- Ernest Witty
Football player infobox
playername= Ernest Witty
fullname = Ernest Witty Cotton
dateofbirth =
cityofbirth =Barcelona ,Spain
countryofbirth =Spain
years = 1904-1905
clubs=FC Barcelona
caps(goals) = X (X)Ernest Witty Cotton, (born
Barcelona ,Spain ), was an Anglo/Spanish footballer, tennis player and businessman. In 1899 Witty, a Spanish national tennis champion, became a founding member of the Real Club de Tenis de Barcelona and in the early 1900s he played forFC Barcelona . He was also a successful trader and his family company, the Witty Group, continues to operate today. He is the younger brother ofArthur Witty .Early years
Witty was the son of Frederick Witty, a British entrepreneur, who settled in
Barcelona . Frederick, who belonged to aYorkshire family, initially intended to emigrate toArgentina but was persuaded to go toSpain by friends. In 1873 he founded his own shipping agency under the name of F. Witty, subsequently establishing business links betweenSpain and theUnited Kingdom . Ernest and his brother Arthur were educated at Merchant Taylors' School inMerseyside , where sport was regarded as a major part of a young man’s development. On their return toBarcelona the two brothers joined their father’s company which now became known as Witty Sociedad Anonima, Witty S.A.FC Barcelona
Ernest and Arthur and returned to
Spain with a love of sports. Unable to playrugby union due to a lack of suitable pitches, the Wittys began to organise football games between company teams made up of employees. In 1899 Ernest also became a founding member of the Real Club de Tenis de Barcelona. Ernest playedtennis with, among others,Joan Gamper and when Gamper foundedFC Barcelona in October 1899, the Witty brothers quickly became involved. They used their company to imports regulation balls, referees whistles and nets fromEngland . Legend also has it that the Witty brothers also imported the legendary club colours, the "blaugrana", from the original colours used by Merchant Taylors' rugby team. HoweverFC Basel and other Swiss clubs that Gamper played for and his home canton ofZurich and have all been credited and/or claimed to be the inspiration. In 1905 Witty, together withRomà Forns , also helpedFC Barcelona win it’s first Championat de Catalunya.Honours
"Footballer"
FC Barcelona
*Catalan Champions: 1
**1904-05Sources
*"Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football" (2003), Phil Ball.
* "Barça: A People’s Passion" (1998), Jimmy Burns.External links
* [http://www.wittygroup.com/about/about.htm Ernest Witty at the Witty Group]
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