FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona, also known as Barça, is a sports club in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain with sections in many different sports. Founded in 1899 by a group of twelve, led by Joan Gamper, its motto is "El Barça és més que un club" (Catalan for Barça is more than a club). Its main stadium is the Nou Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona, popularly known as the Camp Nou, in Barcelona.

History

Early Years

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FC Barcelona was founded by Swiss businessman Hans Kamper, who embraced Catalan nationalism so fervently that he changed his name to the Catalan Joan Gamper. Gamper changed the club's original name to the current Catalan version. Everything started when he decided to put a message in a local newspaper asking for players to join him in a relatively unknown sport called football. Eleven players attended this meeting: Gualteri Wild, Lluis d'Ossa, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons, and William Parsons. The club's international nature has been a quality since the first days of its existence, as shown by still holding the original Anglican version of its name Futbol Club Barcelona, instead of the formal Spanish version Club de Futbol Barcelona.

Related Topics:
Swiss - Catalan - Joan Gamper - Football

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The team did not have to wait much time for their first trophy, as in 1901 they won the Copa Macaya, later known as the Campionat de Catalunya (Championship of Catalonia). Until 1909 the team played in different stadiums, none of them owned by the club. On March 14 of that year, the 6,000 seat stadium of Carrer Industria (Industry Street) opened its door. It was the first field owned by FC Barcelona. During these years the club experienced their first growth period, in terms of sport titles and social mass.

Related Topics:
1901 - 1909 - March 14

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The Golden Years

Legendary players like Alcantara, Zamora, and Samitier boosted the club's success with brilliant playing style, bringing the team to a Golden Age of expansion. By 1922, the club opened the doors of its stadium of Les Corts, which had an initial capacity of 30,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000. Besides dominating Spanish and Catalan championships, they won the first edition of the Spanish League in 1929.

Related Topics:
Alcantara - Zamora - Samitier - 1922 - Spanish League - 1929

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Crisis and the Civil War

The ongoing crisis, started in the late 1920s during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, only got worse after the start of the Spanish Civil War. The political problems of the country affected the club, eventually leading to the assassination of President Josep Suñol by soldiers of the nationalist side and the bombing of the club's headquarters. After these events, the club was forced to change its name to Club de Futbol Barcelona, remove the catalan portion of the flag, and a president friendly to Francisco Franco's regime was appointed.

Related Topics:
Crisis - 1920s - Miguel Primo de Rivera - Spanish Civil War - Francisco Franco

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The rivalry with Real Madrid was initiated by the political climate during Franco's regime. Real Madrid represented Castillian Spanish (as opposed to Barcelona's native Català), the Spanish state of Castille (against Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona itself). As the Catalan flag and language were banned, FC Barcelona became the sole outlet of Catalan nationalism.

Related Topics:
Real Madrid - Castillian Spanish - Català - Castille - Catalonia

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Barcelona started performing better in the 1950s. The club was set back through the government's intervention over their purchase of Alfredo Di Stefano. The club's board of directors resigned in protest of a farcical arrangement, where Barcelona and their rivals Real Madrid were meant to "share" the player. This had arisen because the two clubs both believed they had signed Di Stefano, but from different clubs, one which owned his contract, the other where he was on loan. This agreement deteriorated to Real having sole use of the player - something viewed widely as government favouritism to Real.

Related Topics:
1950s - Alfredo Di Stefano - Real Madrid

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It should be noted however that the relationship between the FC Barcelona and Franco's regime has been a highly controversial issue over the years. Extensive documentation supports that several FC Barcelona Presidents and Executives during the period 1940-1975 were confessed Franco's enthusiasts. Even in the early fifties, the mayor of Barcelona (ultimately appointed by Francisco Franco himself) forced arbitrary changes in the Real Estate appraisal of the neighbourhood where the FC Barcelona Stadium was to be built. The town capriciously re-assessed the value of the land up to five times, therefore fostering the financing of the project. Even nowadays, several decades after Franco's death, a high executive of the club -Mr. Alejando Echevarria, brother-in-law of the FC Barcelona President, Joan Laporta- is a leading Board member of the Francisco Franco Foundation. The main objective of this foundation is to preserve and divulge the knowledge of the dictator's figure and, specifically, his human, political and military dimensions. In summation, the picturesque image of the FC Barcelona as a club suffering intense hostility and adversion from Franco's regime has often been described as a self-interested tergiversation.

Related Topics:
Francisco Franco - Joan Laporta - Foundation

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Kubala

By the second half of the 1940s the club began to recover from its problems, which almost led the club to disband. Players like Cesar, Ramallets, and Velasco won the First Division fifteen years after the first and only time. With political issues calming down, the style of football played, and titles being brought, financial problems started to fade as more people became members. In 1950 arrived one of the most important players for FC Barcelona, Ladislao Kubala. During the first years after his arrival the team won almost every competition they played in, and its forwards, Cesar, Basora, and Kubala himself are still remembered.

Related Topics:
1940s - Cesar - Ramallets - Velasco - First Division - 1950 - Ladislao Kubala - Basora

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Camp Nou

In 1957, the Camp Nou opened its doors to the public. It had a capacity for up to 90,000 spectators, already making it one of the biggest stadiums in the world. Unfortunately, a few years after the inauguration, titles became scarce, as they only won three official titles during the 1960s. But even then the club did not stop growing, gaining social and economic power every year.

Related Topics:
1957 - Camp Nou - 1960s

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Unlike the decade of the 50s, when Real Madrid "stole" Argentinian player Alfredo Di Stefano from FC Barcelona, Dutch legend Johan Cruyff signed a contract with the club in 1973. His electric style of play, fast and smart, could not appeal more to the fans. Even the record amount of £922,300 paid by FC Barcelona for him seemed nothing after defeating Real Madrid 5-0 in their own stadium and winning the league. By the following year the club had 70,000 members, making it the most powerful in the world.

Related Topics:
Real Madrid - Alfredo Di Stefano - Johan Cruyff - 1973 - Their own stadium

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The second golden age (1988-1996)

Josep Luis Nuñez became president of FC Barcelona in 1978, leading the club into an unprecedented period of social and economic growth. Dozens of titles were won by all teams, and other sections seen as less important than the football team started to receive more attention. During 1990-1994, Johan Cruyff's Dream Team won four consecutive Leagues and for a first time the Champions League (1992) among other trophies.

Related Topics:
Josep Luis Nuñez - 1978 - 1990 - 1994 - 1992

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Late 1990s with satisfactory results

Bobby Robson took charge of the club for a single season in 96-97, he recruited Ronaldo from PSV Eindhoven (his previous club) and delivered a Cup Winners' Cup and Spanish Kings cup. Interestingly he also brought the famous Portuguese manager José Mourinho to the club. José Mourinho at that time helped Robson at training tasks and he was responsible for translating Robson's press conferences to journalists.

Related Topics:
Bobby Robson - Cup Winners' Cup - José Mourinho

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Robson's time was short lived as the club had already made an agreement with notorious Dutch manager Louis van Gaal. Despite the loss of Ronaldo to Internazionale of Milan Rivaldo joined the team and Barcelona twice won the Spanish League title. Despite their great results at domestically, Barcelona failed to win the Champions League. Due to heavy fan criticism after three seasons in 2000, van Gaal resigned.

Related Topics:
Louis van Gaal - Champions League - 2000

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Years of turmoil

Joan Gaspart was elected as the successor of Josep Lluis Nuñez in 2000. It was not an easy task considering his achievements and a lot of pressure was put on the new board of directors. Still, Joan Gaspart's percieved bad management led the club to a financial crisis. Poor judgement when using the club's funds, the absence of any important victory, and underperforming players made the social pressure unbearable, forcing him to resign in 2003. A temporary commission took over until current president Joan Laporta was elected in the same year.

Related Topics:
Joan Gaspart - Josep Lluis Nuñez - 2000 - 2003 - Joan Laporta

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Revival

Joan Laporta proved to be a better choice for FC Barcelona. With his arrival, and that of football superstar Ronaldinho and former Dutch international Frank Rijkaard as manager (who was actually Laporta's third choice, Ronald Koeman of Ajax being his first and Guus Hiddink now of PSV Eindhoven his second) amongst others, the new style of management has restored success to the club. Massive inherited debts have been reduced, and only two players remain from the original team that did not win a major title in five years. In 2003/2004 Barcelona made a spectacular return to form, finishing second after being near the bottom of the table for much of the season. It was only because the revival started too late that Barcelona didn't claim the title that season. During 2004/2005, Barcelona moved atop La Liga by mid-season, and preserved a healthy lead over its arch-rival Real Madrid, culminating in its 17th Spanish La Liga title on May 14th, 2005 and its 6th Spanish Supercup title on August 20th, 2005. Despite their exit from the Champions League at the hands of Chelsea, supporters and players alike are starting to believe that a third golden age is beginning.

Related Topics:
Ronaldinho - Frank Rijkaard - Guus Hiddink - PSV Eindhoven - Real Madrid - Chelsea

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