“We’ve had season tickets at Girona for decades,” explains Xavi Bautista, a Girona fan, ahead of a Catalan derby between Barcelona and Girona on Monday.
“There were no crowds, maybe a few hundred people and we would play local rivals in local leagues, games against Lloret de Mar and such teams. Then Girona started to rise.”
Bautista is standing outside the visitors’ section at Camp Nou with his wife Monica for a La Liga game between the league leaders and the middle table side. Or, put another way, the team with the highest and lowest average crowds in the league - 83,000 average against 11,000. He wears a Girona shirt and scarf, Monica a Barca top – yet she wants Girona to win “because we need the points”.
Confused? Read on.
Girona, one of the four capitals of Catalonia that is 100 kilometres north of Barcelona, has traditionally been where Barca can count on strong support. Cars, buses and trains have long left the wealthy city of 100,000 for games at Camp Nou.
“Girona is like a village compared to Barcelona and most people in Girona are Barca,” says Bautista. “They’re the big team. So for Girona fans to see their team play against Barca is a present, one they’re going to enjoy.”
Their fans clearly enjoy mixing with Barca fans on the streets outside the stadium with the rare sight of supporters celebrating together. All Barcelona games are graded by their security risk. Barca v Real Madrid or Manchester United gets the highest possible risk grade and the club send a unique message: “Today’s match is not considered high risk by the anti-violence committee, so Girona fans could buy tickets in any area of the stadium and can wear the rival team’s clothing.”
Many do. The two teams didn’t meet in a league game until Girona were first promoted in 2018 and stayed up for two seasons before another promotion last season via the play offs.
Girona are still hoping for a first-ever win against Barca, but the mood around the stadium is easy and if Barca are standard bearers for Catalonia, then Girona get it.
Girona has seldom been described as a football hotbed. Basketball and hockey games were better attended in the city in 1990s, but if you talk restaurants or cycling then you can link the city with the very best. A Girona restaurant - El Bulli and then El Celler de Can Rocca - has been named the best in the world seven times. And just as many times a restaurant from the city has been deemed the second best in the world, according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Some of the world’s top cyclists choose to live in the city so close to the Pyrenees mountains, with its temperate climate and proximity to Spain’s French border by the stunning Costa Brava.
The proximity to Barca was a reason why Girona’s own team spent so long in the minor leagues before they began to rise in 2009 when they were promoted to Spain’s second tier for the first time in 50 years. Their Montilivi ground was still fraying and only had seating on three sides, their budget was typical of that of a mid-table second division club. They finished in the top four of the second division three times before promotion was finally achieved in 2018.
“The point of inflexion came when we became part of the City Football Group,” explains Bautista of the 2017 deal when City Football Group announced that they had acquired 44.3 per cent of Girona FC, with Pep Guardiola’s football agent brother Pere holding another 44.3 per cent and a fans’ group the rest. It’s not a link either party likes to play up and Girona are keen to keep their independence and make sure that no party owns more than 50 per cent. Girona have not taken the ‘City’ name and wear red not blue.
Local players have featured prominently – Catalonia is a football factory and the club want to take advantage of the talent on their doorstep. Girona benefit from using Manchester City’s training facilities during pre-season, recruitment, scouting, executive leadership and more, while City see their playing assets appreciate if they can hold their own in La Liga, while holding a substantial stake in a La Liga club.
There were many red Girona shirts in the 78,425 crowd during Monday's clash against Barca.
“My wife is from Girona, that’s why I’m wearing this scarf,” explains Sergi, who is also wearing a Barcelona shirt like his two sons, Lluc and Guilleme. “We’re 12 points clear of Madrid so I’ll be happy whichever team wins today. But the league has been good for Girona, too.”
“The feeling is very Catalan and the two styles of football are very similar,” says Josep Gimenez, who is outside the stadium with his partner Eva, who wears a Girona shirt. “The link with Manchester City focuses on the youth side at Girona. There will be a new training ground with seven pitches. Football is new in Girona. The passion in the city was for hockey or basketball when I was younger. Now you see youngsters wearing Girona shirts. Today is a party for Barca and for Girona in the style of Barcelona’s Masia.”
“We’ve had a good season,” adds Eva. “Taty Castellanos has been our best player.”
Girona’s away kit is based on the Catalan Senyera flag and after 17 minutes the chants for Catalan independence, while not as loud as they were before the 2017 referendum, are substantial; over 70 per cent of people in Girona had voted for Catalan independence. Girona are 11th, having recovered from a poor start to the season when they languished in 18th place at the end of October. They beat fellow Catalan side Espanyol the week before they played Barcelona, though there was little of the friendliness on show between the pair on Monday.
Girona’s main striker is the Argentine Castellanos, 24, who rose through the City group of clubs from Torque in Uruguay to New York City where he was the MLS’s top scorer before his loan to Girona. Castellanos misses the best chance of the game and is so upset that he was crying in the dressing room afterwards, before he deleted all his social media channels. But his well organised team performed well and became only the third team to take a point at Camp Nou this season.
In Barcelona’s previous home game against Real Madrid last week, the sound amid the stunned silence after Madrid scored their fourth goal was the 200 away fans singing ‘El Viva Espana’ – a provocative song in Catalonia. On Monday night, the game finished with both sets of fans applauding a rare goalless draw.
