A charming portrait of Barcelona's 77-year-old matchday announcer

Date
5 June 2015

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Tomorrow night Barcelona take on Juventus in the Champions League final, a game which (for better or for worse) sums up much about modern football. It’s easy to forget quite how much the game has changed but one man who has literally watched that happen is Manel Vich, the 77-year-old who has been Barca’s matchday announcer for nearly six decades. He first stood in as a favour to the stadium manager back in the old Les Corts ground in 1956 but has gone on to become part of the club’s fabric. Incredibly he’s missed only three games during that time – two because he was in hospital and once because the match clashed with his daughter’s wedding.

Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer’s short is a charming portrait of “the voice of Barca,” touching on his favourite player and his pre-match ritual to the tricky task of pronouncing Johan Cruyff’s name properly. There’s an accompanying series of photos too which pay proper homage to one of the Catalan club’s lesser-known legends.

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Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

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Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

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Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

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Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

Above

Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

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Johan Kramer: La Veu del Barca

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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