La Masia
FC Barcelona's prolific youth academy
La Masia (Catalan pronunciation: [lə məˈzi.ə]; English: "The Farmhouse") is the youth academy of FC Barcelona. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and is considered the best youth system in world football.
In 2010, La Masia became the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the Ballon d'Or in a single year: Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi.
In addition to its most prominent role as a youth academy for football, La Masia also houses and trains young players in other sports which operate clubs under the FC Barcelona umbrella, including basketball, handball and roller hockey.
Originally based at Can Planes, a traditional farmhouse near the Camp Nou in the Les Corts district of Barcelona, the academy now operates from more modern facilities at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, while retaining La Masia ("The Farmhouse") as its official name.
History
The idea for the youth academy was proposed to Josep Lluís Núñez by Jaume Amat Murtra and Oriol Tort was put in charge of the facility.
Once Camp Nou was inaugurated in 1957, the nearby masia (Catalan farmhouse building) of Can Planes was remodelled and extended for use as the club's social headquarters. With the gradual expansion of the club, Can Planes became too small for the club's headquarters, and on 20 October 1979, the building was converted into a dormitory for young academy players from outside Barcelona.
In 2011, it was announced that Barcelona would be moving all its football training activities to the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, where the new Oriol Tort Education Center building would house La Masia's young members.
La Masia received more publicity after Barcelona B's success with homegrown players; Rory Smith reported in The Daily Telegraph that La Masia "has replaced the fabled Ajax Academy as football's foremost production line".
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