Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals a unique and bespoke artefact that was added to Leicester City's Heritage collection during the close season.
When Leicester City played Villarreal CF behind closed doors at their pre-season training camp at Évian-les-Bains in July, the La Liga side presented to the Foxes this unusual Trencadis memento which features the shirts of Villarreal and Leicester City.
Trencadis is a Catalan term which means ‘broken up tiles’. It is a technique which cements together broken pieces of tiles, chinaware, glass or marble to create patterned mosaics.
This method was revived in the early 20th century by the renowned Catalan artist and architect Antoni Gaudí, who is famous for designing the famous and uniquely styled Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. He also used the Trencadis technique, which is one of his most personal hallmarks, when designing Park Güell as well as some other sites in Barcelona.
The memento was created by Pamesa Cerámica, which designs, manufactures and distributes ceramic projects and whose name appears as a club sponsor on the front of the Villarreal shirt.
Villarreal seems to have a tradition of presenting unusual gifts to their opponents. After their pre-season friendly at King Power Stadium three years ago, the Spanish club presented LCFC with a ceramic model of a cartoon yellow submarine. This referenced Villarreal’s ‘Yellow Submarine’ nickname, which itself was prompted by the La Liga club’s all-yellow strip.
