Jaume Vila i Capdevila

Jaime Vila Capdevila (1860 – 21 July 1954) was a Spanish physical education teacher, sports promoter and leader. He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of gymnastics and football in Catalonia, having been one of the fundamental heads behind the Tolosa Gymnasium, which he served as a teacher and later as director, as well as being the main driving force behind the foundation of Català FC, serving as the first president of the club between 1899 and 1905.

As the founder of Català, Vila was the great rival of FC Barcelona, founded by Joan Gamper, at the turn of the century. Jaime Vila's Català and Gamper's FC Barcelona would star in a long controversy about the "Deanery" of football in the city. In addition to gymnastics and football, he also promoted athletics, wrestling, fencing and boxing.

In the early 1890s, he set out to create a system that would make work all the muscles of the body, without exception. Although he already had some knowledge about anatomy, he asked for the advice of a doctor to make sure it was safe. His system consisted of a series of exercises, and he named it after "Physical culture". He was also a member of the Center Excursionista de Catalunya for more than forty years. creating the football team Sociedad Deportiva Tolosa, which trained in Bonanova. On 21 October 1899, Vila, together with his students, founded the Català Futbol Club, in a meeting held at the Tolosa gym, thus becoming the first football team formed in Catalonia. Although the club was founded in October, Català was not officially established until 17 December 1899, in a meeting held in the Café San Gervasio de Cassolas, in which they formalized the first board of directors with Vila being named the club's first president, while Miguel Valdés, one of his best students, became the club's treasurer. On 25 February 1900, Vila played in a friendly against Escocès FC at Bonanova, which ended in a 1–5 loss. He also played one unofficial match for FC Barcelona in the 1901–02 season.

On 10 January 1903, the name of the club changed to Català Sport Club, when the club merged with the recent-dissolved Club Universitari, but Vila stayed at the heel and kept carrying out the effective presidency, and later, the honorary one. His legacy as a pioneer of Catalan football has been largely forgotten due to his discretion and simplicity.

Gimnàs Vila In 1904 he founded Gimnàs Vila , where he continued his work as a great popularizer and promoter of physical culture, gymnastics, athletics, Greco-Roman wrestling, fencing, and boxing. In 1908 he inaugurated the weapons room, where he practiced fencing, as well as the boxing room, known as Sala Vidal.

Death Vila suffered a stroke a few years later, from which he recovered almost entirely by force through gymnastics. Vila died on 21 July 1954 at the age of 94.