MADRID, 14 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former player of FC Barcelona and the Spanish team Ferran Olivella passed away this Sunday at the age of 86, after an important career on the soccer fields, also being part of the Catalan club’s board of directors between 1989 and 1993, as an executive of the Association and the Barça Players Foundation.
The culé team announced the death of the one who was a club player between 1956 and 1969, “a high-class defense who stood out from a very young age,” says Barça in its official statement. In the 1955/56 season he was one of the architects of the Barcelona affiliate’s promotion to the First Division and the following season he became part of the FC Barcelona first team.
His record is made up of three Fairs Cups (1955-58, 1958-60, 1965-66), two leagues (1958-59, 1959-60) achieved with Helenio Herrara as coach and four Cups (1956-57, 1958- 59, 1962-63 and 1967-68), with 13 seasons and 524 games.
In addition, Olivella left behind an important career with the Spanish team, as he was also captain and leading player in Spain’s first European Championship in 1964. The Catalan left football in an official match on May 21, 1969, in the Recopa final that Barça lost to Slovan from Bratislava.
After his retirement, he remained linked to the club and was a member of the board of directors from 1989 to 1993, as well as being one of the souls of the club’s Veterans Association, of which he participated and of which he was also a member of the board of directors.
Real Madrid, its president and its Board of Directors also mourned the death of Ferran Olivella, “a historic player for FC Barcelona and Spanish football”, sending their condolences to family and friends through a statement.