Núria Llansà
Núria Llansà | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Llansà in 1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Núria Llansà Fernández 3 November 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 June 2019 (aged 81) Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | "Llera" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Women's football executive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Núria Llansà Fernández (3 November 1937 – 26 June 2019) was a Spanish association football player, coach, and women's football executive best known for her association with FC Barcelona Femení, where she spent 32 years.
Early life
Núria Llansà Fernández was born in Barcelona on 3 November 1937.[1][2]
Playing career
Llansà joined the Barcelona women's team in 1970, ahead of their first match. Initially she signed up with the pseudonym Llera, to hide that she played football from her employers. She played for the team as both a right-back and goalkeeper in the first game; she would play in both roles throughout her time at the club.[1][3] Outside of football, she worked as a laboratory manager;[2] her family and employers discovered she played football when her real name did eventually appear in the newspaper. As Llansà typically played in goal, she was a stationary target for the abuse of people who disapproved of women playing football, some of whom threw rocks at her.[4]
In February 1971, Llansà was part of the unofficial Spain team who played the nation's first international match against Portugal.[5]
She played for Barcelona until 1974, when she moved to Espanyol.[6]
Coaching and administration
Llansà returned to FC Barcelona in the 1980s. In 1982, she began coaching her former team, before becoming the director of the women's section in 1984. This was an involved role, with Llansà organising everything from major infrastructure to checking matchday kits. With no institutional support or anything else in place, Llansà was there "to fill in all the gaps", including sometimes paying for kits and transportation herself so the players did not have to; it is also a job she was not paid to do, maintaining and developing the section for two decades "out of pure love for women's football".[6][3] Prior to Luis de la Pena, who coached the team in the 1990s, securing a sponsor, Llansà and selling raffle tickets was the only income.[7]
In 1984 she also became vice president (general secretary) of the women's football committee of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF); she was awarded a gold medal by the FCF in July 1992 for her contributions to women's football.[4]
When Barcelona won the Copa de la Reina de Fútbol in 1994, Llansà was unable to travel to the game because she was sick, but still arranged a bus to take the team. After a dinner, the team returned to Barcelona and immediately went to celebrate at Llansà's house despite it being 4 am.[7]
She pushed for the women's team to be recognised and supported as a section of FC Barcelona in 2002 and,[8] when it was fully incorporated in 2003, Llansà – who was still in charge of the section – stepped away from the club. She also left her role in the FCF at the same time. Upon her retirement, Joan Laporta wrote to Llansà to thank her for directing the women's team, and she received a recognition from the Barcelona Players' Association in 2017.[9][4][2]
Death and legacy
Llansà fell into ill health in 2019. In June, she was set to appear at a ceremony honouring the Barcelona team who won the Copa de la Reina in 1994, but could not. A few days later, on 26 June 2019, she died. Her funeral was held on the 29 June.[9]
She had kept a meticulous and extensive collection of documents and memorabilia relating to Barcelona Femení from her time as player and the section's president. The documents were privately owned due to the unincorporated nature of the team during the time Llansà was in charge. She entrusted the collection to Carme Nieto, a lifelong friend who had also played in the team's first game; upon Llansà's death, Nieto took the collection with the intention of donating it to FC Barcelona's Documentation and Study Centre. Nieto organised the collection and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ended up keeping it at her apartment until 2021.[2]
Due to Llansà almost single-handedly operating the team for much of its history, Sport wrote in 2021 that the success of Barcelona Femení – then establishing dominance in European football – was owed to Llansà's determination and vision for it.[2] Her contemporaries drew the same conclusion and remembered her as being the soul of the team and like a mother to its players.[10][11]
References
- ^ a b "Estadísticas de Núria Llansà Fernández". FCB Jugadors (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ a b c d e "El Barça custodia el fondo Llansà". Sport (in Spanish). 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ a b "Núria Llansà". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ a b c "Muere Núria Llansà, pionera del Barça femenino". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 29 June 2019.
- ^ "La Selección española femenina homenajea a sus pioneras". RFEF (in Spanish).
- ^ a b "Muere Núria Llansà, una de las pioneras del fútbol femenino del Barça". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2019-06-27.
- ^ a b "Las hazañas del primer Barça que ganó una Copa: «Núñez nos recibió como obligado... El mérito llegó con los años»". Relevo (in Spanish). 2024-05-18.
- ^ Irigoyen, Juan I. (2021-05-16). "El Barcelona conquista Europa". El País (in Spanish).
- ^ a b "Falleció Núria Llansà, exjugadora del FC Barcelona". Sport (in Spanish). 2019-06-26.
- ^ "FCB Femení 50 anys: El regal de la Núria Llansà". FC Barcelona Players' Association (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ "Les pioneres del Barça, orgulloses d'haver fet el primer pas". Sport (in Spanish). 2020-12-24.