Global Fútbol

One of the most unique and captivating stories in all of world football right now is that of FC Andorra, the football club based in the principality of the same name that is competing in LaLiga SmartBank. Despite being the club's first season at professional level, the team has had a good start in LaLiga SmartBank and this is also the result of several years of work and professionalism on the part of the entity.

Ferran Vilaseca, the president of the institution, explained some of the secrets to their success at the 2022 World Football Summit in Seville, during a talk titled ‘FC Andorra Past-Present-Future’. He started off by highlighting the unique dynamic of the club, explaining why this was one of the reasons the current ownership group decided to get involved in the team in 2018.

As Vilaseca put it: “We’re a team with a country behind us, competing in another country. It seemed attractive to us because having a whole country behind us supporting us, having the name of a country and representing a country makes it unique. From the moment we joined the club, our aim was to strengthen that identity, but at the same time remain closely linked to the territory, the people and the idiosyncrasies of Andorra. Our aim is to build a fanbase that wants to support FC Andorra. We have to be a Pyrenean team, which encompasses both sides of the Pyrenees, both in France and in Spain.”

In terms of how FC Andorra plan to grow their fanbase, Vilaseca identified three areas: “Andorra also has rugby and skiing and basketball. In this ecosystem, we have to try to improve our membership base. How? We identified three main lines of action. There’s the traditional one, which is finding normal members, those who want a season ticket. So, we have to improve the experience at the stadium. Then, the most innovative is with eSports and gaming, with streamers and YouTubers. Andorra is at the forefront in this field. Then, we are delighted to be part of LaLiga Genuine. I think it's a great project and we have to congratulate LaLiga for it.”

A mission to grow beyond the Andorran borders

Even with this ever-growing fanbase, Andorra’s population is just 77,500, less than the capacities of the Santiago Bernabéu or Spotify Camp Nou, so there is a limit to the domestic possibilities. This is why FC Andorra are already looking at the bigger picture.

Vilaseca said: “When we came in, we immediately started to evolve. We wanted to be different and bring the freshness of the Kosmos Group and of Clayton and give a new approach to the team. This was seen with the new badge and new corporate identity of the club. We tried to create a badge that was not so heraldic and that was more modern, so it could be more easily used in merchandising.”

He continued: “We were very clear when we arrived that we really have a start-up model. In other words, we had to prioritise what we wanted to do in order to do it well and later grow in other areas, in organisation, fans, administration, etc. Now we are at a very good point, even if it’s very demanding. LaLiga SmartBank demands a lot from you. It demands a lot from you in terms of infrastructure, branding, internationalisation and the need to see the entity more as a business.”

For a club that was competing in the fifth tier of the Spanish footballing pyramid just four years ago, it’s not easy to make these sweeping changes. But, the Boost LaLiga project helps immensely, as Vilaseca told the World Football Summit audience during his talk.

He said: “Thanks to Boost LaLiga, we have a series of resources with which we can take on these new challenges and new needs that we have as a club. We need to strategically position what FC Andorra is, look at globalisation and explain to the world why we’re different. Above all, what we want is to professionalise and internationalise the club. I have to say that LaLiga, through Boost LaLiga, has the right programmes to help us achieve these new challenges.”

As FC Andorra continue to evolve in the club offices, one thing that won’t change is the club’s sporting methodology. From the very start, they’ve been clear about the style of football they want to play and the dedication to this has already brought the Pyrenean side this far.

As the club’s president concluded: “Ultimately, we are a football club. We have always been very clear that the most important thing is the ball. We wanted to create a club model based on a playing style. What is our big idea? The sporting model. The style of play we want is indisputable.”

This sporting model has undoubtedly worked so far, as the team competes head-to-head with historic and great Spanish clubs in the silver category. The Andorran club aspires to continue growing as an entity and to dream big.