Barcelona

Barcelona History

FC Barcelona - Foundation

Futbol Club Barcelona was founded in 1899 by a group of footballers from Switzerland,England and Spain led by Joan Gamper. The club was based in Catalonia, Spain and until 1910 participated only in regional competitions. Thereafter Barcelona started participating in various European competitions and the remarkable red and blue colours were first worn by the blaugranas in a match against Hispania in 1900.

FC Barcelona - First Trophy

FC Barcelona soon raised to prominence winning their first trophy, the Copa Macaya, in 1902.

Barca also competed in their first ever Copa Del Reyfinal which they eventually lost to Bizcaya(2-1), but that was just the start as they went on a manoeuvring run by winning the competition a total of 8 times by 1928.

FC Barcelona - First La Liga Winners

In 1928, along with the help of various other clubs, Barcelona co-founded the La-liga and also won the inaugural edition of the Tournament. Joan Gamper’s time at Barcelona came to an abrupt end as he was deported from Spain amongst political conflicts in the country soon after which he committed suicide.

FC Barcelona - Early Dominance

In the period from 1942 to 1957, FC Barcelona claimed five La Ligatitles and five Copa del Rey trophies and shortly after this Barca made a move to the newly built Camp Nou. There blaugrana were under the management of Helenio Herera and went on to win two consecutive La-Liga’s and a Copa Del Rey in the next 3 years.

Barcelona made history as they became the first club to defeat Real Madrid in the European Cup however, the 60’s were highly disappointing for the blaugranas as they had to settle for just 2 Copa Del Rey trophies for the entire decade. In 1973 Johan Cruyff joined FC Barcelona and everything changed as they won their first La-liga title in 10 years.

FC Barcelona have been one of the most decorated football clubs of all times. They have won 26 La Liga titles, 30 Copa del Rey trophies, five Champions Leagues and four Cup Winners' Cups as of 2019.

Barcelona nickname - Blaugrana

Red and blue colours have featured on Barcelona shirt for more than one hundred years and the Club is widely known as the ‘Blaugrana’ in reference to the names of these colours in the Catalan language, ‘blau’ means blue and ‘grana’ means garnet (dark red).

Barcelona Logo

The current FC Barcelona Logo or Club Crest dates from 2002.

1. Top Left: It is the Saint George Cross which in Catalan refers to the Patron Saint of Catalonia.
2. Top Right: Four red bars on a gold background are the Catalan National flag.
3. Bottom: The Blaugrana colours are those sported by the first team shirt and were first introduced in 1900.

Barcelona Manager

Ernesto Valverde Tejedor is a former Spanish footballer who played as a forward, and is the manager of Barcelona. Over ten seasons as a player, Valverde played in a total of 264 La Liga games and scored 68 goal which includes nine goals in Segunda División. He was appointed as Barcelona’s manager in May 2017 and has since won 2 La-liga titles, 1 Copa Del Rey and 1 Supercopa de España.

Barcelona President - Josep Maria Bartomeu Floreta

Josep Maria Bartomeu Floreta (born 6 February 1963) is a Spanish entrepreneur. He is the current president of FC Barcelona and started the role in 2014, following the resignation of Sandro Rosell, becoming the 40th president of FC Barcelona.

Barcelona Stadium - Camp nou

The official stadium of FC Barcelona is the ‘Camp Nou’ located in Catalonia, Spain. The ‘Camp Nou’ has a seating capacity of 99,354 and is the third largest stadium in the world, in terms of capacity, and the largest in Spain.

The construction of the stadium began in 1954 and took 3 years before reaching completion.

It was officially opened on 24th September, 1957 and has since been one of the most decorated stadiums in world football.

Barcelona Trophies

Barcelona Champions League Titles (5)

FC Barcelona has won a total of 5 Champions league titles. The first one coming in 1992 and the latest one in 2015.

Barcelona La-Liga Trophies (26)

Barcelona have won La-liga a total of 26 times since its inception back in 1928 and the first title for Barcelona came in the La-liga’s inaugural edition itself. In 2019 FC Barcelona won its 8th La-liga title in 11 years, this proves, that they have dominated the league this past decade.

Barcelona Copa Del Rey Titles (30)

The ‘Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey’, commonly known as Copa del Reyis an annual knockout football competition organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. FC Barcelona is the most successful club in the competition’s history having won it for a record 30 times, as of June 2019.

Copa Del rey Title list - Barcelona

Barcelona - Total Market Value

The total market value of FC Barcelona is whopping 1.07 billion Euros with Lionel Messi being the most expensive of all the players in the squad with the value of 150 million euros.

Barcelona Slogans

‘Mes que un club’

The slogan means "more than a club" in Catalan and expresses the commitment that FC Barcelona as a club has maintained and still maintains beyond what belongs in the realm of sport. It originated due to Barça's continuous support for Catalan sentiments and defence for their culture, especially during the hardships people faced under the period of political instability.

‘Visca El Barca’

The slogan conveys a simple emotion, that is to celebrate life, and literally means, “Long live Barca”, which is often used by Barcelona supporters to cheer up the team especially during crucial matches.

‘Forca Barca’

Forca Barca means "Up With Barca". Barcelona supporters would prefer to say it in Catalan rather than Spanish.

Barcelona B

Futbol Club Barcelona B was founded in 1970 as FC Barcelona Atlètic and is the reserve team of FC Barcelona. It currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at the Mini Estadi stadium.

In 1990 the team was renamed Barcelona B, but club president Joan Laporta changed the name back to Barcelona Atlètic in 2008. Two years later, his successor Sandro Rosell returned it back to Barcelona B. In 2009–10 the club finished second in Group III and returned to division two after an absence of 11 years.

Barcelona Training Ground

The training ground and academy base of FC Barcelona is called ‘The Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper’. It was officially opened on 1st June 2006, and was named in honor of Joan Gamper, the founder of the club. It is located in Sant Joan Despí and covers an area of 136.839 m². It has been used for youth team training and matches since 2006 and for the first team training since January 2009.

Barcelona Club Record Transfers

FC Barcelona have been part of some of the biggest transfers of all time.

The costliest player that Barcelona have ever purchased isPhilippe Coutinho, who was bought from Liverpool during the 2017-18 season for a whopping 130.5 million dollars.

Second in the list in Ousmane Dembele, who was also brought in from Borussia Dortmund during the 2017-18 season for 112.5 million dollars.

Neymaris Barcelona’s third highest purchase of all time. Having been brought in for 79 million dollars from Santos FC, the brazilian forward was one of the greatest investments in Barcelona’s favour.

Barcelona Legends

FC Barcelona has produced various immensely talented stars over the years, some of which have been etched in the memory of every football fanatic.

Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff,The Dutch midfielder, became a part of the Barcelona squad at a time of dismay and helped his side win the La-liga title after almost a decade back in 1973, picking up the prestigious Ballon D’or in the process.

Ronaldinho de Assis Moreira

Ronaldinho,The former brazilian midfielder is one of the most loved footballing geniuses of all time, mesmerising us with his innate ability to control the ball almost anywhere he is for sure one of Barcelona’s biggest stars ever.

Carlos Puyol

Carlos Puyol,The former Spanish center-back served as Barcelona’s captain for the majority of his time at the club and was a beacon of selflessness for everyone in world football. He is 4th in the list of most appearances for the club after Xavi, Messi and Iniesta.

Andres Iniesta

Andres Iniesta, the magical midfielder and termed by some as the best ever, was a reckoning force in Barcelona’s midfield. He has the 3rd most appearances for the Club and have won 32 titles with FC Barcelona.