1971–72 P F Barcelona season

Background

In the 1930s, women were banned from playing football in Spain by the Franco regime, a ban which would last until the regime ended in 1975. The Sección Femenina, a fascist pro-misogyny political advocacy group, was incorporated into the dictatorship during the regime, suppressing women's rights. The regime also suppressed lesbians, ironically encouraging the growth of women's football in Barcelona as a means of community-building, and sought to suppress a Catalan identity, including FC Barcelona. As the regime weakened in the late 1960s, women began returning to football, with the Sección Femenina actively spreading disinformation and officially banning the promotion of anything related to women's football to try and prevent this.

Founding

In November 1970, 18-year-old Catalan amateur footballer Immaculada Cabecerán had aspirations for a more formal team; she had connections to FC Barcelona and met with then-president Agustí Montal Costa to discuss the formation of a women's team associated with the club. Montal gave his support. On 17 November 1970, similarly to how Joan Gamper had formed the men's team, Cabecerán posted a print advertisement in an FC Barcelona fan magazine called La Revista Barcelonista, seeking women between the ages of 18 and 25 to play in an exhibition match the following month at the Camp Nou. The advertisement that ran explained that Montal would only offer continuing support to a women's team if they "win all the matches." From the responses, the Selecció Ciutat de Barcelona or Selección Ciudad de Barcelona, comprising 16 players, was formed; they were coached by Barcelona legends Antoni Ramallets and César Rodríguez, although Rodríguez left after a few days. Cabecerán and her team were quickly popular, being described in early January 1971 as the most popular team.

The team gained its own logo in 1971, a design featuring the FC Barcelona crest overlaid with an oversized diamond/rhombus containing the same segments, and "P.F.B." in the central band. The diamond was inspired by the then-logo of FC Barcelona Atlètic, which was simply diamond-shaped. The 1971 logo was retained by the team until at least 1994 (when it was Club Femení Barcelona). In 2023, FC Barcelona added a diamond overlay to the club logo, as well as including diamonds in other kit designs, to honour the women's team.

League

Following the success of the Pernod Cup in March, the Catalan Association of Women's Football was founded at the end of April 1971. The same companies (Pernod as sponsor and Radio Reloj as promoter) that devised the Pernod Cup then founded a league among Catalan teams, with 26 matchdays in two splits, the Campeonato de Cataluña de Fútbol Femenino Copa Pernod, which began in May 1971 and concluded in March 1972.

By the third matchday, Barcelona's reputation for goalscoring meant they sold out the away stadium, with other teams wanting to take on the "unbeatable" Barcelona squad. They remained unbeaten by June, when Cabecerán announced that she was "hanging up her boots" and leaving football; Barcelona's captain as well as a popular player among fans and a major pioneer of women's football in Catalonia, Mundo Deportivo wrote that her contributions would always stay in the memories of fans.

There was an August break between the splits. Ahead of the second split, Pernod also sponsored a tournament between regional representative teams – one representing Catalonia and the other representing the "comarca of Vic", with the Catalonia team also coached by Barcelona coach Ramallets. Vic is a city in the Province of Barcelona; in the league, Vic was the top team. The best goalscorer in the league by a margin was Caracuel from Vic; close behind her for much of the tournament was Barcelona's Vicenta Pubill i Font [ca], who Mundo Deportivo called the team's "Cañoncito pum". After 14 games played, Pubill had scored 14 goals.

On 19 November 1971, Barcelona (having not played for two weeks) were overall leaders of the league. In the second split, Barcelona experienced some misfortune as well as overconfidence, both costing them results, and fell out of the title race; ahead of the last matchday they could still achieve third place depending on results, but did not.

During the second split, Llansà played both right-back and as goalkeeper, both well.

In February 1972, it was reported that the same companies were planning the second edition of the Campeonato de Cataluña. The second women's league in Catalonia began in May 1972, but was instead organised by the Francoist organisation Educación y Descanso [es], with lower participation; Barcelona did not participate.

Friendlies

Fuengirola Trophy

Four teams – Sizam Paloma, Racing de Valencia, Peña Femenina Barcelona, and Polideportivo de Fuengirola – contested the "first women's championship" in Spain, the Trofeo Fuengirola, between 24 January and 28 February 1971.

Pernod Cup Trophy

Campeonato de Cataluña league

First split

At the end of the first split, Barcelona was second in the league. Its results were:

• 13 matches: 10 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss (22 points)
• 46 goals scored, 4 conceded
• Top goalscorers: Pubill, Blanca (12 each), Lolita (11), and Rosa (5)

Second split

At the end of the second split, Barcelona finished in fourth place on points. Its results were:

• 26 matches: 17 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses (40 points)
• 94 goals scored, 14 conceded
• Top goalscorers: Lolita (26), Blanca (24), Pubill (19)