FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona
Full name Fútbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s) Barça
Culers
Founded 29 November 1899
(as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona)
Ground Camp Nou, Barcelona
(Capacity: 98,772)
Chairman Flag of Spain Joan Laporta
Manager Flag of Spain Josep Guardiola
League La Liga
2007-08 La Liga, 3rd
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Away colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Third colours
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Futbol Club Barcelona (Catalan IPA: [fudˈbɔɫ ˌklup bəɾsəˈlonə], Spanish IPA: [ˈfutβol ˌkluβ baɾθeˈlona]), known familiarly as Barça (Spanish IPA: [ˈbaɾsa], Catalan IPA: [ˈbaɾsə]), is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is best known for its football team, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, and Spanish men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto Més que un club (More than a club).

They were founding members of La Liga in 1928, and, together with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, they have never been relegated from the top division. The club were also the first La Liga champions, winning a total of 18 La Liga, 24 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopa de España, 2 UEFA Champions League, 4 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and 2 European Super Cup trophies.

The club's main stadium is the Camp Nou and the fans of FC Barcelona are known as culers or culés. In Spain, about 25% of the population are said to be Barça supporters[1]. In June 2007, the number of socis (club members/owners) reached 156,366, while in June 2006 the number of penyes (officially-registered supporter clubs) reached 1782 worldwide.

The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona Atlètic, and four other professional sports teams, Regal FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona Futsal and FC Barcelona Sorli Discau that compete at basketball, handball, futsal and rink hockey respectively. Until 2007 there was also a youth team, FC Barcelona C.

There are also a number of prominent amateur sports teams that compete at rugby union, women's football and wheelchair basketball. These include FCB Rugby and FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman. Other amateur teams represent the club at ice hockey, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating, and volleyball.

During the 2006-07 season, FC Barcelona was the third richest club in the world with a revenue of €291.1 million.[2][3]

Contents

History

Early years (1899-1908)

The ad in Los Deportes

On 22 October 1899 Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on November 29. Eleven players attended: Walter Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born. Several other Spanish football clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also had British founders, and as a result they initially adopted English-style names.

Legend has it that Gamper was inspired to choose the club colours, blaugrana, by FC Basel's crest. However, the other Swiss teams Gamper played for, his home canton of Zurich, and Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby, England have all been credited with or claimed to be the inspiration.

FC Barcelona quickly emerged as one of the leading clubs of both Catalonia and Spain, competing in both the Campeonato de Cataluña and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya, and also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2-1 to Club Vizcaya.

With Gamper's seal (1908-1923)

FC Barcelona 1903 year

In 1908 Joan Gamper became club president for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. The club had not won anything since the Campeonato de Cataluña of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925 and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium.

On March 14, 1909, it moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. Gamper also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Las Cortes, which inaugurated in the same year. This stadium had an initial capacity of 22,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000.

Gamper also recruited Paulino Alcántara, the club's all time top-scorer with 356 goals, and in 1917 appointed Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the club's fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Campeonato de Cataluña, six Copa del Rey and four Coupe de Pyrenées and enjoyed its first "golden age." As well as Alcántara the Barça team under Greenwall also included Sagi-Barba, Ricardo Zamora, Josep Samitier, Félix Sesúmaga and Franz Platko.

Rivera, Republic and Civil War (1923-1939)

In the middle of the glorious 1920s, Barça suffered from non-sporting conflicts which were to mark the following decade. On 14 June 1925, the crowd at a game in homage to the Orfeó Català jeered the Royal March, a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. As a reprisal the ground closed, while Gamper forced to give up the presidency of the club. In 1928, the victory in Spanish Cup against Real Sociedad was celebrated with a poem titled “Oda a Platko”, which was written by the important member of the Generation of 27, Rafael Alberti, inspired by the heroic performance of the Barça keeper. On July 30 1930, the club's founder, after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems committed suicide.

Although they continued to have players of the standing of Josep Escolà, the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sport throughout society. Barça faced a crisis on three fronts: financial, social, with the number of members dropping constantly, and sporting, where although the team won the Campionat de Catalunya in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1938, success at Spanish level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title) evaded them.

A month after the civil war began, Barça's left-wing president Josep Sunyol was murdered by Francisco Franco's soldiers near to Guadalajara. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on a tour in Mexico and America, in which it was received as an ambassador of the fighting Second Spanish Republic. That travel proved the financial saving of the club and also resulted in half the team seeking exile in Mexico and France. On 16 March 1938, the fascists dropped a bomb on the club's social club and caused big damages. A few months later, Barcelona was under fascist occupation and as a symbol of the 'undisciplined' Catalanism, the club, now down to just 3,486 members, was facing a number of serious problems.

Club de Fútbol Barcelona (1939-1974)

After the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language and flag were banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield. During the Franco dictatorship one of the few places that Catalan could be spoken freely was within the club's stadium.

In 1943, at Les Corts, for the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa del Generalísimo against Real Madrid, the result was a 3-0 win for Barça. Before the second leg, Barcelona's players had a changing room visit from Franco's director of state security. He 'reminded' them that they were only playing due to the 'generosity of the regime'. Madrid side won that game 11-1...

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 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 Ladislao Kubala. Kubala almost signed for Real Madrid but the decisive moment to change his mind was when he had married the daughter of Ferdinand Dauchik, who was in contact with Josep Samitiers, then a scout for Barcelona. Because of this relationship, Kubala chose to play for Barcelona in, the end.

In 1951, a tram strike which took place in Barcelona, received the support of blaugrana fans surprising the Francoist authorities who could not understand why, on that rainy Sunday, the crowd left Les Corts stadium after a 2-1 win against Santander by foot refusing to catch any trams. Events like this have made FC Barcelona represent much more than just Catalonia and many progressive Spaniards see the club as a staunch defender of rights and freedoms.

Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired 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 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1957 and the Fairs Cup in 1958.

With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, 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/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup eliminatory, thus ending their monopoly of the competition. To little avail, anyway- they lost 3-2 to Benfica in the final.

The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club winning the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at the Bernabéu. The club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona in 1974.[4]

Cruyff's first pass (1974-1978)

The 1973/74 season saw the arrival, as player, of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruyff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco.[5][6] He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year in his first year at the club.

The stability years (1978-2000)

Josep Lluís Núñez was elected president of FC Barcelona in 1978. His main objectives were to establish Barça as a world-class sports club and to give the club financial stability. Besides, in 1979 and 1982 the club won two of four European Cup Winners' Cups won in the Núñez era.

In June 1982 Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee from Boca Juniors. In the following season, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona in an unforgettable final won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid. However Diego's time with Barça 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 stellar 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 Bucureşti during a dramatic evening in Seville.

After the 1986 World Cup, English top scorer Gary Lineker was signed along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta but the team could not achieve success while Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987/88 season and replaced with Luis Aragonés. That season finished with a rebellion of the players against president Núñez known as the Motín del Hesperia and the 1-0 victory at the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.

In 1988 Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and assembled the so-called Dream Team, named after the US basketball team that played at the 1992 Summer Olympics hosted by Barcelona. He introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristáin, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, Gheorghe Hagi, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov.

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 a legendary 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. With 11 trophies, Cruijff became the club's most successful manager to date. He also became the club's longest serving manager. However, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies (not to mention the disastrous 4-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League 1994 final against AC Milan) and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in Cruijff's departure.

Cruijff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996/97. He is quoted as saying, "Catalonia is a country and FC Barcelona is their army". He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV Eindhoven and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. 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 and he left for Inter Milan. However, new heroes such as Luís Figo, Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Luis Enrique Martínez and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey/La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 the club celebrated its 'centenari' winning the Primera División title and Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000.

Gaspart's decline period (2000-2003)

The departures of Núñez and Van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luís Figo. As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. So the Barça fans were distraught by Figo’s decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou Figo was given an extremely hostile reception, including one occasion when a piglet's head was thrown at him from the crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline and managers came and went, including a short second spell by Louis van Gaal. President Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003 he and Van Gaal resigned.

The current era (2003-present)

Victorious Barça players collect their winners medals after beating Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League Final

After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, the combination of 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 international players, including Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o and Rafael Márquez, combined with a nucleus of home grown and Spanish players such as Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, and Víctor Valdés led to the club's return to success.

Barça won La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2004–05, and stars Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

In 2005–06 Barcelona repeated their league and Supercup successes. The pinnacle of the league season arrived at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a 3–0 victory over Real Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's second victory at the Bernabeu, making him the first Barça manager to win there twice. Ronaldinho's performance was so impressive that after his second, and Barça's third goal the Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. In the Champions' League Barça beat English club Arsenal 2–1 in the final. Trailing 1-0 with less than 15 minutes left they came back to win 2-1 for the club's first European Cup victory in 14 years.

Despite being the favourites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006-07 season trophyless. 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 was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticized coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that lack of fitness affected his form.[7] In La Liga Barça were in first place for much of the season, but inconsistency in the New Year saw Real Madrid overtake them to become champions. Barça advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the first leg against Getafe 5-2, with a goal from Messi bringing comparison to Maradona, but then lost the second leg 4-0. They took part in the FIFA Club World Cup 2006, but were beaten in the final by a late goal against Internacional. In the Champions League Barça were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals.

Barcelona finshed 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. A day after a 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid, Joan Laporta announced that Barça B coach Josep Guardiola would take over Frank Rijkaard's duties after June 30.

In the pre-season of 2008-09 a motion of no confidence was raised against Joan Laporta. Laporta responded, with the assistance Director of Football Txiki Begiristain, by a turnover of players, selling Gianluca Zambrotta, Deco, Giovani dos Santos and Ronaldinho, replacing them with Seydou Keita, Gerard Piqué, Martín Cáceres, Daniel Alves and Aliaksandr Hleb. The no confidence motion received 60% support, short of the 66% required to oust the president, and eight of his directors resigned.

Rivalries

El Clásico

For more details on this topic, see El Clásico

There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF is known as El Clásico. From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival countries in Spain, Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what many regard as the political and other tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians.

During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco (1939 - 1975), all regional cultures were openly suppressed (e.g., the peripheral languages were officially banned). Symbolising Catalan people's desire for freedom, FC Barcelona became more than a club (més que un club) for it and one of its greatest ambassadors. According to Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Catalans' best way of demonstrating their identity was by joining Barça. It was less risky than joining a clandestine anti-Franco movement and allowed them to express their dissidence.

On the contrary, Real Madrid was widely seen as the embodiment of the sovereign oppressive centralism and the fascist regime at management level and beyond. During the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra suffered at the hands of Franco supporters.

During the 1950s the rivalry was exacerbated significantly when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo Di Stéfano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the knock-out stages of the European Cup.

As nowadays FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two biggest and most successful clubs in the league, the rivalry is renewed on an almost annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The latest Clásico was played in the Santiago Bernabéu and ended with a 4-1 win for Real Madrid.

El Derbi Barceloní

Real Club Deportivo Espanyol was founded exclusively by Spanish fans of the game, unlike the multinational nature of FC Barcelona's original board. The club's historical ground was in the well-off district of Sarrià.

Traditionally, especially during the Franco regime, Espanyol were seen by the majority of Barcelona's citizens as a club who cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority unlike FC Barcelona.[8] Despite this background the derbi has always been much more relevant to Espanyol supporters than Barcelona ones due to the difference in objectives.

Although it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga it is also the least balanced of them all, with Barcelona being overwhelmingly dominating. In the league table Espanyol have only managed to end above FC Barcelona on three occasions in almost seventy years and even the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey Final in 1957 was won by FC Barcelona. Espanyol only has the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6-0 in 1951.

Sponsorship

FC Barcelona have an attitude to shirt sponsorship that is historically noteworthy. Selectively without a commercial message on its shirts, in a similar fashion to Athletic Bilbao, on 14 July 2006 the club announced a five year agreement with UNICEF, which includes having the UNICEF logo on their shirts. The agreement will see FC Barcelona donating US$1.9 million per year to UNICEF (0.7 per cent of its ordinary income) to the FC Barcelona Foundation, and rejecting significant money offers to be the first shirt sponsor of the football team. Similarly, for the 2008/9 season and onwards, Aston Villa have a similar deal with Acorns Children's Hospice, involving charitable promotion.

The club has done this in order to set up international cooperation programmes for development, supports the UN Millennium Development Goals and has made a commitment to UNICEF’s humanitarian aid programs through the donation of one and a half million euro for the next five years.

Companies that FC Barcelona currently has sponsorship deals with include [9]:

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1982–1992 Meyba none
1992–1998 Kappa
1998-2006 Nike
2006-present Unicef

Stadium Information

Camp Nou stadium

Honours

Main article: FC Barcelona in Europe

Domestic competitions

Barcelona fans celebrating the team's victory in the UEFA Champions League 2005-06

La Liga

  • Winners (18): 1929, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006
  • Runners-up (22): 1930, 1946, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2007

Copa del Rey (record)

  • Winners (24): 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998
  • Runners-up (9): 1902, 1919, 1932, 1936, 1954, 1974, 1984, 1986, 1996

Supercopa de España

  • Winners (7): 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2006
  • Runners-up (7): 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999

Copa de la Liga (record)

  • Winners (2): 1983–83, 1986–86

International competitions

UEFA Champions League

  • Winners (2): 1992, 2006
  • Runners-up (3): 1961, 1986, 1994

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (record)

  • Winners (4): 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997
  • Runners-up (2): 1969, 1991

European Super Cup

  • Winners (2): 1992, 1997
  • Runners-up (4): 1979, 1982, 1989, 2006

Other International Trophies

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (record)

  • Winners (3): 1958, 1960, 1966
  • Runners-up (1): 1962

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off

  • Winners (1): 1971

Latin Cup (record)

  • Winners (2): 1949, 1952

Small World Cup

  • Winners (1): 1957

References: [10] [11]

Statistics and records

Main article: FC Barcelona statistics

Migueli presently holds both records for number of total and Liga appearances for Barcelona with a total of 548 games played in total, and 391 in La Liga. Most recently Xavi Hernandez, vice-captain of the club reached 437 games for the club.

Barcelona's all time top goalscorer is a Spaniard, César Rodríguez who, has scored 235 goals in all official matches. Ladislao Kubala is in second place with 196 goals for the club. The highest scoring present squad member is Samuel Eto'o who has scored 111 goals.

Recent seasons

See also: FC Barcelona seasons
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Other Competitions Manager
1998–99 D1 1 38 24 7 7 87 43 79 quarter-final UCL group stage SSC Louis van Gaal
1999–00 D1 2 38 19 7 12 70 46 64 semi-final UCL semi-final SSC Louis van Gaal
2000–01 D1 4 38 17 12 9 80 57 63 semi-final UC1 semi-final Llorenç Serra Ferrer
2001–02 D1 4 38 18 10 10 65 37 64 1st round UCL semi-final Carles Rexach
2002–03 D1 6 38 15 11 12 63 47 56 1st round UCL quarter-final Rexach, v. Gaal & R. Antić
2003–04 D1 2 38 21 9 8 63 39 72 quarter-final UC 4th round Frank Rijkaard
2004–05 D1 1 38 25 9 4 73 29 84 2nd round UCL last 16 Frank Rijkaard
2005–06 D1 1 38 25 7 6 80 35 82 quarter-final UCL winner SSC Frank Rijkaard
2006–07 D1 2 38 22 10 6 78 33 76 semi-final UCL last 16 SSC ESC CWC Frank Rijkaard
2007–08 D1 3 38 19 10 9 76 43 67 semi-final UCL semi-final Frank Rijkaard
2008–09 D1 UCL Josep Guardiola

Last updated: 20 May 2008
1 FC Barcelona started 2000-01 season in UCL but joined UC after group stage.
Div. = Division;D1 = First Division; Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal Scored; GA = Goal Against; P = Points
UCL = UEFA Champions League; UCWC = UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; UC = UEFA Cup; ESC = UEFA Super Cup; SSC = Supercopa de España; CWC = FIFA Club World Cup; Cup = Copa del Rey
Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up; Cyan = ongoing

Players

As of 10 August 2008.[12][13][14]

Current squad

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Spain GK Víctor Valdés (2º vice-captain)
2 Flag of Uruguay DF Martín Cáceres
3 Flag of Spain DF Gerard Piqué
4 Flag of Mexico DF Rafael Márquez
5 Flag of Spain DF Carles Puyol (Captain)
6 Flag of Spain MF Xavi (1º vice-captain)
7 Flag of Iceland MF Eiður Guðjohnsen
8 Flag of Spain MF Andrés Iniesta (3º vice-captain)
9 Flag of Cameroon FW Samuel Eto'o
10 Flag of Argentina FW Lionel Messi
11 Flag of Spain FW Bojan Krkić
13 Flag of Spain GK José Manuel Pinto
No. Position Player
14 Flag of France FW Thierry Henry
15 Flag of Mali MF Seydou Keita
16 Flag of Brazil DF Sylvinho
18 Flag of Argentina DF Gabriel Milito
20 Flag of Brazil DF Daniel Alves
21 Flag of Belarus MF Aliaksandr Hleb
22 Flag of France DF Éric Abidal
24 Flag of Côte d'Ivoire MF Yaya Touré
25 Flag of Spain FW Albert Jorquera
27 Flag of Spain FW Pedrito
28 Flag of Spain MF Sergi Busquets
29 Flag of Spain MF Victor Sánchez

From the Youth system

No. Position Player
26 Flag of Spain GK Oier Olazábal
30 Flag of Spain FW Víctor Vázquez
31 Flag of Venezuela FW Jeffrén Suárez
32 Flag of Spain GK Rubén Miño
No. Position Player
33 Flag of Spain DF David Córcoles
34 Flag of Spain MF Xavi Torres
35 Flag of Spain MF Abraham González
36 Flag of Spain FW Nolito

Out on loan

No. Position Player
–– Flag of Brazil DF Henrique (at Bayer Leverkusen)

Personnel

Current Technical Staff

Position Name
Manager Josep Guardiola
Assistant Coach Tito Vilanova
Goalkeeping Coach Juan Carlos Unzué
Physical fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain
Academy Director José Ramón Alexanko
Head Coach Reserve Team Luis Enrique

Current Board of Directors

Office Name
President Joan Laporta i Estruch
Vice-president, head of social area and spokesperson Alfons Godall i Martínez
Vice president for marketing and media Jaume Ferrer i Graupera
Vice president for finance and treasurer Joan Boix i Sans
Vice president institutional and assets administration Joan Franquesa i Cabanas
Vice president for sports Rafael Yuste i Abel
Secretary Josep Cubells i Ribé

Former personnel

Selected former presidents

Joan Laporta

see also Cat:FC Barcelona presidents

Name Years
Walter Wild 1899-1901
Bartomeu Terradas 1901-02
Paul Haas 1902-03
Arthur Witty 1903-05
Josep Soler 1905-06
Juli Marial 1906-08
Vicenç Reig 1908
Joan Gamper 1908-09, 1910-13, 1917-19, 1921-23, 1924-25
Otto Gmeling 1909-10
Àlvar Presta 1914
Joaquim Peris de Vargas 1914-15
Rafael Llopart 1915-16
Gaspar Rosés 1916-17, 1920-21, 1930-31
Ricard Graells 1919-20
Eric Cardona 1923-24
Arcadi Balaguer 1925-29
Tomás Rosés 1929-30
Antoni Oliver 1931
Joan Coma 1931-34
Esteve Sala 1934-35
Josep Sunyol 1935-36
Managing Commission[15] 1936-39
Joan Soler 1939-40
Enrique Piñeyro 1940-42, 1942-43
Josep Vidal-Ribas 1942
Josep Antoni Albert 1943
Josep Vendrell 1943-46
Agustí Montal Galobart 1946-52
Enric Martí Carreto 1952-53
Francesc Miró-Sans 1953-61
Enric Llaudet 1961-68
Narcís de Carreras 1968-69
Agustí Montal 1969-77
Josep Lluís Núñez 1978-2000
Joan Gaspart 2000-2003
Enric Reyna i Martínez 2003
Joan Trayter (Managing Commission)[16] 2003
Joan Laporta 2003-2006
Xavier Sala-i-Martin (Managing Commission)[17] 2006
Joan Laporta 2006-Present

Notable managers

see also Cat:FC Barcelona managers

The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge or have been notable for Barça in the context of the League, for example Johan Cruijff who holds a League record.

Name Nationality Period Honours
From To
Jack Greenwell Flag of England.svg England 1917 1924 2 Spanish Cups
Jesza Poszony Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary 1924 1925 Spanish Cup
Ralph Kirby Flag of England.svg England 1925 1926 Spanish Cup
Romà Forns Flag of Spain.svg Spain 1927 1929 Spanish league
Joan Josep Nogués Flag of Spain.svg Spain July 1941 June 1944 Spanish Cup
Josep Samitier Flag of Spain.svg Spain July 1944 June 1947 Spanish league
Enrique Fernández Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay July 1947 June 1950 2 Spanish league, Latin Cup
Fernando Daucik Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia July 1950 June 1954 2 Spanish league, 3 Spanish Cups, Latin Cup
Domingo Balmanya Flag of Spain.svg Spain July 1956 April 1958 Spanish Cup, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Helenio Herrera Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina April 1958 June 1960 2 Spanish league, Spanish Cup, 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Josep Gonzalvo Flag of Spain.svg Spain January 1963 June 1963 Spanish Cup
Roque Olsen Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina July 1965 June 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Salvador Artigas Flag of Spain.svg Spain July 1967 October 1969 Spanish Cup
Vic Buckingham Flag of England.svg England December 1969 June 1971 Spanish Cup
Rinus Michels Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands July 1971 June 1975 Spanish league, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off
Rinus Michels Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands July 1978 June 1979 Spanish Cup
Joaquim Rifé Flag of Spain.svg Spain April 1979 March 1980 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Helenio Herrera Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina March 1980 June 1981 Spanish Cup
Udo Lattek Flag of Germany.svg Germany July 1981 February 1983 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, league Cup, Spanish Cup
César Luis Menotti Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina March 1983 July 1984 Spanish Supercup
Terry Venables Flag of England.svg England July 1984 September 1987 Spanish league, league Cup
Luis Aragonés Flag of Spain.svg Spain September 1987 June 1988 Spanish Cup
Johan Cruijff Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands July 1988 May 1996 4 Spanish league, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Cup, European Super Cup, Spanish Cup, 3 Spanish Supercups
Sir Bobby Robson Flag of England.svg England July 1996 June 1997 Spanish Cup, Spanish Supercup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Louis van Gaal Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands November 1997 February 2000 2 Spanish league , Spanish Cup, European Super Cup
Frank Rijkaard Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands July 2003 June 2008 UEFA Champions League, 2 Spanish league, 2 Spanish Supercups

Selected former players

1899 - 1940s

  • Domènec Balmanya
  • César
  • Josep Escolà
  • Romà Forns
  • Gonzalvo II
  • Gonzalvo III
  • Herrerita
  • Mariano Martín
  • Juan José Nogués
  • Sagi-Barba
  • Félix Sesúmaga
  • Josep Samitier
  • Velasco
  • Ramon Zabalo
  • Ricardo Zamora
  • Morera Soto
  • Jack Greenwell
  • Walter Wild
  • Arthur Witty
  • Franz Platko
  • Horacio Casarín
  • Paulino Alcántara
  • Joan Gamper
  • Héctor Scarone

1950s - 1960s

  • Estanislao Basora
  • Eladio Silvestre
  • Josep Fusté
  • Gallego
  • Enric Gensana
  • Sígfrid Gràcia
  • Eduard Manchón
  • Tomás Moreno
  • Ferran Olivella
  • Jesús María Pereda
  • José Manuel Pesudo
  • Antoni Ramallets
  • Joan Segarra
  • Luis Suárez
  • Antoni Torres
  • Evaristo de Macedo
  • Lucien Müller
  
  • Zoltán Czibor
  • Sándor Kocsis
  • Ladislao Kubala
  • Eulogio Martínez
  • Cayetano Ré
  • Juan Seminario
  • Miguel Loayza
  • Nicolae Simatoc
  • Julio César Benítez

1970s

  • Pedro Artola
  • Juan Manuel Asensi
  • Antonio de la Cruz
  • Marcial
  • Martí Filosia
  • Antonio Olmo
  • Miguel Reina
  • Carles Rexach
  • Joaquim Rifé
  • Salvador Sadurní
  • Juan Carlos Heredia
  • Hans Krankl
  • Johan Cruijff
  • Johan Neeskens
  • Hugo Sotil

1980s

  • José Ramón Alexanko
  • Calderé
  • Carrasco
  • Esteban Vigo
  • Gerardo Miranda
  • Juan Carlos Pérez Rojo
  • Julio Alberto
  • Marcos Alonso
  • Migueli
  • Josep Moratalla
  • Paco Clos
  • Perico Alonso
  • Pitxi Alonso
  • Quini
  • Roberto Fernández
  • Salvador García
  • José Vicente Sánchez
  • Juan Carlos Unzué
  • Javier Urruticoechea
  • Ernesto Valverde
  

1990s

  • Abelardo Fernández
  • Guillermo Amor
  • Bakero
  • Txiki Beguiristáin
  • Iván de la Peña
  • Eusebio Sacristán
  • Albert Ferrer
  • Goikoetxea
  • Josep Guardiola
  • Juan Carlos Rodríguez
  • Julio Salinas
  • Luis Enrique
  • Miguel Ángel Nadal
  • Fernando Muñoz
  • Roger García Junyent
  • Albert Celades
  • Sergi Barjuán
  • Ricardo Serna
  • Miquel Soler
  • Zubizarreta
  • Pellegrino
  • Juan Antonio Pizzi
  • Meho Kodro
  • Sonny Anderson
  • Giovanni
  • Rivaldo
  • Romário
  • Ronaldo
  • Hristo Stoichkov
  • Robert Prosinecki
  • Michael Laudrup
  • Jari Litmanen
  • Laurent Blanc
  
  • Christophe Dugarry
  • Frédéric Déhu
  • Frank de Boer
  • Ronald de Boer
  • Ruud Hesp
  • Ronald Koeman
  • Richard Witschge
  • Boudewijn Zenden
  • Emmanuel Amuneke
  • Fernando Couto
  • Luís Figo
  • Vítor Baía
  • Gheorghe Hagi
  • Gheorghe Popescu

2000s

World Cup winners

Two players have won the FIFA World Cup whilst F.C. Barcelona players:

European Championship winners

Six players have won the European Championship whilst at F.C. Barcelona, all with Spain:

See also

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Microsoft Word - Es2705mar_A.doc
  2. ↑ A 19.5 million euro profit
  3. ↑ Budget set at 315 million
  4. ↑ "FC Barcelona - European football clubs & squads". Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
  5. ↑ Johan Cruyff - Profile and career History
  6. ↑ FC Barcelona - Club History
  7. ↑ "Article not found". Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
  8. ↑ "European football cultures and their integration: the'short' Twentieth Century".
  9. ↑ "Official Sponsors". FBbarcelona.cat (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
  10. ↑ Futbol Club Barcelona honours; FCBarcelona.cat
  11. ↑ European club facts: FC Barcelona; uefa.com
  12. ↑ "Los nuevos dorsales" (in Spanish), FC Barcelona (2008-08-03). Retrieved on 2008-08-03. 
  13. ↑ "Players". FC Barcelona. Retrieved on 2008-07-02.
  14. ↑ "Henrique goes from Barça to Bayer Leverkusen", FC Barcelona (2008-07-23). Retrieved on 2008-07-23. 
  15. ↑ Managing Commission (1936-1939)
  16. ↑ Interim administrative committee
  17. ↑ Interim administrative committee

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