Penya Blaugrana London

Penya Blaugrana London members celebrated the Penya’s 27th year anniversary.  PBL is proud to be the second oldest penya outside of Spain.

As part of the celebrations, members started the day with a football tournament that showed our members are not only good at watching football (and drinking beer) but also at playing football. Then we all gathered at Bar&Co for the penya anniversary dinner comprising of many tapas, traditional potato omelettes and a fantastic paella.  Not to forget the traditional cake and cava!

To top off a great anniversary, Espanyol joined the celebrations by beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and the day was complete by a clear victory of FC Barcelona over the runners up At Madrid 4-1.

All and all it was the perfect day!

Penya Blaugrana London sent a delegation of 25 members to Glasgow to support our team at Celtic Park.  The atmosphere inside and outside the stadium was electric, and Barca fans were impressed by the good nature and friendship of Celtic fans. 

Also, Penya Blaugrana London attended the traditional Penya dinner organised by Penya Union Blaugrana.  FC Barcelona was represented by Josep Maria Barnils, director of the Social Commission and responsible for foreign penyas, and Jordi Moix, director of the Economic and Strategy Area.

Penya Blaugrana London also participated in the events organised by FC Barcelona and the University Ramon Llull on November 7 in the University of Glasgow to promote Catalan culture and sport.  Jimmy Burns, PBL Institutional Relations Delegate, was the moderator in a talk about international fan clubs.  Guest speakers were Josep Maria Barnils, Adam Brown, Penya Union Blaugrana vice president, and Mateusz Szczepanski, spokesman for Fan Club Barça Polska

PB London had the pleasure to welcome Simon Hughes MP, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems, and one of the longest serving parliamentarians with nearly 30 years in office. He was accompanied by his brother and nephew.  They all had a great time watching the Champions League match against Celtic, and as everybody else at Bar&Co, they were delighted with Alba’s last minute winner.

Also, we had the visit of a large delegation from Penya Tordera.  While enjoying some holidays in London, they took the opportunity to visit our penya and watch the game in the best Blaugrana atmosphere in London.

Great athmosphere at Bar&Co for the clasico against Real Madrid!

Over 60 Penya Blaugrana London members and many more friends and fans came to Bar&Co and The George to enjoy this event.

Penya Blaugrana London sent a delegation to support FC Barcelona ladies against Arsenal at Meadow Park on Thursday 4th October.  

This was an historic year for our FC Barcelona ladies, as they are playing Champions League for first time in their history. Unfortunately they had to face Arsenal in the first round, a very mature and experienced team in this competition.  While it was not possible, and Arsenal won the tie. Our ladies however gained valuable experience and I am sure this will only make them stronger for next year.

A delegation of 16 penya members attended White Hart Lane to support our junior players in the NextGen Series match against Tottenham Hotspur.  Despite the “love the shirt” initiative from Tottenham that gathered over 9000 local fans, Penya Blaugrana London kept high spirits and never stopped chanting and supporting our boys.  In the end we were rewarded with a 2 – 0 victory.

The match showed glimpses of what is to come in future years. Sergi Samper's performance in the middle of the Barca midfield was outstanding. Full of class and maturity, he is definitely a star in the making, and the English press were quick to compare him to Xavi.  Sandro also offered a great performance that was rewarded with two goals, and wingers Adama and Ebwelle carved open the Spurs defence time after time.

For full match report by Penya Blaugrana London, check here.

PB London members had great fun at the 1st Subbuteo Tournament.

It was a night of shocks with FC Barcelona failing to qualify for the main knock-out stages! Real Madrid were knocked-out at the semi-final stage with Cristiano Ronaldo missing the final penalty in a shoot-out (anybody surprised here?).

These are the results. Congratulations David!

Pre-Qualifying Round

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

A small delegation of Penya Blaugrana London attended a pre-season game played by FC Barcelona B team at Bolton.  Two of our youngest penya members were honoured as mascots and shared a warm up session with the likes of Deulofeu, Araujo and Dongou.  Penya Blaugrana London was also able to position our famous St George flag behind one of the goals. This is an enormous flag (8m x 4m) that no doubt made our players feel the support of their fans in the stadium.

The final result was a fair 2-2.  A full match report can be found here.