FC Barcelona

Barcelona
Full name	Futbol Club Barcelona
Short name	FCB
Founded	29 November 1899
Ground	Camp Nou
Capacity	99,786
President	Josep Maria Bartomeu
Head coach	Luis Enrique
Assistant coach	Juan Carlos Unzué
League	La Liga
Last season	2014–15
Website	http://www.fcbarcelona.com/

Futbol Club Barcelona, also known as Barcelona, and informally referred to as Barça, is a Spanish football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Established in 1899 by a group of young foreigners in Barcelona, the club's formation was the product of a developing interest in football, and other British sports, across the European continent. These roots have embedded Barcelona's intercultural identity, multi-sport focus, and allegiance to Barcelona and Catalonia. Today, the club is a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). Contradictory to many other football clubs, Barcelona is owned and operated by supporters. It is the second most valuable sporting team in the world, worth $3.2 billion, and the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover amounting to €484.6 million.

Domestically, Barcelona has won 23 La Liga, 27 Copa del Rey, 11 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, four UEFA Super Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a shared record two FIFA Club World Cup trophies.

Barcelona is one of the most supported teams in the world, and has the largest social media following of any sports team in the world. Barcelona's players have won a record number of Ballon d'Or awards (10), as well as a record number of FIFA World Player of the Year awards (7). In 2010, the club created history when three players who came through its youth academy (Messi, Iniesta and Xavi) were chosen as the three best players in the world in the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football school.

Barcelona was one of the founding members of La Liga, the top tier in Spanish football. Since the Liga's inauguration, Barcelona, along with Atletico Bilbao and Real Madrid, have never been relegated from the top division. In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and also became the first football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year, completing the sextuple in also winning the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. In 2011, the club became European champions again and won five trophies. This Barcelona team, which reached a record six consecutive Champions League semi-finals and won 14 trophies in just four years under Pep Guardiola, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time. In June 2015, Barcelona became the first European club in history to achieve the continental treble twice.

History

1899—1909: Foundation and Survival

The founding members of FC Barcelona.
© The official FC Barcelona website

In 1898, Hans Gamper, a Swiss native, moved to Barcelona for professional reasons. Leisurely, he played football with a group of friends in Bonanova, sparking his interest in the potential formation of a team.

In October 1899, Gamper placed an advertisement in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club; a positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November. Eleven players attended — Walter Wild (the first director of the club) and Otto Kunzle from Switzerland, John and William Parsons from England, Otto Maier from Germany, and Lluís d’Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol and Josep Llobet from Catalonia — and Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born.

The club's first coat of arms.
© The official FC Barcelona website

Gamper was a sports lover — a former athlete, cyclist, football and rugby player — who saw sport as a means of exalting the human spirit. He aimed to create an organization open to the everyone, regardless of their ancestry. He envisaged a club that served as a means of social integration, and he created a democratic society governed by its associates. As a sign of his gratitude to Catalonia, the country that had welcomed him, Gamper imbued FC Barcelona with the essence that has come to define it ever since: its commitment to Catalan identity.

In 1899, the first kit was fashioned, featuring the colors blue and claret. The first shirt was half blue and half claret, the sleeves were opposite colors, and the shorts were white. One of the many theories explaining the origin of the kit colors — blue and scarlet — is that Gamper wanted to honor the Basel team, where he had played before moving to Catalonia. To this day, Barcelona shirts consist of the colors blue and claret.

During a period of less than ten years, Barcelona moved between four different grounds. Their difficulty in finding a permanent ground was due to economic instability and lack of acreage at a time when the city was undergoing urban expansion. Between 1899 and 1900, the former cycle track grounds at Bonanova (today, Turó Park) were Barcelona's home premises. Between 1900 and 1901, the Hotel Casanovas grounds (today, Hospital de Sant Pau) were used.

The Copa Macaya was Barcelona's first official title.
© The official FC Barcelona website

1901 to 1905 marked the use of the Carretera d’Horta grounds, and between 1905 and 1909 Barcelona called the Carrer de Muntaner grounds home.

In 1902, Barcelona won their first official title at the Copa Macaya. This tournament was the precursor to the Catalan Football Championship and was initiated by Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, after he announced his intention to organize a competition between Catalan teams. Hispania won the first edition, but the following year Barcelona stole the title without losing a single match. They also participated in the first Copa del Rey, losing 1–2 to Bizcaya in the final.

1909—1919: Revitalization

Joan Gamper — Barcelona's veteran club president.

Kamper — now known as Joan Gamper — became club president in 1908, finding the club in financial difficulty after not winning a competition since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905. At the time, 38 members of the club were ready to abandon it. Club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925, he spent 25 years in total at the helm. One of his fundamental accomplishments was ensuring Barça acquired its own stadium and thus generated a stable income.

This marked a new stage in the club's history, which consolidated it within the football panorama and social milieu of the city and country. A number of different circumstances helped revitalize the club at such a time, including an increase in membership and the acquisition of the Club's own football grounds for the first time.

Camp de la Indústria — Barcelona's first home stadium.
© The official FC Barcelona website

On 14 March 1909 the team moved into the Camp de la Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. To celebrate their new surroundings, the club conducted a logo contest the following year. Carles Comamala won the contest, and his suggestion became the crest that the club has retained to this day. Barça fans associate this grounds with the origin of the nickname "culers" (literally "arse-people"), used to refer to supporters of FC Barcelona. Far from offensive, the nickname instead refers to fans seated in the highest row of the stadium. From outside, people walking past could only identify their backsides.

A range of sporting sporting successes and growing recognition accorded to players saw football develop into a mass phenomenon, turning it into a professional sport. This contributed to Barcelona's rapid growth; the number of members increased from 201 in 1909 to 2,973 in less than ten years.

During these years Barça laid down solid foundations in order to define the type of football club it wanted to be. This took it beyond the original dream of the group of friends that had founded it in 1899; the Club was here to stay.

From the inaugural year in 1910 to 1913, the club won a series of titles. This included the Spanish Cup (King's Cup) and four consecutive Pyrenees Cups. The aforementioned efforts in the Pyrenees Cup were particularly outstanding due to the competitive nature of the competition and its prestige. Only the finest teams of Languedoc, Midi and Aquitaine (Southern France), the Basque Country and Catalonia were invited to contend. The players who defeated Madrid in the Spanish Cup were hailed heroes, and naturally when they returned to Barcelona, celebrations were held. The team were greeted at Passeig de Gràcia station, with the crowd following them to the building where the celebration dinner was held. The Canaletes drinks stand, in the center of Barcelona, became the site where football results were announced. Fans have congregated here ever since to celebrate Barça's successes.

In 1912, Paulino Alcántara, from the Philippines, played his debut season aged just 15. He is, without a doubt, Barça’s first star player and the Club’s top goalscorer. He scored a staggering 369 goals in 357 matches, representing an impressive average of one goal per match.

On 4 February 1917, the club held its first testimonial match honor Ramón Torralba, who played for fifteen years between 1913 and 1928. The match was against local side Terrassa: Barcelona won 6–2.

The 1909–10 season marked the beginning of Barcelona’s dominance in the Catalan Football Championships, which lasted until 1922. Impressive results ensured Barça clenched the title an astonishing eight times.

1919—1930: A Golden Age

Ricardo Zamora — FC Barcelona's legendary goalkeeper.
© The official FC Barcelona website

In 1919, Barcelona's legendary goalkeeper, Ricardo Zamora, made his debut in the infamous squad coached by Jack Greenwell. Despite only being with the club three seasons before moving to rivals Real Madrid, Zamora's performances made sure he left his mark on the team. Zamora was later nicknamed "el Diví" (The Divine One) due to his impossible saves.

Alongside Zamora, Josep Samitier also debuted for the Blaugrana. Considered one of the most emblematic players in the history of FC Barcelona and the best forward in Europe at that time, Samitier lead a formidable Barça into a Golden Age that would last throughout the 1920s. He was affectionately nicknamed "home llagosta" (Lobster Man) due to his on-field acrobatics. He became the first idol of Catalan football, later acquiring 454 appearances and 333 goals throughout his time at Barcelona.

In 1922, 20,000 Barcelona fans helped finance a new stadium, which upon completion would become one of the best football grounds of the time. Camp de Les Corts was designed by Santiago Mestres and Josep Alemany and had an initial capacity of 22,000, however, excessive enlargements tripled this capacity to 60,000 by the 1940s. Its cost originally totaled 991,984.05 pesetas.

President Joan Gamper recruited Jack Greenwall as the first full-manager in Barcelona's history. After this hiring, the club's fortunes began to improve on the field. During the Gamper-led era, Barcelona won eleven Campeonato de Cataluña, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cups, sparking the Golden Age"

On 8 December 1924, FC Barcelona celebrated its 25th birthday with two matches against Real Unión de Irun at Les Corts football grounds.

On 14 June 1925, in a spontaneous reaction against Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, the crowd in Camp de Les Corts jeered the Royal March. As a reprisal, the ground was closed for six months and Gamper was forced to relinquish the presidency of the club.

The Blaugrana's most significant victory of the decade came in the form of the 1928 Spanish Cup. At the final, which took place in Santander, Barça beat Real Sociedad 3–1, after the first two matches ended in a draw. Barcelona's publicity rose as the celebrations ensuring included victory broadcasts on radios across the Spanish nation.

On 12 February 1929, a new competition began: the League. In only a few years, this competition would become the championship par excellence of Spanish football. It lasted four-and-half months and FC Barcelona was the first champion with twenty-five points, two more than Real Madrid, which finished in second place. This victory was not met with great enthusiasm at the time, as the League was thought of as an inferior competition.

Values

"FC Barcelona is more than a club in Catalonia because it is the sports club that most represents the country and is also one of its greatest ambassadors."

• Respect
• Effort
• Ambition
• Teamwork
• Humility

Anthem

Main article: Cant del Barça

Crest and shirt

Crest

Honors

UEFA Champions League
1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15
FIFA Club World Cup
2009-10, 2011-12
European Cup Winners Cup
1978-79, 1981-82, 1988-89, 1996-97
Fair Cup1957-58, 1959-60, 1965-66
European Super Cup
1992-93, 1997-98, 2009-10, 2011-12
Latin Cup
1948-49, 1951-52
Pyrenees Cup
1909-10, 1910-11, 1911-12, 1912-13
Spanish League Championship
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, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15
Spanish Cup
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, 1958-59, 1962-63, 1967-68, 1970-71, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1987-88, 1989-90, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15
Spanish Supercup
1983-84, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1996-97, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2013-14
Spanish League Cup
1982-83, 1985-86
Mediterranian League
1937
Catalan League
1937-38
Catalan League Championship
1901-1902, 1902-03, 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, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1937-38
Supercopa Catalunya
2014-15
Catalan Cup
1990-91, 1992-93, 1999-00, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2012-13, 2013-14
Eva Duarte Cup
1948-49, 1951-52, 1952-53

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Marc-André ter Stegen 3 DF Gerard Piqué (4th captain) 4 MF Ivan Rakitić 5 MF Sergio Busquets (3rd captain) 7 FW Pedro Rodríguez 8 MF Andrés Iniesta (captain) 9 FW Luis Suárez 10 FW Lionel Messi (vice-captain) 11 FW Neymar 12 MF Rafinha 13 GK Claudio Bravo 14 MF Javier Mascherano

No. Position Player 15 DF Marc Bartra 16 DF Douglas 18 DF Jordi Alba 20 MF Sergi Roberto 21 DF Adriano 22 DF Dani Alves 23 DF Thomas Vermaelen 24 DF Jérémy Mathieu 25 GK Jordi Masip — MF Alex Song — MF Arda Turan — MF Aleix Vidal

Out on loan

No. Position Player — DF Martín Montoya (at Inter Milan until 30 June 2016) — MF Denis Suárez (at Sevilla until 30 June 2016) — FW Cristian Tello (at Porto until 30 June 2016)

Personnel

Current technical staff

See also: List of FC Barcelona managers

Position	Staff
Head coach	Luis Enrique
Assistant manager	Juan Carlos Unzué
Second manager	Robert Moreno
Auxiliary coach	Joan Barbarà
Fitness coach	Rafel Pol Edu Pons Francesc Cos Paco Seiruŀlo
Goalkeeping coach	José Ramón de la Fuente
Scoutings	Isidre Ramón Jesús Casas Jordi Melero Jaume Torras
Physiotherapist	Jaume Munill Juanjo Brau Xavi López Xavi Linde
Psychologist	Joaquín Valdés
Doctor	Ramón Canal Ricard Pruna Daniel Medina
Team liaison	Carles Naval
Director of football	Ariedo Braida
Assistant director of football	Carles Rexach
Academy director	Jordi Roura
B team coach	Jordi Vinyals

Management

Board members

See also: List of FC Barcelona presidents

Office	Name
President	Vacant
President Commission	Ramon Adell
Vice-president of economic and strategic area	Javier Faus
Vice-president of social area	Jordi Cardoner
Vice-president of institutional area	Carles Vilarrubí
Vice-president of sports area	Jordi Mestre
Vice-president of media and communication area	Manel Arroyo
Treasurer	Susana Monje
Board secretary	Antoni Freixa
Director of sports area (Medical area)	Jordi Monés
Director of sports area (Football)	Josep Ramon Vidal
Director of sports area (Basketball)	Joan Bladé
Director of sports area (Futsal)	Javier Bordas
Director of sports area (Youth football)	Ramon Cierco Noguer
Director of social area and sports area (Handball)	Eduard Coll
Director of social area	Ramon Pont
Director of social area	Pilar Guinovart
Director of economic and strategic area	Jordi Moix
Director of economic and strategic area	Silvio Elías
Director of technology area	Dídac Lee

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