How a Belfast Celtic winger saved Barcelona FC
Patrick Joseph O’Connell, born in Dublin in 1887, joined the famous Belfast Celtic Football Club in 1909, playing as a wing-half or centre-half. before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday in the old first division. From there he moved on to Hull City and later Manchester United who signed him, for the 1914 season. Paddy went on to captain Manchester United becoming the first Irish born footballer to do so.
O’Connell’s international career saw him win six caps and captain Ireland the only time Ireland have ever won the “home” international championship. The game against Scotland, Paddy O’Connell played with a broken arm and Ireland finished the game with ten men winning the tournament!
In 1922 with the Civil War in Ireland and no football being played Paddy O’Connell went to Spain to manage Racing Santander. Under his management they were regional champions five times. He would return to Santander between 1948 and 1949. Real Oviedo were his next club, before he moved on to Real Betis
With political events moving toward civil war in Spain, Paddy O’Connell became manager of Barcelona F C. Barcelona was a club being run by anarchist revolutionaries when Paddy took charge of the team. Around that time the chairman of Barcelona, Sunyol, was captured by Fascist militia near Madrid, they executed him and his body has never been found.
With Catalonia on the verge of being overrun by the Fascists, Barcelona football club, the great symbol of the Catalan people was penniless and on the verge of being destroyed in the political madness. La Liga was suspended so the club had no hope of raising the funds which would allow it to stay in existence. Just when it seemed they had no future they received an invitation to tour Mexico and the United States playing eight friendly games.
The tour would guarantee them $15, 000 which was a fortune at that time. This money is credited with saving the club for the future. Paddy O’Connell left Barcelona with 14 players and a doctor. The tour lasted two months and only four players made the journey back to Barcelona, seven stayed in Mexico, three in France preferring to live in exile than under Franco’s fascists. The money was placed in a bank in Paris as it was felt that either the anarchists or Fascist would have taken it to finance their war had it been returned to Barcelona. This is why Paddy O’ Connell has a special place in the hearts of the people of Catalonia, he saved the great symbol of their nation. To the Catalans he is Don Patricio O’Connell.
