Ignasi Torné Gualdo | Community Manager, Content & Social Media Strategist

Hi Ignasi, thank you for taking the time to speak to us today. Firstly, can you tell our readers about yourself, what you currently do and how did you end up where you are right now? Also, when did you know you wanted to work in football?

I’m from Barcelona but currently living in Pamplona. Everyone that knows me in football calls me Natxo. I’m a Social Media Strategist and a Content Producer for brands and companies.

Started doing some jobs for Copa90, writing and publishing photos and articles for Panenka, Mundial Magazine, Líbero and Staantribune — some of Europe’s most notorious football magazines. Then, I received an offer from a professional club and I moved to Argentina in 2017 to work in Marketing for Newell’s Old Boys, Leo Messi’s favourite club.

Back to Barcelona, I got a new position as City Tour Leader and Coordinator, planning football trips, coordinating fans and creating content on some of the fiercest football derbies in the world: Buenos Aires, Belgrade, Rome, Montevideo, Milan, Madrid, Sevilla, Marseille and Bilbao.

I learnt English in San Francisco (California) and studied at Staffordshire University. I discovered how influenced I was by football and travelling and the number of stories I lived, so I felt the need to talk about my experiences while travelling and working. So, I moved to London for the Olympics in 2012 to live English football at its best. Then I got a job as a tour guide in Barcelona, taking people to the stadium and talking about my city’s history, art and gastronomy. Finally, I realized, “What’s going on? This makes me feel so good. This is going to be my party, believe me”.

As a Community Manager for Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys, can you explain what that entails and what does a ‘typical’ week look like?

First of all, we need to contextualize South American football at its most passional stage, so your weekly plan depends absolutely on every game. I highlight the importance of coordination and internal communication with my colleagues in Rosario as I work remotely. When it comes to creating and posting content, the landscape in football’s social media has changed, but official club’s sources remain strong.

We discovered that Newell’s Old Boys is one of the most appreciable, reliable and charismatic South American football clubs because of its history and famous fans, like Leo Messi, Marcelo Bielsa, Lionel Scaloni, Mauricio Pochettino and Diego Maradona.

You are also a Content Creator for COPA90, can you tell our readers a little bit about this role?

I never talk about just the game by itself, there are so many things going on while a football game is played, and that’s what I cover. I love football fans and I try to explore what makes them beat what we call ‘football culture’. As a result of many years travelling and meeting people, I can smell where the good stories are and I probably know someone from there, so I started working as a fixer and producer, hiring adequate profiles for documentaries and commercial campaigns like Budweiser with Leo Messi.

What would you say is your biggest achievement so far in your career?

I would say the Two Cannes Lions we won with Bud Football but that’s too easy to say. Probably my humble first step publishing an article without any professional knowledge, just being brave and fearless. But I will never forget travelling to Argentina to watch the World Cup Final and shooting ‘the end of the world’, it was exhausting and risky, but nothing compares to be there while the rest of the professionals were in Qatar all together talking about the same stories.

What general advice would you give to individuals looking to pursue a career in Social Media and Content Creation in football?

I don’t feel I really have understood what’s behind social media in football, but I just do what I love in the best way I know: keep it simple and authentic. I’m not an expert on the game, so I don’t talk about tactics. I don’t even care about it, because you will never find amazing stories like in football. It’s only in football and this is what makes the difference to me as a professional.

Can you share 3 useful tools or resources which you find helpful to fulfil your role?

I couldn’t survive without Grammarly, Hootsuite and CapCut!

Working in sport, can be hectic, so what do you do to switch off outside of work?

I discovered how hard is to switch off my brain from football, even when I watch a movie I’m constantly thinking about how much that scene cost or how they managed to shoot it. You can’t imagine how much I love gastronomy and photography, so just drive somewhere listening to a good podcast.

And finally Ignasi, where can people find you on social media to connect?

Instagram: @groundhopperbarcelona.

Twitter: @groundhopperbcn.

TikTok: @groundhopperbarcelona.

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