Barcelona announces death of Manel Vich, voice of Camp Nou

The Camp Nou has gone quiet.

On Friday, Barcelona announced that Manel Vich, the stadium announcer at the Camp Nou since 1958, passed away at the age of 78 years old because of his "delicate health."

Vich, a club member at Barcelona since the age of 15, got his big break in 1958 during a testimonial match between the Blaugrana and Elche, played in honour of Cesar Rodriguez, one of the Catalan club's most legendary strikers. At the interval, the 20-year-old announced the gifts that Cesar had received over the Camp Nou's loudspeaker system, and the idea was so applauded that Richard Combas, Barcelona's then-head of staff, offered him the chance to welcome supporters to every home fixture from then on.

Remarkably, Vich only missed four matches over nearly six decades, one of which was Barcelona's 6-0 La Liga thrashing of Sporting Gijon one week ago as he was unable to perform his regular duties.

From Barcelona's official website:

There was something enchanting about Manel Vich’s voice. It had a dignified an air of respect, politeness and responsibility. Whether it was to read out the team line-ups, name substitutions, make service announcements or call for a minute’s silence, his voice became synonymous with the experience of watching a game at the Camp Nou. It will never be the same without him. May he rest in peace.

Barcelona is observing three days of mourning following Vich's death.