Joan Laporta has officially launched his candidacy to return as president of Barcelona in January’s elections, ten years after leaving the LaLiga club.
In his first stint at the club, between 2003-2010, Laporta oversaw two Champions League titles, the emergence of Lionel Messi and the appointment of Pep Guardiola from the boardroom.
After years of factional battles inside the Barcelona boardroom before the eventual resignation of Josep Bartomeu, Laporta says he wants to unite all Barcelona fans.
“I’m running for elections because I love the club,” Laporta said at his official announcement, via Football España.
“We have the preparation, experience and determination necessary for the changes that the club need. We have a plan. The plan is to work.
“I want to unite all Barça fans. This is not the time to reproach or look back. In the Barça that we propose, everyone fits.
“Our plan is to bring back happiness to the people. It’s not a simple election promise. It’s an ethical, civic, moral, social and united commitment.”
As part of his campaign, Laporta has said he wants to use the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as a new slogan for La Masia, the club’s academy.
The song is most famously sung at Anfield by Liverpool fans, but is also occasionally heard at Celtic Park and at Borussia Dortmund games.
“La Masia will be a personalised accompaniment to the player, under the slogan of you will never walk alone,” Laporta’s website says.
“We want it to become a Centre for High Performance and Sport Excellence, but also for personal development, where the treatment of athletes is not generic but one-on-one. We will do this with special care for the values that make up strong personalities and that we can be proud of: we want athletes who love Barça.
“We will promote women’s sports and all sports sections will feel even more of the same family, thus growing the multisport character of the entity, which has been a unique formula for success in the world.”
