FC Barcelona

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FC Barcelona
logo
Full nameFutbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s)Barça
Founded1899
GroundCamp Nou,
Barcelona, Catalonia,
Spain
Capacity98,600
ChairmanSpain Joan Laporta
ManagerNetherlands Frank Rijkaard
LeagueFirst Division
2004-05First Division, 1st

Template:Sport in the Catalan-speaking world

FC Barcelona is a polideportivo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, British and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper. Its motto is El Barça és més que un club (Barça is more than a club). Its main stadium is the Nou Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona, popularly known as the Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona is very much more than a football club. It is perhaps the best example of a polideportivo. Although best known for its La Liga football team and its reserve football team FC Barcelona B, the club also incorporates other professional sports teams, having expanded into basketball, handball, roller hockey and American football. The teams involved in these sports are subsidised by the football section and wear the same colours. These include Winterthur FCB, FC Barcelona-Cifec and the now defunct FC Barcelona Dragons.

The club also includes number of prominent amateur sports teams that compete at rugby union, women's basketball, women's football and wheelchair basketball. These include FCB Rugby, UB-Barça, FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman. Other amateur teams represent the club at ice hockey, five-a-side football, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating and volleyball.

Barça have to date refused to allow sponsorship logos on their football shirts. This is because the Barça colours are traditionally seen as a symbol of Catalonia and logos have been regarded as intrusive. Even their kit manufacturer, Nike's swoosh was controversial. However since 2005 Barça have worn the TV3 logo of Televisió de Catalunya on the left arm.

History

Foundation

On October 22 1899 Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Sole on November 29. Eleven players attended : Gualteri Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons, and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born. Several other Spanish football clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also had British founders, and as a result they initially adopted English-style names.

Legend has it that that Gamper chose the legendary club colours, blaugrana / azulgrana, after FC Basel, his former club. However other Swiss teams Gamper played for, his home canton of Zurich and Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby, Merseyside have all been credited and/or claimed to be the inspiration. Initially the club used the same coat of arms as the city of Barcelona, but in 1910 the club organized a competition to design their own. It was won by an anonymous entrant who produced the present model.

Campionat de Catalunya

FC Barcelona was just one of several football clubs that emerged in Catalonia around this time. Others included Palamós CF, Catala SC(1899), Hispania AC (1900) and Sociedad Espanola de Football and later CE Europa. Soon there were enough clubs to organise a league and in December 1900 Alfons Macaya, president of Hispania AC, offered a trophy. The Copa Macaya eventually evolved into the Campionat de Catalunya. This was the first league championship ever played in Spain. FC Barcelona won their first trophy when they won the Copa Macaya in 1901. They subsequently won the Campionat de Catalunya a further 20 times before it was disbanded in 1940. In 1902 the club also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2-1 to Club Vizcaya.

The Gamper Years

File:Culés.jpg
Group of culés at the first Barça stadium

In 1908 Joan Gamper became club president for the first time. He subsequently held the position on five separate occasions (1908-09, 1910-12, 1917-19, 1921-23 and 1924-25) and spent 25 years at the helm. His main achievement as president was to give Barca their own stadium. He also launcehed a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000 members. Gamper also introduced legendary players like Paulino Alcántara, Ricardo Zamora, and Josep Samitier . These players helped the club dominate both the Championat de Catalunya and Copa del Rey and then win the first La Liga championship in 1929.

Until 1909 the team played in various stadiums, none of them owned by the club. On March 14th 1909, the 6,000 seat stadium of Carrer Industria opened its door. In 1922 the club moved to a new home at Les Corts. This stadium had an initial capacity of 30,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000. It was during these early years in these stadiums that Barça fans acquired their nickname the culés (pronounced /kuˈles/). Roughly translated from Catalan, it means arses. Far from being offensive, the name refers to fans seated in the highest row of the stadium. From outside passers-by could only see their arses. Barça fans have been referred to culés ever since. As of November 2005, there are about 1730 officially registered supporters clubs of FC Barcelona around the world.

Rivalry with Real Madrid

The rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid is legendary. From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of the two rival regions of Spain, Catalonia and Castile, as well as the two cities themselves. However the rivalry reached a new level during the Franco years when Real Madrid was considered to be the "regime team" while FC Barcelona was regarded as the team of the opposition.

During the Spanish Civil War, however, members of both clubs suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. FC Barcelona president Josep Sunyol was murdered while Real Madrid president Rafael Sánchez Guerra, a prominent Republican, was imprisoned and tortured. They also arrested and murdered a Real vice-president and club treasurer and an acting president was disappeared. In contrast Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora openly supported Franco.

After the war the Catalan language and flag were banned. These measures led to the club changing its name to Club de Futbol Barcelona and the removal of two of the four red bars on the coat of arms. In 1940 Enric Pineyro, a Franco collaborator, was appointed club president. The rivalry with Real intensified further after the 1943 Copa del Generalismo semi-final between the two clubs. The first leg at Les Corts ended in a 3-0 victory to Barca, but the return leg saw them defeated 11-1. It has been alleged that the Barca players were pressured into loosing the game and Pineyro, by now a convert to the Barca cause, resigned in protest. The dispute over Alfredo Di Stefano during the 1950s added more spice. When he eventually moved to Real it was interpretated as favourtism by Barca supporters.

There is no doubt that Franco benefited from Real's achievements in Europe and used the club for propaganda purposes. However within Spain, Franco also used the continued success of CF Barcelona to try and prove that his regime was tolerant. He also encouraged the rivalry between the two clubs in order to distract their supporters from politics.

CF Barcelona

CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s. In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 they also won the first Copa Latino, a forerunner of the European Cup. Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to win five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Copa Latino and the Copa Eva Duarte in 1952. In 1953 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalisimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalisimo again in 1957 and the Fairs Cup in 1958.

With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suarez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup game, thus ending their monopoly of the competition.

The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fuste and Charly Rexach from their cantera and the club winning the Copa del Generalisimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. In 1968 the club restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the Copa del Generalisimo final at the Bernabeu.

The Cruyff Years

File:CampNou02.jpg
Camp Nou

The 1973/74 season saw the arrival of a new Barca legend – Johan Cruyff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barca fans when he told the European press he chose Barca over Real because he could not play for a club associated with Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year twice in a row while at club.

Cruyff returned to the club as manager in the 1988, assembling the legendary Dream Team, named after the US basketball team that played at the 1992 Olympic Games hosted by Barcelona. Cruyff introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Aitor Beguiristain, Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov. The latter was also voted European Footballer of the Year in 1994. This team won La Liga four times between 1991 and 1994 and beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 European Cup Winners Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruyff has been the club's most successful manager to date. He is also the club's longest serving manager. However in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies and fell out with Josep Lluís Nuñez. This resulted in his departure.

The Nuñez Years

Despite having no previous connection with the club Josep Lluís Nuñez was elected president of FC Barcelona in 1978. His main objectives were to establish Barca as a world class sports club and to give the club financial stability.

In 1979 and 1982 the club won two of four European Cup Winners Cups won in the Nuñez era. In 1982 Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee from Boca Juniors. However his time with Barca was short-lived and unsuccessful and he soon left for Napoli. In 1985 under Terry Venables Barca won La Liga and in 1986 he took the team to their second European Cup final, only to lose on penalties to Steaua Bucharest.

In 1988 Nuñez appointed Johan Cruyff as manager. Despite the latter’s success with the Dream Team, personal differences saw Nuñez sacking him in 1996. He was temporarily replaced by Bobby Robson who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996/97. He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV Eindhoven and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, European Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. As a result, FC Barcelona was awarded as the world's best football team of 1997 by the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics)[1]. Among Robson’s non-playing staff was José Mourinho who assisted with training and acted as translator.

Despite his success, Robson was only ever seen as a short-term solution while the club waited for Louis van Gaal to become available. Like Maradona, Ronaldo only stayed a short time and he left for Inter Milan. However, new heros like Luis Figo, Luis Enrique and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey/La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 they retained the La Liga and Rivaldo became the fourth Barca player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the Champions League led to Van Gaal resigning in 2000.

2000 also saw the resignation of Nuñez after 22 years as club president. Although not always popular, as evidenced by dozens of votes of no-confidence, players’ rebellions and the open opposition led by Johan Cruyff, Nuñez has been Barca’s most successful president in terms of winning trophies. During his presidency the club’s four professional teams amassed 176 trophies – 30 in football, 36 in basketball, 65 in handball and 45 in roller hockey. This included a remarkable quartet in 1999, the club’s centenary year, when the four teams where all crowned champions of Spain.

The Departure Of Figo

The departures of Nuñez and Van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luis Figo. As well as club captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. It is widely believed that his dislike of the new president, Joan Gaspart, triggered his departure for arch-rivals Real Madrid. The Barca fans were distraught by Figo’s decision to join Real and during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou, Figo was given an extremely hostile reception. The next three years saw the club in decline. Expensive players like Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars were regularly accused of not pulling their weight. Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003 he resigned.

Recent Events

El Barça 2005

In more recent times Barca has enjoyed a revival. A combination of a new and enthusiastic president, Joan Laporta and a new manager, Frank Rijkaard saw the club bounce back. On the field an influx of talented new players like Henrik Larsson, Ronaldinho, Deco, Ludovic Giuly and Samuel Eto'o and experienced professionals like Rafael Márquez and Gio combined with a nucleus of home grown players such Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Oleguer and Víctor Valdés saw the club win La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2005. Ronaldinho was also added to the list of Barca players voted European Footballer of the Year. The only disappointment was their defeat against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.

Strengthened by the arrival of Mark van Bommel and the emergence of Lionel Messi, who is now seen as a successor to the great Diego Armando Maradona, the current season has seen Barça continue where they left off. Playing attractive and attacking football, the team is top of La Liga and has qualified for the UEFA Champions League round of 16. Highlights of the season so far have included an emphatic 3-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on November 19th 2005, when even the home fans applauded two-goal hero Ronaldinho, and an 18 game winning streak in all competitions.

Major Trophies


  • Spanish Champions: 17
    • 1928-29, 1944-45, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1973-74, 1984-85, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2004-05
  • Copa Macaya/Catalan Champions: 21
    • 1901-02, 1904-05, 1908-09, 1909-10, 1910-11, 1912-13, 1915-16, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1933-34, 1935-36, 1937-38
  • Copa del Rey: 24
    • 1909-10, 1911-12, 1912-13, 1919-20, 1921-22, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1927-28, 1941-42, 1950-51, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1956-57, 1962-63, 1967-68, 1970-71, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1987-88, 1989-90, 1996-97, 1997-98
  • Copa Catalunya : 5
    • 1990-91, 1992-93, 1999-2000, 2003-04, 2004-05

Squad

Current Squad 2005/06

The numbers are established according to the official website:www.fcbarcelona.com and www.lfp.es

FC Barcelona's most common lineup during 2004/2005 Season

As of February 1 2006 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Spain ESP Víctor Valdés
2 DF Brazil BRA Juliano Belletti
3 MF Brazil BRA Thiago Motta
4 DF Mexico MEX Rafael Márquez
5 DF Spain ESP Carles Puyol (Capt)
6 MF Spain ESP Xavi
7 FW Sweden SWE Henrik Larsson
8 FW France FRA Ludovic Giuly
9 FW Cameroon CMR Samuel Eto'o
10 MF Brazil BRA Ronaldinho
11 FW Argentina ARG Maxi López
12 DF Netherlands NED Gio van Bronckhorst
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 FW Spain ESP Santiago Ezquerro
15 DF Brazil BRA Edmílson
16 DF Brazil BRA Sylvinho
17 MF Netherlands NED Mark van Bommel
18 MF Spain ESP Gabri de la Torre
19 FW Argentina ARG Lionel Messi
20 MF Portugal POR Deco
23 DF Spain ESP Oleguer Presas
24 MF Spain ESP Andrés Iniesta
25 GK Spain ESP Jorquera
26 DF Spain ESP Rodri
33 MF Spain ESP Jordi Gomez

Squad changes during 2005/06 season

In:

Out:

Statistics 2004/05

First Division Position Pts P W D L F A
FC Barcelona 1 84 38 25 9 4 73 29
  • Top Scorers:
    • Eto'o - 25 goals
    • Giuly - 11 goals
    • Ronaldinho - 10 goals
  • Top Goalkeepers
    • Victor Valdes - 24 goals conceded In 36 Matches
    • Ruben - 1 goal conceded In 2 Matches

Managers & Players

Selected Managers

see also Category:FC Barcelona Managers

Top players

   

see also Category:FC Barcelona footballers

Stadium Information

  • Name - Camp Nou
  • City - Barcelona
  • Capacity - 98,000
  • Inauguration - 1957
  • Pitch size - 105 x 72 mts.
  • Other Facilities: La Masia

Template:Champions League 2005/06

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