RafaelHernández

It all started on Twitter out of pure passion to talk about Barça with fans, and nowadays it's hard to look back and think it began with tweeting hashtags and knowing someone close to Isco in a crazy transfer saga involving Manchester City. What started as casual commentary grew into a combined following of over 340 thousand across X, Instagram and Facebook, with features on numerous international outlets including Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, Daily Star and Express.

I was even threatened with lawsuits directly by Bartomeu's lawyers, and a few years later it was confirmed that I was among the people that the club under his presidency paid money to smear online as part of the BarçaGate scandal. Yes, my own club went after me, nothing personal eh? Crazy.

After Laporta returned to the presidency and Bartomeu resigned, I took a step back from the ferocious involvement in Barcelona's politics that had defined much of my previous decade. Nowadays I still love the club as much as ever and I continue to always speak my mind, no matter what, but I've traded sources and football agents for something different. I moved to the countryside, where I spend my time taking care of rare desert plants and dealing with animals. A quieter life, but never a quiet voice.

Founded a digital marketing and consulting agency together with my best friend, and we've put our fingers in many pies since then. Specializing in SEO, web design, content strategy, influencer management and social media growth, the agency has served over a hundred clients across multiple industries in Brazil and abroad. Influencer management is something I'm particularly proud of, having helped coordinate social media campaigns for multinational corporations more times than I ever imagined possible. What I love most about this work is the behind-the-scenes nature of it. I make things happen without anyone knowing I did it, and that's exactly how I like it.

I assisted the betting house in finding influencers and partners for 1xBet, first in Spain, then expanding into England, Nigeria and eventually Brazil, coordinating part of their influencer recruitment team across multiple markets. I have nothing but gratitude for this wonderful partnership and the trust they placed in me over those four years.

Hosted 24 episodes of the Bleav in Barcelona podcast as part of the Bleav Podcast Network, delivering unfiltered analysis on FC Barcelona and European football. The show combined deep tactical breakdowns with transfer coverage and honest political commentary that ruffled more than a few feathers. Unfortunately, the demands of my working life made it impossible to maintain the consistency the podcast deserved and invest in it the way it needed, so the project was put on hold. The episodes remain available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. I'm deeply thankful to Xus Badia, Cal Khalifa, Dimitar Milanoff and Chris for helping me in this endeavor.

Of everything I've done, Grup 14 is the project where I invested the most of myself. Back in 2014, frustrated with Barcelona's political situation, I started developing an independent media organization dedicated to the club and its global supporter community together with my friend Heimo, originally under the name Clan Sunyol. Alongside Xus and Aagat, we officially founded the organization as Grup 14.

The platform brought together writers, analysts and passionate culés from around the world to produce in-depth editorial content, investigative pieces and fan-driven commentary during one of the most turbulent periods in the club's modern history. We covered everything from match analysis and transfer news to tactical breakdowns, club history and exclusive interviews with club officials, presidential candidates and retired players, all published across multiple languages. Grup 14 became a rallying point for supporters demanding transparency and accountability from the board, earning recognition across international Barça fan communities.

At its height, we had over a hundred people working simultaneously on the project. During Grup 14's existence, almost all of the most followed Barcelona fan accounts in English, Spanish and Catalan were involved. We even had the presence of writers like René Marić, now Bayern Munich's assistant coach under Vincent Kompany, and historians like Ángel Iturriaga Barco, a doctor in contemporary history and author of the definitive Diccionario de jugadores del FC Barcelona, whose doctoral thesis was literally titled 'The political and social power in the history of FC Barcelona.' I can proudly say that to this day the ripples from what we created are ever present in the club's online landscape.

Unfortunately, after a few years it became financially unsustainable to maintain the entire infrastructure. Barcelona under Bartomeu blacklisted us from media access to the point where even our photographer couldn't enter the Camp Nou, and we officially closed doors in 2018. Curiously, a die-hard fan made a backup of the entire site, and it's still up to this day. Thanks, Mate.

One of the first to practice online games journalism in Brazil's internet space, together with a great group of friends from the online gaming community. We were part of one of the biggest outlets at the time, back when the practice was still in its infancy and nobody really knew what we were doing, including ourselves.