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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 grpup of twelve, led by Joan Gamper, its motto is "Barça is more than a club" (El Barça és més que un club). Its main stadium is the Camp Nou, Barcelona.
Although its football team has been struggling for the last five years, it and long-standing rival Real Madrid remain the most representative teams of Spain. FC Barcelona fans are also called culés.
| Futbol Club Barcelona | |
| Founder | Joan Gamper |
| Year of foundation | 1899 |
| Members | 106,706 |
| Budget | 170,732,000€ |
| President | Joan Laporta i Estruch |
| Manager | Frank Rijkaard |
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.
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.
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.
The ongoing crisis, started in the late 20's during the dictatorship of 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 Franco's regime was appointed.
By the second half of the 40's 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, Kubala. During the first years after his arrival the team won almost every competition they played in, and its forward, Cesar, Basora, and Kubala himself is still remembered.
| Inauguration | September 24, 1957 |
| Capacity | 109,815 (98,800 seats) |
| Length | 105m |
| Width | 72m |
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 60's. But even then the club did not stop growing, gaining social and economic power every year.
Unlike the decade of the 50's, 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 0-5 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.
Josep Lluis 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 the Champions League among other trophies.
Joan Gaspart was elected as the successor of Josep Lluis Nuñez in 2000, not an easy task considering his achievements and a lot of pressure was put on the new board of directors. Still, Joan Gaspart's 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.
The arrival of football superstar Ronaldinho and manager Frank Rijkaard among others, and the new style of management, have returned the club into a positive cycle. Inherited massive financial debt is being cut down, and only two players remain from the original team that did not win a major title in five years.
Although Barcelona has outstanding teams in different sports, the most famous and well-known section is its football team, which competes in the first division of the Spanish Football League. Except for the Intercontinental Cup, it has won all known trophies. It is the only team in Europe to have participated in European club competition in every season since 1955, and has never left the Spanish First Division since its beginning in 1928, along with cofounders Athletic de Bilbao and Real Madrid.
Players owned by the club but playing in any other team are not considered.
|    | 1. | Valdés | 22 | |
|    | 13. | Rubén | 20 | |
|    | 28. | Jorquera | 25 |
|    | 2. | Belletti | 26 | ¹ |
|    | 4. | Márquez | 25 | |
|    | 5. | Puyol | 26 | |
|    | 12. | Gio | 29 | |
|    | 15. | Edmilson | 28 | ¹ |
|    | 16. | Sylvinho | 30 | ¹ |
|    | 19. | Fernando | 22 | |
|    | 23. | Oleguer | 24 |
|    | 3. | Motta | 22 | ¹ |
|    | 6. | Xavi | 24 | |
|    | 10. | Ronaldinho | 24 | |
|    | 14. | Gerard | 25 | |
|    | 18. | Gabri | 25 | |
|    | 20. | Deco | 27 | |
|    | 24. | Iniesta | 20 |
|    | 7. | Larsson | 32 | |
|    | 8. | Giuly | 28 | |
|    | 9. | Eto'o | 23 |
¹ Has double nationality with a country from the European Union. Does not count towards the limit of three players per team from outside the EU
The handball section was founded on November 29, 1942. In the beginning handball was played with eleven players per team and did not have a specialized field to play. They used football fields until the late 50's, when they started to play, as in actual games, with seven players and a covered field.
In the early stages, competitions were dominated by other teams like Atletico de Madrid and Granollers, breaking their domination few times. Things changed radically with the arrival of one of the best coaches in handball history, Valero Rivera
The basketball section was founded in 1926.
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