Football Club Barcelona

Football Club Barcelona

FC Barcelona has long been a favourite football club for many British followers. Perhaps it has been because of their status as an ‘anti-Franco’ club. Or perhaps fans have been attracted by the membership structure of the club that gives ordinary supporters a say in the election of presidents. Founded in 1899, when the Swiss-born Hans Gamper established a team made up of Swiss, English and Catalan players, the club quickly established itself as a focal point of the city and the region. Gamper is an integral part of the early history of the club – scoring103 goals between 1901 and 1903 and then becoming the president until his death in 1930. It was he who enabled the club to purchase their first ground in 1909, with a capacity of just 6,000 people. Gamper then oversaw the development of the Les Corts stadium, initially with room for 30,000 although it was later doubled in size. And, the year before his death, he was able to see his club become the first ever Spanish League champions. By this time, with in excess of 10,000 members, Barcelona was already attracting star footballers from overseas – the Uruguayan striker Hector Scarone being the first of many ‘big money’ signings. Perhaps the most famous of Barcelona’s players in this era, however, was the goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora. Zamora is remembered today for mainly two reasons. Firstly, he has given his name to the trophy awarded to the best goalkeeper in La Liga each season. And secondly, he was the first player to tread that dangerous transfer path from Barcelona to Real Madrid!During the 1950s and 60s, of course, Barca were somewhat overshadowed by the famous Real Madrid team of Puskas, Di Stefano et al, but they still managed to win the league four times in the fifties. The sixties, however, were a much more difficult time for the club, just winning the Spanish Cup in 1963 and 1968 and the Inter City Fairs’ Cup – later to become the UEFA Cup – in 1966.Josep Lluís Núñez was elected club president in 1978, a post he was to keep until the end of the millennium. It was he who brought great financial stability and supreme overseas players to the Camp Nou. Players such as Diego Maradona, Bernd Schuster, Gary Lineker, Ronaldo, Gheorghe Hagi, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Mark Hughes, Hristo Stoikov, Romário, Rivaldo and Luis Figo – not many defenders there, you’ll notice – and managers such as César Luis Menotti, Terry Venables, Luis Aragonés, Bobby Robson and, most successfully, Cruyff himself, all brought continued success in the form of league titles in 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999; Copa del Rey victories in 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997 and 1998; Spanish Supercups in 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996; the UEFA Champions League in 1992 and runners up in 1994; the UEFA Cup in 1979, 1982, 1989 and 1997; and the European Super Cup in 1992 and 1997.In 2003, however, a new, young and politically astute president, Joan Laporta, took the helm at BarcelonaBy signing some of the world’s very best players – Ronaldinho, Deco, Eto’o and Messi - and combining them with a strong Catalan influence from the likes of Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi and Valdés, Barca were able to not only win La Liga but also, in 2005-2006, the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona Football Club
Football Club Barcelona
la lig