Misplaced Pages

#549450

80-535: Futbol Club Barcelona ( Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔl ˈklub bəɾsəˈlonə] ), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça ( [ˈbaɾsə] ), is a professional football club based in Barcelona , Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga , the top flight of Spanish football . Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper ,

160-548: A Platko ", which was written by a member of the Generation of '27 , Rafael Alberti , inspired by the heroic performance of the Barcelona goalkeeper , Franz Platko. On 23 June 1929, Barcelona won the inaugural Spanish League . A year after winning the championship, on 30 July 1930, Gamper committed suicide after a period of depression brought on by personal and financial problems. Although they continued to have players of

240-632: A free kick goal from Dutch international Ronald Koeman. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España trophies. With 11 trophies, Cruyff became the club's most successful manager at that point. He also became the club's longest consecutive serving manager, serving eight years. Cruyff's fortune was to change, and, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies and fell out with president Josep Lluís Núñez, resulting in his departure. Reacting to Cruyff's departure, an independent protest group

320-475: A goal from Messi bringing comparison to Diego Maradona's goal of the century , but then lost the second leg 4–0. They took part in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup , but were beaten by a late goal in the final against Brazilian side Internacional . In the Champions League , Barcelona were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals . Barcelona finished

400-563: A league or competition to participate in) and even switch between football codes. Likewise, a football club may fold if it becomes insolvent or is incapable of fielding a team to play matches. The number of players that take part in the sport simultaneously, thus forming the team are: 1929 La Liga The 1929 Primera División season was the inaugural season of the Primera División. It started on 10 February 1929 and finished on 23 June 1929. A total of 10 teams participated in

480-414: A meeting, "Barcelona cannot die and must not die. If there is nobody who is going to try, then I will assume the responsibility of running the club from now on." Club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925, he spent 25 years in total at the helm. One of his main achievements was ensuring Barça acquire its own stadium and thus generate a stable income. On 14 March 1909, the team moved into

560-429: A new young president, Joan Laporta, and a young new manager, former Dutch and AC Milan star Frank Rijkaard , saw the club bounce back. On the field, an influx of international players, including Ronaldinho , Deco , Henrik Larsson , Ludovic Giuly , Samuel Eto'o , Rafael Márquez and Edgar Davids , combined with home grown Spanish players, such as Carles Puyol , Andrés Iniesta , Xavi and Víctor Valdés , led to

640-486: A possible 15 in his three years at the helm of the club, becoming the all-time record holder of most titles won as a coach at Barcelona. In December, Barcelona won the Club World Cup for a record second time since its establishment, after defeating 2011 Copa Libertadores holders Santos 4–0 in the final thanks to two goals from Messi and goals from Xavi and Fàbregas. As a result, the overall trophy haul during

720-538: A record six FIFA World Player of the Year awards, with winners including Romário , Ronaldo , Rivaldo , Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi . In 2010 , three players who came through the club's youth academy — Lionel Messi , Andrés Iniesta and Xavi —were chosen as the three best players in the world in the Ballon d'Or ranking, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football academy. Additionally, players representing

800-568: A record) of total votes. Rosell signed David Villa from Valencia for €40 million and Javier Mascherano from Liverpool for €19 million. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Barcelona players that had graduated from the club's La Masia youth system would play a major role in Spain becoming world champions. On 11 July, seven players who came through the academy participated in the final , six of whom were Barcelona players who started

880-464: A sixth-place finish was the best that he could manage. At the end of the season, Antić's short-term contract was not renewed, and club president Joan Gaspart resigned, his position having been made completely untenable by such a disastrous season on top of the club's overall decline in fortunes since he became president three years prior. After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, the combination of

SECTION 10

#1732781188550

960-548: A temporary basis, and managed to at least steer the club to the last Champions League spot on the final day of the season against Valencia via an exceptional performance from Rivaldo , who completed arguably the greatest hat-trick in history with an overhead bicycle kick winner in the final minute to secure qualification. Despite better form in La Liga and a good run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, Rexach

1040-562: A tournament where only the winner would join La Liga, while the rest of the participant teams played the Segunda División with Racing Madrid . Racing Santander achieved the last place in the inaugural season of La Liga after beating Sevilla in the second tie-break match. Last placed team Racing Santander faced Sevilla , winner of the 1929 Segunda División , in a two-legged play-off. Racing won 3–2 on aggregate, thus remaining in La Liga. Source: Note: This list

1120-581: A treble. In December 2009, Barcelona won the 2009 Club World Cup . Barcelona accomplished two new records in Spanish football in 2010 as they retained the La Liga trophy with 99 points and won the Supercopa de España for a ninth time. After Laporta's departure from the club in June 2010, Sandro Rosell was soon elected as the new president. The elections were held on 13 June, where he got 61.35% (57,088 votes,

1200-621: A world record transfer fee from his previous club, PSV and delivered a cup treble , winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the Supercopa de España, with Ronaldo registering 47 goals in 49 games. 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 before he left for Inter Milan in another world record transfer. However, new heroes emerged, such as Luís Figo , Patrick Kluivert , Luis Enrique and Rivaldo , and

1280-522: Is a type of sports club which is an organized or incorporated body. Typically these will have a committee, secretary, president, or chairperson, registrar and members. Football clubs typically have a set of rules, including rules under which they play and are themselves typically members of a league or association which are affiliated with a governing body within their sport. Clubs may field multiple teams from their registered players (which may participate in several different divisions or leagues). A club

1360-694: Is responsible for ensuring the continued existence of its teams in their respective competitions. The oldest football clubs date back to the early 19th century. While records exist for most incorporated clubs, they do not exist for all football clubs. Standalone clubs are usually run like businesses and appear on official registers . However many football clubs were formed as part of larger organisations (schools, athletic clubs, societies) and therefore public records of their formation and operation may not be kept unless they compete with other teams. Football clubs may also be dormant for periods and be re-formed (for example going into recess for reasons such as war or lack of

1440-415: Is that it gives teams access to additional volunteer or paid support staff, facilities and equipment. There are several varieties of football, including association football , gridiron football , Australian rules football , Gaelic football , rugby league and rugby union . The number of players selected for each team, within these varieties and their associated codes, can vary substantially. Sometimes,

1520-461: Is the " Cant del Barça ", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs . Barcelona traditionally play in dark shades of blue and garnet stripes, hence nicknamed Blaugrana . Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 77 trophies: 27 La Liga , 31 Copa del Rey , 14 Supercopa de España , three Copa Eva Duarte , and two Copa de la Liga titles, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football ,

1600-528: The 2007–08 season third in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey , both times losing to the eventual champions, Manchester United and Valencia , respectively. The day after a 4–1 defeat to Real Madrid, Joan Laporta announced that Barcelona B coach Pep Guardiola would take over Frank Rijkaard's duties on 30 June 2008. Barcelona B youth manager Pep Guardiola took over Frank Rijkaard's duties at

1680-644: The Camp de la Indústria , a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. 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 still wears – with some minor changes – as of the present day. The stadium is regarded as the main element that helped the club grow in the 1910s and become a dominant team, winning three successive Campionats de Catalunya between 1909 and 1911, three Copa del del Rey in four years between 1910 and 1913 , and four successive Pyrenees Cup between

SECTION 20

#1732781188550

1760-475: The European Footballer of the Year in 1960 , and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor , the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga and Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961, they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup play-off. However, they lost 2–3 to Benfica in the final. The 1960s were less successful for

1840-490: The Italian Air Force , causing more than 3,000 deaths, with one of the bombs hitting the club's offices. A few months later, Catalonia came under occupation and as a symbol of the "undisciplined" Catalanism , the club, now down to just 3,486 members, faced a number of restrictions. All signs of regional nationalism, including language, flag and other signs of separatism were banned throughout Spain. The Catalan flag

1920-527: The Santiago Bernabéu in front of dictator Francisco Franco , with coach Salvador Artigas , a former republican pilot in the Civil War. With the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1974, the club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona and reverted the crest to its original design, including the original letters once again. The 1973–74 season saw the arrival of Johan Cruyff , who

2000-487: The first Copa del Rey , losing 1–2 to Bizcaya (a combination of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC ) in the final . In 1908, Hans Gamper – now known as Joan Gamper – became club president in a desperate attempt to save Barcelona from extinction, finding the club struggling not just on the pitch, but also financially and socially, after not winning a competition since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905. He said in

2080-520: The Bernabéu, making him the first Barcelona manager to win there twice. Ronaldinho's performance was so impressive that after his second goal, which was Barcelona's third, some Real Madrid fans gave him a standing ovation. In the Champions League, Barcelona beat English club Arsenal in the final . Trailing 1–0 to a ten-man Arsenal and with less than 15 minutes remaining, they came back to win 2–1, with substitute Henrik Larsson, in his final appearance for

2160-514: The Boixos Nois' ideology from liberalism to fascism , which caused division within the group and a sudden support for Núñez's presidency. Inspired by British hooligans, the remaining Boixos Nois became violent, causing havoc leading to large-scale arrests. After the 1986 FIFA World Cup , Barcelona signed the English top scorer Gary Lineker , along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta , but

2240-627: The Catalans were proclaimed the inaugural champions. After months of discussion, on 23 November 1928 the creation of a championship divided in divisions was finalized. The first division would be joined by the six teams that won any time the Spanish Championship ( Arenas , Athletic Bilbao , Barcelona , Real Madrid , Real Sociedad and Real Unión ) and three teams that qualified for at least one final ( Athletic Madrid , Español and Europa ). The tenth place would be decided in

2320-553: The Gamper-led era, Barcelona won eleven Campionats de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cups. On 14 June 1925, in a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera 's dictatorship, the crowd in the stadium 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. This coincided with the transition to professional football, and, in 1926,

2400-458: The Spanish football champions for the 22nd time, still with four games left to play. Ultimately, Barcelona ended the season 15 points clear of rivals Real Madrid, despite losing 2–1 to them at the beginning of March. They reached the semi-final stage of both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League , going out to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively. On 19 July, it was announced that Vilanova

2480-455: The changing room, though nothing was ever proven. Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César , Ramallets and Velasco , they won La Liga for the first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 , they also won the first Copa Latina . In June 1950, Barcelona signed László Kubala , who

FC Barcelona - Misplaced Pages Continue

2560-583: The club as a staunch defender of rights and freedoms . Coach Ferdinand Daučík and László Kubala led the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa Latina , the Copa Eva Duarte , and the Copa Martini & Rossi in 1952. In 1953, the club won La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo again. With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez ,

2640-427: The club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism , hence the motto "Més que un club" ( "More than a club" ). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the third-most valuable football club in the world, worth $ 5.6 billion, and the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €800.1 million. The official Barcelona anthem

2720-555: The club has won 22 European and worldwide titles: five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups , five UEFA Super Cups , a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups , a joint record two Latin Cups , and three FIFA Club World Cups . Barcelona was ranked first in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015, and occupies

2800-507: The club have won a record eight European Golden Shoe awards. Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929 , along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid . 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

2880-470: The club win the 1973–74 season for the first time since 1960, defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu en route. He was crowned European Footballer of the Year in 1973 during his first season with Barcelona (his second Ballon d'Or win; he won his first while playing for Ajax in 1971 ). Cruyff received this prestigious award a third time (the first player to do so) in 1974, while he

2960-471: The club's first full-time coach in 1917. During the same period, the club changed its official language from Castilian to Catalan and gradually evolved into an important symbol of Catalan identity. For many fans, participating in the club had less to do with the game itself and more with being a part of the club's collective identity. On 4 February 1917, the club held its first tribute match to honour Ramón Torralba , who played from 1913 to 1928. The match

3040-492: The club's return to success. Barcelona won La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2004–05 , and Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third, respectively, in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In the 2005–06 season , Barcelona repeated their league and Supercopa successes. The pinnacle of the league season arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu in a 3–0 win over Real Madrid. It was Rijkaard's second victory at

3120-601: The club's seventh all-time top-scorer, and in 1917, Gamper also recruited Jack Greenwell as the first full-time manager in Barcelona's history. After this hiring, the club's fortunes began to improve on the field and soon enjoyed its first "golden age". Along with Alcántara, the Barça team under Greenwell also included Sagibarba , Ricardo Zamora , Josep Samitier , Félix Sesúmaga , and Franz Platko . This team won 9 out of 10 Campionats de Catalunya between 1919 and 1928 and two Copa del Rey titles in 1920 and 1922 . In total, during

3200-458: The club's youth programme by converting La Masia into a dormitory for young academy players from abroad. The name of the dormitory would later become synonymous with the youth programme of Barcelona. In June 1982, Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee of £5 million from Boca Juniors . In the following season, under coach César Luis Menotti , Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid. Maradona's time with Barcelona, however,

3280-400: The club, setting up goals for Samuel Eto'o and fellow substitute Juliano Belletti , for the club's first European Cup victory in 14 years. Despite being the favourites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006–07 season without trophies. A pre-season US tour was later blamed for a string of injuries to key players, including leading scorer Eto'o and rising star Lionel Messi . There

FC Barcelona - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-431: The club, this time as manager and he assembled what would later be dubbed the "Dream Team". He used a mix of Spanish players like Pep Guardiola , José Mari Bakero , Jon Andoni Goikoetxea , Miguel Angel Nadal , and Txiki Begiristain while signing international players such as Ronald Koeman , Michael Laudrup , Romário , and Hristo Stoichkov . It was ten years after the inception of the youth programme, La Masia, when

3440-460: The club, with Real Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of Camp Nou , finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. The 1960s saw the emergence of Josep Maria Fusté and Carles Rexach , and the club won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barcelona restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1–0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at

3520-570: The conclusion of the season. Guardiola brought with him the now famous tiki-taka style of play he had been taught during his time in the Barcelona youth teams. In the process, Guardiola sold Ronaldinho and Deco and started building the Barcelona team around Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi. Barça beat Athletic Bilbao 4–1 in the 2009 Copa del Rey final , winning the competition for a record-breaking 25th time. A historic 2–6 victory against Real Madrid followed three days later and ensured that Barcelona became 2008–09 La Liga champions. Barça finished

3600-420: The crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline, and managers came and went. Van Gaal was replaced by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer who, despite an extensive investment in players in the summer of 2000, presided over a mediocre league campaign and a first-round Champions League exit, and was dismissed late in the season. Long-serving Barcelona deputy coach Carles Rexach was appointed as his replacement, initially on

3680-531: The directors of Barcelona publicly claimed, for the first time, to operate a professional football club. On 3 July 1927, the club held a second testimonial match for Paulino Alcántara , against the Spanish national team . To kick off the match, local journalist and pilot Josep Canudas dropped the ball onto the pitch from his aeroplane. In 1928, victory in the Spanish Cup was celebrated with a poem titled "Oda

3760-399: The entire Spanish Civil War began in 1936, several players from Barcelona enlisted in the ranks of those who fought against the military uprising, along with players from Athletic Bilbao. On 6 August, Falangist soldiers near Guadarrama murdered club president Josep Sunyol , a representative of the pro-independence political party. He was dubbed the martyr of barcelonisme , and his murder

3840-426: The fans when compared to that of Luís Figo, then club vice-captain. Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. Barcelona fans, however, were distraught by Figo's decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid, and, during subsequent visits to Camp Nou, Figo was given an extremely hostile reception. Upon his first return, a piglet's head and a full bottle of whiskey were thrown at him from

3920-679: The first European football club in history to achieve the continental treble twice. On 22 October 1899, Swiss Hans 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 president of the club), Luis de Ossó , Bartomeu Terradas , Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier , Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot , Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet , John Parsons , and William Parsons – and Foot-Ball Club Barcelona

4000-570: The first European football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year, by also winning the Spanish Super Cup , UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup . In 2011, the club became European champions again, winning five trophies. This Barcelona team, which won fourteen trophies in just four years under Pep Guardiola , is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time. By winning their fifth Champions League trophy in 2015 under Luis Enrique , Barcelona became

4080-673: The inaugural year in 1910 and 1913, which was one of the earliest international club cups in Europe since it consisted of the best teams of Languedoc , Midi and Aquitaine (Southern France), the Basque Country and Catalonia; all were former members of the Marca Hispanica region. The contest was the most prestigious in that era. Notable figures of Barça's first great team include Carles Comamala, Alfredo Massana , Amechazurra , Paco Bru , and Jack Greenwell . The latter became

SECTION 50

#1732781188550

4160-491: The league. After the failure to create a national league in 1928, that ended with the teams split into two unconcluded leagues, an agreement with the Royal Spanish Football Federation was finally reached for the creation of a national league. Barcelona won the title after beating Real Unión in the last round and taking advantage of the loss of Real Madrid at Athletic Bilbao . Therefore,

4240-625: The match, with Iniesta scoring the winning goal against the Netherlands. In November 2010, Barcelona defeated their main rival Real Madrid 5–0 in El Clásico . At the ceremony for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or in December, Barcelona's La Masia became the first youth academy ever to have all three finalists for the Ballon d'Or , with Messi, Iniesta and Xavi being named the three best players in

4320-529: The ninth position on the UEFA club rankings as of May 2023. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid , and matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico . Barcelona is one of the most widely supported teams in the world, and the club has one of the largest social media following in the world among sports teams. Barcelona players have won a joint record twelve Ballon d'Or awards, with recipients including Johan Cruyff , as well as

4400-545: The pitch. His presidency was to last for 22 years, and it deeply affected the image of Barcelona, as Núñez held to a strict policy regarding wages and discipline, letting go of such players as Diego Maradona , Romário and Ronaldo rather than meeting their demands. On 16 May 1979, the club won its first European Cup Winners' Cup by beating Fortuna Düsseldorf 4–3 in Basel in a final watched by more than 30,000 travelling blaugrana fans. The same year, Núñez began to invest in

4480-490: The reign of Guardiola was further extended and saw Barcelona win their 13th trophy out of a possible 16. Considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time, with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson stating, ”They mesmerise you with their passing”, their five trophies in 2011 saw them receive the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year . In the 2011–12 season , Barcelona lost

4560-552: The season by beating Manchester United 2–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome , with goals from Eto'o and Messi, to win their third Champions League title, and complete the first ever treble won by a Spanish team. The team went on to win the 2009 Supercopa de España against Athletic Bilbao and the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk , becoming the first European club to win both domestic and European Super Cups following

4640-578: The second leg, beating Barcelona 11–1. According to football writer Sid Lowe , "There have been relatively few mentions of the game [since] and it is not a result that has been particularly celebrated in Madrid. Indeed, the 11–1 occupies a far more prominent place in Barcelona's history. This was the game that first formed the identification of Madrid as the team of the dictatorship and Barcelona as its victims." It has been alleged by local journalist Paco Aguilar that Barcelona's players were threatened by police in

4720-434: The semi-finals of the Champions League against Chelsea . Guardiola, who had been on a rolling contract and had faced criticism over his recent tactics and squad selections, announced that he would step down as manager on 30 June and be succeeded by assistant Tito Vilanova . Guardiola finished his tenure with Barça winning the Copa del Rey final 3–0, bringing the tally to 14 trophies that Barça had won under his coaching. It

4800-448: The standing of Josep Escolà , the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sports throughout society. Attendance at matches dropped as the citizens of Barcelona were occupied with discussing political matters. Although the team won the Campionat de Catalunya in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, and 1938, success at a national level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title ) evaded them. A month after

4880-462: The team could not achieve success, as Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987–88 season and replaced with Luis Aragonés . The season finished with the players rebelling against president Núñez, in an event known as the Hesperia mutiny, and a 1–0 victory in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad . In 1988, Johan Cruyff returned to

SECTION 60

#1732781188550

4960-428: The team won a Copa del Rey and La Liga double in 1998. In 1999, the club celebrated its centenari , winning the Primera División title, and Rivaldo became the fourth Barcelona 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 and Núñez resigning in 2000. The departures of Núñez and Van Gaal were hardly noticed by

5040-441: The word "team" may be limited to those who play on the field in a match and does not always include other players who may take part as replacements or emergency players. "Football squad" may be used to be inclusive of these support and reserve players. The words team and club are sometimes used interchangeably by supporters, typically referring to the team within the club playing in the highest division or competition. A football club

5120-613: The world for 2010. In the 2010–11 season , Barcelona retained the La Liga trophy, their third title in succession, finishing with 96 points. In April 2011, the club reached the Copa del Rey final , losing 1–0 to Real Madrid at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia . In May, Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League Final 3–1 held at Wembley Stadium , a repeat of the 2009 final, winning their fourth European Cup. In August 2011, La Masia graduate Cesc Fàbregas

5200-409: The young players began to graduate and play for their first team. Pep Guardiola, the future coach of Barcelona, was one of the first graduates and would go on to receive international recognition. Under Cruyff's guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley , with

5280-674: Was a defining moment in the history of FC Barcelona and Catalan identity. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on tour in Mexico and the United States, where it was received as an ambassador of the Second Spanish Republic . The tour led to the financial security of the club but also resulted in half of the team seeking asylum in Mexico and France, making it harder for the remaining team to contest for trophies. On 16 March 1938, Barcelona came under aerial bombardment from

5360-440: Was against local side Terrassa where Barcelona won the match 6–2. Gamper simultaneously launched a campaign to recruit more club members, and by 1922, the club had more than 20,000, who helped finance a new stadium. The club then moved to the new Les Cortes , which they inaugurated the same year. Les Cortes had an initial capacity of 30,000, and in the 1940s it was expanded to 60,000. In 1912, Gamper recruited Paulino Alcántara ,

5440-465: Was announced in summer of 2012 that Tito Vilanova, assistant manager at Barcelona, would take over from Pep Guardiola as manager. Following his appointment, Barcelona went on an incredible run that saw them hold the top spot on the league table for the entire season, recording only two losses and amassing 100 points. Their top scorer once again was Lionel Messi, who scored 46 goals in La Liga, including two hat-tricks. On 11 May 2013, Barcelona were crowned as

5520-454: Was banned and the club were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures forced the club to change its name to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and to remove the Catalan flag from its crest. In 1943 , Barcelona faced rivals Real Madrid in the semi-finals of Copa del Generalísimo (now the Copa del Rey). The first match at Les Corts was won by Barcelona 3–0. Real Madrid comfortably won

5600-652: Was born. FC Barcelona had a successful start in regional and national cups, competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey . In 1901, the club participated in the first football competition played on the Iberian Peninsula , the Copa Macaya , narrowly losing to Hispania AC , but in the following year, Barça won the tournament, the club's first-ever piece of silverware, and then participated in

5680-523: Was bought for a world record £920,000 from Ajax . Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barcelona fans when he told the European press that he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he named his son "Jordi" , after the local Catalan Saint George . Next to champions like Juan Manuel Asensi , Carles Rexach and Hugo Sotil , he helped

5760-666: Was bought from Arsenal and he would help Barcelona defend the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid. The Supercup victory brought the total number of official trophies to 73, matching the number of titles won by Real Madrid. Later the same month, Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup defeating Porto 2–0 with goals from Messi and Fàbregas. This extended the club's overall number of official trophies to 74, surpassing Real Madrid's total amount of official trophies. The Super Cup victory also saw Guardiola win his 12th trophy out of

5840-457: Was never viewed as a long-term solution and that summer Van Gaal returned to the club for a second spell as manager. What followed, despite another decent Champions League performance, was one of the worst La Liga campaigns in the club's history, with the team as low as 15th in February 2003. This led to Van Gaal's resignation and replacement for the rest of the campaign by Radomir Antić , though

5920-458: Was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticised coach Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that a lack of fitness affected his form. In La Liga, Barcelona were in first place for much of the season, but inconsistency in the New Year saw Real Madrid overtake them to become champions. Barcelona advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the first leg against Getafe 5–2, with

6000-431: Was organised by Armand Caraben, Joan Laporta and Alfons Godall. The objective of the group, called L'Elefant Blau , was to oppose the presidency of Núñez, which they regarded as a corruption of the club's traditional values. Laporta would later take over the presidency of Barcelona in 2003. Cruyff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson , who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996–97. He recruited Ronaldo for

6080-412: Was perceived as president Núñez's dictatorial rule and the nationalistic support group, Boixos Nois . The group, identified with a left-wing separatism, repeatedly demanded the resignation of Núñez and openly defied him through chants and banners at matches. At the same time, Barcelona experienced an eruption in skinheads , who often identified with a right-wing separatism. The skinheads slowly transferred

6160-462: Was resigning as Barcelona manager because his throat cancer had returned, and he would be receiving treatment for the second time after a three-month medical leave in December 2012. Football team The difference between a football team and a football club is incorporation , a football club is an entity which is formed and governed by a committee and has members which may consist of supporters in addition to players. The benefit of club formation

6240-478: Was short-lived and he soon left for Napoli . At the start of the 1984–85 season, Terry Venables was hired as manager and he won La Liga with noteworthy displays by German midfielder Bernd Schuster . The next season, he took the team to their second European Cup final , only to lose on penalties to Steaua București during a dramatic evening in Seville . Around this time, tensions began to arise between what

6320-456: Was still with Barcelona. In 1978, Josep Lluís Núñez became the first elected president of FC Barcelona, and, since then, the members of Barcelona have elected the club president. The process of electing a president of FC Barcelona was closely tied to Spain's transition to democracy in 1974 and the end of Franco's dictatorship. The new president's main objective was to develop Barcelona into a world-class club by giving it stability both on and off

6400-519: Was to be an important figure at the club. On a rainy Sunday of 1951, the crowd left Les Corts stadium after a 2–1 win against Santander by foot, refusing to catch any trams, and surprising the Francoist authorities. The reason was simple: at the same time, a tram strike was taking place in Barcelona, receiving the support of blaugrana fans . Events like this made CF Barcelona represent much more than just Catalonia and many progressive Spaniards saw

#549450