Damm Sports City, a dream come true
On the 70th anniversary of the Damm Football Club, the Damm Foundation has officially inaugurated the Club's new headquarters, a 30,000 m² sports complex in Montjuïc. More than 500 people attended the opening ceremony, including numerous authorities and representatives from the world of sport, culture and business
The new Damm Sports City, a 30,000 m² sports complex and new home of the Damm Football Club, was officially inaugurated this afternoon by the Damm Foundation . The new facilities, located in Montjuïc, will allow the club to continue promoting grassroots football and training young talents, a task that the Club has developed during its 70 years of history, consolidating itself as one of the main sources of football talent in the country.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa ; the President of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull ; the Government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto ; the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni ; the Minister of Sports, Bernardo Álvarez ; and the President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco They were joined by Demetrio Carceller Arce , President of the Damm Foundation and Executive President of Damm, and Ramon Agenjo , President of the Damm Football Club and Patron-Director of the Damm Foundation.
The inauguration of the Damm Sports City coincides with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Damm Football Club The club was founded in 1954 thanks to the initiative of a group of Damm workers who lived where the current Estrella Damm Old Brewery is located. The founders wanted to motivate the neighborhood’s youth, Seven decades later, the Club is entering a new era with its return home, while keeping its founding values, such as training and educating young athletes and helping them develop as footballers and as people, intact.
The Damm Sports City, whose construction began in November 2022, has two 11-a-side football pitches – one of which can be divided into two 7-a-side football pitches – and two buildings. The main building houses the Club's offices, as well as medical services, a gym, the changing rooms for the main pitch and a study room to continue the academic training of its players. The second building, located between the two football pitches, houses other changing rooms, the stands – with a capacity of up to 550 spectators – and a 100 m² catering area.
The new sports complex of the Damm Foundation is a joint project of the Barcelona architecture studios Max de Cusa and Hiha Studio, which blends into the landscape of Montjuïc mountain and offers facilities that are free of CO₂ emissions and respect the environment. With all-electric consumption powered by photovoltaic panels and a rainwater storage system for pitch irrigation and maintenance, the result has been a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and energy self-sufficient facility.
During the event, the more than 500 people who attended were able to see first-hand the new facilities of the Damm Football Club, which have allowed the entity to bring together all the Club's equipment into the same space for the first time, as well as to accommodate all the people who are part of it: the 230 players, both male and female, and the more than 90 people who make up the technical and medical teams; in addition to the Club's staff.
The opening ceremony was also attended by players who have been part of the club's history and who now play in the first division, such as David López (Girona FC) and Joan Garcia (RCD Espanyol). Also in attendance were prominent figures from the world of sport, such as Joan Laporta , president of FC Barcelona; Mao Ye Wu , CEO of RCD Espanyol; Nacho Quique Cárcel , sporting director of Girona FC; Joan Soteras , president of the Catalan Football Federation and vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and Gerard Esteva , president of the Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya, along with representatives of grassroots football clubs from all over Barcelona. Although they were unable to attend the inauguration, many well-known faces from the world of football wanted to congratulate the Damm Football Club on the new Sports City. Leo Messi , Pep Guardiola , Andrés Iniesta , Maria Pérez , Xavi Hernández and Vicente del Bosque are just some of the names that have appeared on screen to send the brewers their best wishes for this new stage in Montjuïc. Another of the high points of the afternoon was when the Castellers de Esparreguera raised a pillar of 4, and the “enxaneta” displayed a shield of the Damm Football Club.
The Damm Sports City has been officially inaugurated with the honorary kick-off by Inés Pujol Agenjo, sixth generation of the Damm family. With the help of his grandfather, Ramon Agenjo, he repeated the same gesture that his great-grandmother, Josefina Bosch Damm, made 70 years ago when she took the honorary kick-off at the first official match of the Damm Football Club in 1954.
The Club's first two teams were in charge of bringing the event to a close with two friendly matches against RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona. First, the Women's Under-19 A team faced the RCD Espanyol players, while the Men’s Under-19 A team played against the FC Barcelona youth team, ending the day with football as the main protagonist.
Statements during the event
Demetrio Carceller Arce, CEO of Damm and President of the Damm Foundation:
“Investing in activities that complement and support the development of both Damm itself and its surroundings is essential, even more so at this moment in time. In two years, Damm will celebrate its 150th anniversary and although the company has changed and evolved over time, what has not changed is our commitment to people and our involvement in society. We are a company with a long history that still maintains a young spirit. The Damm Sports City that we are inaugurating today is one more step, a significant step, in this journey that will continue for many more years and that represents the “first act” of the celebration of the century and a half of history that Damm will celebrate in 2026.”
Ramon Agenjo, president of the Damm Football Club and patron-director of the Damm Foundation:
“Our dream has come true: the Club’s 240 players now have a new home. We are a big family and what we wanted was to be able to be together. The future we are building today is filled with new opportunities and together we will continue to celebrate many more milestones in this long history that unites us.”
Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona:
“The new Damm Sports City represents a rapprochement between the city of Barcelona and Montjuïc mountain and projects the path that we want to build together.”
“In 2029 we will celebrate the centenary of the Universal Exhibition, and the City Council intends for it to not only be a cause for commemoration, but also a moment in which we make the heart of the mountain beat stronger than ever.”
“Damm is Barcelona, I wish you 70 more years of taking the brand around the world and making Barcelona a unique place in it.”
Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia:
“Congratulations to the Damm Foundation and the Damm Football Club for 70 years of tenacity and commitment to sport.”
“Great things in life are achieved by working as a team. The team and the community are very important. They teach you to compete with nobility, to join hands.”
