2023-07-08 14:00:50
BarcelonaWear Maradona, Schuster or Koeman under the Blaugrana colors to go bankrupt. A series of defaults and subsequently several changes of ownership took the Meyba brand off the playing field. Now, years later, the brand will once again equip football clubs with the help of Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu. A return with inevitable airs of nostalgia. The Barcelona club will wear clothing from the Meyba brand next season. The Catalan textile company is back in the news after reaching an agreement to wear the striped shirt for the next three seasons. Sant Andreu has just been promoted to Segona RFEF – the former Third Division – and, following the support of its social mass, which exceeds 2,500 subscribers, the club announced this week the agreement with Meyba.
The impact of this link between the Catalan textile company and Sant Andreu had more than 300,000 interactions on Twitter after it became official. “We knew it would resonate with the situation of the club and the return of the brand, but to get more than 300,000 interactions in 24 hours I did not expect,” Toni Reguant, one of Meyba’s main partners, tells ARA with emotion. The clothing brand will renew the two main kits and will also be releasing a line of products throughout the year, varied between winter and summer.
From Sant Andreu they highlight the good reception the agreement has had and assure that the link will be a success. “We are very happy and in a very sweet moment. Meyba and Sant Andreu coming together is a benefit for everyone, not only for our fans and the people who like the brand, but also for football Catalan in general. At the end of the day, it’s a historic club together with a historic brand from here,” says Gerard Álvarez, spokesperson and manager of the club. “The merger between Meyba and Sant Andreu benefits everyone, it’s not about money, it’s about symbolism, Catalanism and projecting Catalan football,” adds Álvarez.
The return to the scene of the Meyba brand
The return of Meyba is the return of a brand founded and promoted during the decade of the 40s in the city of Barcelona by publicist Joaquim Mestre and couturier Josep Ballbé. In its beginnings, it was a benchmark in terms of swimwear, which were common on the beaches of Barcelona. Even among the population they referred to bathing suits as “the Meyba”.
The company also became a pioneer in the world of sports, dressing great stars and teams such as Barça, Espanyol, Betis, Osasuna or Atlético de Madrid, among many others. All of them have, at some point in their history, worn the legendary Catalan brand. Now, after a few years of inactivity, Meyba returns to Catalan football and does so by playing for Sant Andreu in one of the sweetest moments of the Barcelona club. Both Toni Reguant and Gerard Álvarez agree that the agreement between the two parties has been simple thanks to the common goals and values, synthesized in the Catalan sentiment, the fair play and the goal of representing and benefiting Catalan football.
Meyba and his iconic relationship with Barça
Meyba’s history with Sant Andreu is the present and the future, but the Catalan textile company is closely linked with Barça. The company signed a sponsorship agreement with the Barcelona club in the 1981-82 season and for the following ten years. Meyba dressed Barça during the best moments of the Dream Team, commanded by Johan Cruyff and with footballers such as Stoichkov, Laudrup, Koeman or a young Pep Guardiola. Meyba and Barça were together when the club celebrated its first ever Champions League at Wembley.
Right after that, the bond between the two parties ended. Meyba would go from more to less and fall into bankruptcy. In 1997 it closed for good with a large debt that it could not cope with. After being acquired by the Pulligan Group and subsequently falling into near oblivion, the brand would see a new impetus in 2013. Premium Inc., a group of sportswear enthusiasts based in the Netherlands and points of sale around the world, acquired part of Meyba’s services and got to introduce it to the equipment of Twente, a team of the Eredivise, the Dutch First Division.
Now, with Sant Andreu, Meyba returns to Catalan football. “We’re back to stay. We don’t refuse to dream big, but down to earth.” His bet is also digital and Catalan, and looking to connect with audiences of all ages. Meyba: from nostalgia to the present.
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