the Madrid-based Spanish Cycling Union, which is the Spanish Cycling Federation.

Years later, in 1910, when Narciso Masferrer was already an established leader of Spanish cycling, he would make a public confession of his remorse for having supported a dissident entity.

On 1 March 1898, Narciso Masferrer used Los Deportes to publish an appeal to all Spanish athletes to create a "Confederation of Spanish Gymnastic Societies".

Narciso Masferrer helped Gamper and Wild to consolidate FC Barcelona because he and his closest collaborators from the Gymnastic Federation considered football as the sport that had the best chance of hatching among that generation of Barcelona gymnasts, reaching that conclusion after doing different tests and trials with other outdoor sports such as gouret or riscat.

On 29 November 1899, Narciso Masferrer attended the founding meeting of FC Barcelona, which was hosted by him at the Sole Gym, and he recounted in detail the development of the historic meeting in an article published in this newspaper on 29 November 1924, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the club.

Four years later, in 1906, he founded and directed El Mundo Deportivo, becoming its first director, and in its first editorial, published on 1 February, Narciso Masferrer pointed out the conduct that needed to be followed by the newspaper, which did not differ at all from his own: "We do not come to criticize anyone, we come to applaud and encourage everyone".

Narciso Masferrer had already held several federative charges and assignments at Union Velocipedica Espanyola before 1911, including the Vice Presidency, the presidency, General Secretary, and he held the presidency for a third time in 1939.

Narciso Masferrer presided over the Catalan Football Federation in 1913, and in that same year, he intervened in the creation of the Catalan Olympic Committee, and in the reorganization of the Spanish one.

Narciso Masferrer promoted the construction of the La Foixarda stadium, inaugurated in 1921.

Narciso Masferrer was the promoter of Barcelona's candidacy to host the 1924 Olympic Games, and was the head of the Spanish Delegation that attended the 1928 Olympic Games.

Narciso Masferrer was a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee in 1926, and again in 1939, when the civil war ended.

Narciso Masferrer died in Barcelona on 9 April 1941 at the age of 73.

Narciso Masferrer had all the levers in the hands of Spanish sport for half a century.

In 1969 the Organizing Committee of the International Motor Show, an organization that Narciso Masferrer helped to found, established the 'Narcis Narciso Masferrer' journalistic award in his honor.