Emilio Max Gaissert (22 June 1883 – 11 July 1946) was a Spanish merchant and a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

in 1903 and 1904, although he only played in one official match in the 1902–03 Copa Barcelona.

Early life

Gaissert was born on 22 June 1883 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, as the son of Émile Gaissert (1857–), a Swiss merchant who moved to Barcelona for work reasons, being registered at the Swiss consulate in Barcelona in 1883, the same year that he had his first son, who was only registered in 1903, when he was already 20 years old. His father became a delegate of the Zurich Company in Barcelona in 1884 and then a responsible delegate of the Swiss Benevolent Society, as well as a prominent member of the . Émile Gaissert was an uncle of

Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably FC Barcelona and FC Zür ...

, who was, therefore, cousin of Emil. Gamper arrived in Barcelona in 1898 to visit his uncle Émile, who welcomed him in his house in

Sant Gervasi de Cassoles The Former Municipalities of Barcelona, former municipality of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles (in Spanish language, Spanish, ''San Gervasio de Cassolas''), annexed to Barcelona in 1897, extended over a large part of the former district III of Barcelona ...

in the no. 25 Sant Josep street. Émile convinced him to stay, since the opportunities offered by the city, which had just emerged from the

1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. It was also the ...

, were many, and eventually, Gamper founded FC Barcelona. His father Émile was able to contribute financially to the foundation of FC Barcelona.

Playing career

Gaissert finally joined the ranks of FC Barcelona in 1903, playing only three matches with them, making his debut in a Copa Barcelona match against

X Sporting Club The X Sporting Club, officially founded as Football Club X, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed during the years 1902 and 1908. They won the Catalan championship three times in a row between 1905 and 1908. X Sporting Club ...

on 1 February 1903, which ended in a 13–0 victory, partly thanks to a 9-goal haul from his cousin. By playing in this match, Gaissert was part of the squad that then won the Copa Barcelona title. However, this was also the only official match that he ever played for the club since his next two appearances with the first team were both in

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, including in FC Barcelona's international debut on 1 May 1904, in which he started as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

against Stade Olympien des Etudiants de Toulouse (SOET) in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

, the club's first-ever trip abroad. Some publications wrongly confuse him with his fellow FC Barcelona Swiss player Emilio Gass, stating that "Gass" was a pseudonym used by him.

Professional career

Professionally, he was a merchant, or "commerçant". The Gaisserts were also linked to

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and in fact, the colours of FC Barcelona might have their origins in a

lodge Lodge is originally a term for a relatively small building, often associated with a larger one. Lodge or The Lodge may refer to: Buildings and structures Specific * The Lodge (Australia), the official Canberra residence of the Prime Ministe ...

, the one to which the Gaissert, a relative of the founder of the club, belonged. Their links to freemasonry also most likely led them to a close friendship with other key families in the history of the club, such as the Saint Nobles (George Saint Noble, known as "brother electricity", and the footballers

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...

and Royston Saint Noble) and

Samuel James Morris Samuel James Morris Campbell (3 February 1842 – 12 December 1909), commonly known as Jaime Morris, was an English businessman and engineer. He is best known for being one of the first pioneers of football in Catalonia, playing as a goalkeeper fo ...

, the father of the Morris brothers.

Death

Gaissert died in Barcelona on 11 July 1946, at the age of .

Honours

''FC Barcelona'' * Copa Barcelona: ** Winners (1):

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaissert, Emilio 1883 births 1946 deaths Footballers from Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Barcelona players