Josep Llobet

Josep Llobet

Llobet (standing, first to left) in 1903
Personal information
Birth name	Josep Llobet i Llobet
Date of birth	1875
Place of birth	Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Date of death	1937 (aged 61-2)
Place of death	Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Position(s)	Defender and Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1899–1904	FC Barcelona	54	(5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Josep Llobet (1875 – 1937) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender and midfielder for FC Barcelona between 1899 and 1904.^[1][2] He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of FC Barcelona, being among the 12 founders of the club in 1899, and then serving Barça as a player for six years, featuring in the club's first-ever match^[3] and winning the 1901–02 Copa Macaya, which was the club's first-ever official title.^[2]

In addition to football, he also practiced other modalities such as fencing and sailing, belonging to the Club Regatas de Barcelona, and in his civilian life, he was a pharmaceutical representative.^[3]

Josep Llobet was born in 1875 as the child of Josep Llobet i Vilaclara and Madrona Llobet i Mateu. The parents had 12 children and lived in Palau Llobet, which stood on Carrer de Montcada [ca].^[4][5] He married Juanita Gaitx in 1915, when he was 40 and she was 19, and the couple had nine children: Josep Maria, Joana, Concepció, Juli, Núria, Miquel, Maria Rosa, Jordi, and Luís.^[4][5] The family residence stood in Sant Pere.^[4][5]

Along with Luis de Ossó, he was a member of the Club Regatas de Barcelona, serving together on the ship Colón and taking part in countless sailing races together.^[4][5] He also liked fencing, hunting, and shooting, so he regularly participated in these competitions as well.^[4][5]

Llobet was one of the twelve men who attended the historic meeting held at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November 1899 which saw the birth of Football Club Barcelona.^[4][5][6] Ten days after its foundation, on 8 December, Llobet went down in history as one of the ten footballers who played in Barcelona's official debut, played at the Velódromo de la Bonanova against a team known as Team Anglès, which consisted of members of the British colony living in Barcelona.^[2][3] However, he did not often play in the following matches, preferring to play with the second team which was created in 1900 by Ossó. With the club's subsidiary team which was mainly made up of Catalans, Ossó participated in marginal and less important games and won prestigious trophies such as Concurso Pergamí and the Medalla del Ayuntamiento, which were organized by the Spanish Gymnastics Federation.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1901 and 1907, Llobet was a member of the board as the club's treasurer (1901–02 and 1903–05), vocal (1902–03), and on 6 October 1905, he was also elected vice-president, a position which he held until 1907.^[2][4][5] In total, Llobet made 54 appearances for Barça; 50 in friendlies and only four in official competitive matches; scoring a total of six goals, all in friendlies.^[2][4][5]

Llobet made his official competitive debut for the club's first team on 14 April 1901, starting in the last match of the first edition of the Copa Macaya, which would decide the winner of the tournament between FC Barcelona and Hispania AC, with the latter only needing a draw to win it, which they did after holding Barça to a 1–1 draw.^[7]

In the following season, Llobet made two official appearances, the first of which was in the opening match of the 1901–02 Copa Macaya against Club Español on 22 December 1901, thus being part of the squad that ended up winning the tournament; the club's first-ever official title.^[2][8] The Copa Macaya is now recognized as the first Catalan championship.

When Barcelona participated in the very first national tournament played in Spain, the 1902 Copa de la Coronación, the club struggled with organizing the trip to Madrid since not all of its first team players could go, so they had to include members of the second team such as Luis Puelles, Alfonso Albéniz, and Llobet.^[9] In the semifinals on 13 May, Llobet went down in history as one of the eleven footballers who played in the very first El Clásico in history, which ended in a 3–1 win to the Catalans;^[8][10] Barça lost the final 2–1 to Bizcaya.^[9]

At the start of the 1902–03 season, Barcelona was lacking multiple first-team players for unclear reasons, so they had to include members of the second team such as Albert Almasqué, Puelles, and Llobet, with each of them playing in all five matches held in November 1902, including in the opening match of the 1902–03 Copa Macaya on 30 November against Hispania AC.^[11] Barça won the match 2–0, but the result was later declared invalid due to Barça's irregularities in the lineup of foreign players, so they withdrew from the tournament in protest. With the return of the missing first-team players, the role of Almasqué, Puelles, and Llobet was once again reduced to sporadic appearances, mostly in friendlies.^[11]

Llobet made his last official competitive appearance in a Catalan championship match against Espanyol on 24 April 1904, which ended in a 4–4 draw.^[12] He played his last match for Barcelona, official or otherwise, on 26 September 1906.^[4][5]

Llobet died of a heart attack in 1937, at the age of either 61 or 62 years.^[4][5]

A great-nephew of his became mayor of Lloret de Mar, the town where Joan Gamper used to spend his summers, precisely at the home of another Josep Llobet who married, in a second marriage, one of Gamper's nieces.^[4][5]

FC Barcelona

• Copa Macaya:
  • Champions: 1901–02

• Copa de la Coronación
  • Runner-up: 1902