Arthur Witty
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arthur Witty Cotton | ||
| Date of birth | 1878 | ||
| Place of birth | Barcelona, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 1969 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1899–1905 | FC Barcelona | 41 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Arthur Witty Cotton, also known as Don Arturo, was a footballer, club president and businessman. Witty played for FC Barcelona in the first Copa del Rey final and later served as club president between 1903 and 1905. He was also a successful trader and his family company, the Witty Group, continues to operate today. He is the older brother of Ernest Witty.
Witty was the son of Frederick Witty, a British entrepreneur, who settled in Barcelona. Frederick, who belonged to a Yorkshire family, initially intended to emigrate to Argentina but was persuaded to go to Spain by friends. In 1873 he founded his own shipping agency under the name of F. Witty, subsequently establishing business links between Spain and the United Kingdom. Arthur and his brother, Ernest, were educated at Merchant Taylors' School in Merseyside, where sport was regarded as a major part of a young man's development. While at Merchant Taylors, Arthur played as a forward for the local rugby union team, Waterloo FC. On their return to Barcelona the two brothers joined their father's company which now became known as Witty Sociedad Anónima, Witty S.A.
Arthur and Ernest returned to Spain with a love of sports. Unable to play rugby 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 Barcelona. Ernest, a Spanish national tennis champion, played tennis with, among others, Joan Gamper and when Gamper founded FC Barcelona in October 1899, the Witty brothers quickly became involved. They used their company to imports regulation balls, referees whistles and nets from England. 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. However FC Basel and other clubs that Gamper played for and his home canton of Zurich and have all been credited and/or claimed to be the inspiration. Either way, Old Merchant Taylors' BaaBarians hockey team carry FC Barcelona shirts as their away strip in tribute to Arthur Witty.
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