The 80 youngsters that have resided at La Masia this year posed for a photo session in front of the emblematic building at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper
At first, La Masia was used as a workshop for making models, and a work studio for architects and builders, as well as a starting point for visits from people associated with construction. When the Camp Nou stadium was inaugurated, on September 24th, 1957 La Masia closed it’s doors and awaited it’s destiny. In Enric Llaudet’s presidential term the building was remodeled, and at the same time extended, to house the headquarters of the Club, which left the Via Laietana to move next to the stadium. The new headquarters were inaugurated on September 26th, 1966.
The increase and creation of various new club areas meant that La Masia didn’t have enough space as a headquarters, which were again moved by Agustí Montal’s board, next to the ice rink. Thus, La Masia was again available for a new venture. The board, under Josep Lluís Núñez, moved very quickly. La Masia became the residence of the youth players who lived outside the city. The re-modelling work was carried out very quickly and on October 20th 1979 it was officially opened for its new purpose. The Masia building adjacent to the Camp Nou was decommissioned as the Club’s youth academy centre in 2011. That same year, the new Masia, Centro de formación Oriol Tort was opened in the Sant Joan Despí Training Centre.
If until now La Masia, as a training academy, has been, and still is, a reference and model that many clubs around the world would like to copy, the new centre Oriol Tort, will also be. The new Masia, Oriol Tort Training Center, located at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, will be a modern and functional building, with all necessary services adapted to the reality of society.
The new Centre has great facilities, designed exclusively to optimize the intellectual, personal, and social education of sportspeople. All this without forgetting to maintain the warmth and closeness of its residents, educators and staff belonging to the Club, something that has been so successful in the past.
A youth squad with a future
Thus, the objective of this residence has been to educate, both sportingly and intellectually, young people who have left their families and their communities to pursue a career with Barça. Coinciding with Barça’s centennial year, La Masia celebrated its twentieth anniversary and the balance was all positive. Currently, more than thirty young players brought up in La Masia have made their first-team debut. Among these are included Amor, Guardiola, Sergi, De la Peña, Puyol, Xavi, Reina, Víctor Valdés, Gabri and Messi, as well as a significant number of other players who have gone on to play in the Spanish League for other teams. The list of young talents who reside in La Masia is not limited to players from Catalonia or the rest of Spain, but also from many other countries.
