FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona

Fútbol Club Barcelona Crest
Full name	Fútbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s)	Barça Culés (or Culers) Blaugranes (Blue-Maroon)
Founded	29 November 1899 (as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona)
Ground	Camp Nou Barcelona Spain
Capacity	98,787
Chairman	Joan Laporta
Head Coach	Frank Rijkaard
League	La Liga
2006-07	La Liga, 2nd
Home colours Away colours

Fútbol Club Barcelona, known familiarly as Barça (IPA: [ˈbaɾsə]), is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, and Catalan 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 Primera División. 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 / UEFA 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 25.7% of the population are said to be Barça supporters. In June 2007, the number of socis (club members/owners) reached 156,366, while in June 2006 the number of peñas (officially-registered supporter clubs) reached 1782 worldwide.

The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona B, and four other professional sports teams, AXA 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.

History

Early years (1899-1908)

The ad in Los Deportes

One of their star players, Ronaldo de Assis Moriera Ronaldinho, is considered to be one of the best futbol players in the world. 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 chose 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 every 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)

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 Calle Industria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. 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 20,000, 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 of non-sporting conflicts which were to mark the following decade. On 14 June 1925, the crowd at a game in homage to the Orfeo Catalán jeered the Royal March, a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. As a reprisal the ground closed for six months, later reduced to three, and forced Gamper to give up the presidency of the club. The club's founder, after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems committed suicide on July 30, 1930.

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 Campeonato de Cataluña 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 Suñol i Garriga was murdered by Francisco Franco's soldiers near to Guadalajara. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on a tour in Mexico and USA 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.

C. de F. 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. 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.[1]

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. 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 (1978-1988)

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 Dieguito'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.

Dream Team: rise and fall (1988-1996)

File:Johan cruijff.jpg

Johan Cruyff with Romario and Ronald Koeman.

In 1988 Johan Cruijff 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 Cruijff'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.

Towards the centenary (1996-2000)

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 pig'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)

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, Lionel Messi, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o, 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.

In the 2004/05 season, Barça were crowned champions of La Liga, and stars Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Barça also won the Supercopa de España, with a victory over Real Betis. In the UEFA Champions League 2004-05 Barça were eliminated by Chelsea F.C. 5-4 on aggregate.

The 2005-06 season has been the pinnacle of the Laporta reign so far. In November 2005 Barça beat Real Madrid 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a match where Ronaldinho was so impressive that after his second, and Barça's third goal the Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. This match also gave Frank Rijkaard his second victory at the Bernabeu, making him the first Barça manager to win there twice. Barcelona went on to win the championship of La Liga with ease, as well as the Supercopa de España with a victory over city rivals Espanyol.

In the UEFA Champions League that season, Barça beat Arsenal F.C. to win the final on May 17, 2006. Trailing 1-0 to the English side, with less than 15 minutes left and inspired by Swedish substitute Henrik Larsson, who played against Barcelona for Celtic in the 2004 UEFA Cup, in which Celtic was victorious, they came back to win 2-1, for the club's first UEFA Champions League victory in 14 years. This victory sparked scenes of jubilation from Barcelona fans with ecstatic culers celebrating in the obvious scene of La Rambla and members of Barça fan clubs celebrating in the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid and all over the world.

They took part in the FIFA Club World Cup 2006, making it to the final against Internacional, only to be beaten by a late goal.

Despite being the favorites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006-07 in second place. A pre-season US tour was later blamed for a string of injuries to key players, including leading scorer Eto'o and rising star Messi. There was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticized coach Frank Rijkaard and star Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that lack of fitness affected his form.[2]

On 28 September 2007, the club filed to RFEF demanding the La Liga title of the 1936/37 season. After Franco's mutiny, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War and the cessation of sporting activities, the territories still largely controlled by the elected Spanish Republic hosted their own tournaments. Barça resumed playing in the then-called Mediterranean League and won it after 14 matches, finishing with 20 points. The action was taken after RFEF recognised Levante's win of the cup Copa de la España Libre as a Copa del Rey trophy.

Rivalries

El Clásico

Template:Details2 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 cultural tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians.

During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco (1939 - 1975), all regional identities were openly suppressed (e.g., the peripheral languages were officially banned). So FC Barcelona, symbolising the Catalan people's desire for freedom, became more than a club (més que un club) for them and one of their greatest ambassadors. On the contrary, Real Madrid was widely seen as the embodiment of the sovereign oppressive centralism and the fascist regime. However, during the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. That Franco's regime subsequently intervened to ensure success for Real Madrid is widely alleged and believed, although denied by many Real Madrid 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 Camp Nou and ended with a 1-0 win to Real Madrid, with Julio Baptista scoring the winner.

El derbi barcelonès

Camp Nou on matchday

Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol, the 'royalist' team of the city, was founded exclusively by Spanish fans of the game, on the contrary to the multinational nature of FC Barcelona's original board. The club's first home was in the wealthy district of Sarrià and was formerly known by the Castilian spelling of its name, Real Club Deportivo Español.

Traditionally, especially in the years following the Spanish Civil War, Espanyol were seen as a club who cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority unlike FC Barcelona which for the majority of Catalans symbolised the ideal of autonomy. However, the Blanquiazules in 1995 attempted to have a go at getting their own part in Catalanism by 'Catalanizing' their name in a move that generally did not earn them much respect at the Camp Nou.

Sponsorship

FC Barcelona attitude to shirt sponsorship is unique. Selectively without a commercial message on its shirts, 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.

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 :

• Nike - Official sponsors
• Coca-Cola - Official sponsors
• TV3 - Official sponsors
• Audi - Official sponsors
• Telefónica - Official sponsors
• Estrella Damm - Official sponsors
• La Caixa - Official sponsors
• bwin - Official Betting Partner
• MediaPro - Official provider

Honours

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

Main article: FC Barcelona in Europe

Main article: FC Barcelona trophies

Main article: FC Barcelona statistics

Domestic competitions

• ‎La Liga Champions: 18
  • 1929, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006
• Copa del Rey: 24 (record)
  • 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998

• Supercopa de España: 7
  • 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2006
• Copa de la Liga: 2 (record)
  • 1983, 1986

International competitions

• File:UEFA - Champions League.svg UEFA Champions League: 2
  • 1992, 2006
• File:Coppacoppe2.png UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 4 (record)
  • 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997
• File:UEFA - Super Cup.svg European Super Cup: 2
  • 1992, 1997
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 3 (record)
  • 1958, 1960, 1966
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off: 1
  • 1971
• Copa Latina: 2
  • 1949, 1952
• References:

Current squad

As of 19 January 2008.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ESP	Víctor Valdés (vice-captain)
3	DF	ARG	Gabriel Milito
4	DF	MEX	Rafael Márquez
5	DF	ESP	Carles Puyol (captain)
6	MF	ESP	Xavi (vice-captain)
7	FW	ISL	Eidur Gudjohnson
8	MF	ESP	Andrés Iniesta
9	FW	CMR	Samuel Eto'o
10	FW	BRA	Ronaldinho
11	DF	ITA	Gianluca Zambrotta
14	FW	FRA	Thierry Henry
15	MF	BRA	Edmílson
16	DF	BRA	Sylvinho
17	FW	MEX	Giovani Dos Santos

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	FW	ESP	Santiago Ezquerro
19	FW	ARG	Lionel Messi
20	MF	POR	Deco
21	DF	FRA	Lilian Thuram
22	DF	FRA	Éric Abidal
23	DF	ESP	Oleguer
24	MF	CIV	Yaya Touré
25	GK	ESP	Albert Jorquera
26	GK	ESP	José Manuel Pinto
27	FW	ESP	Bojan
28	GK	ESP	Oier
29	DF	ESP	Alberto Botía
30	MF	ESP	Víctor Sánchez
33	FW	ESP	Pedrito
34	DF	ESP	Víctor Espasandín
36	FW	ESP	Víctor Vásquez

Transfers 07/08

In

• Thierry Henry bought from Arsenal
• Gabriel Milito from Real Zaragoza
• Eric Abidal Transferred from Olympique Lyon
• Yaya Toure Transferred from Monaco
• Jose Manuel Pinto on loan from Celta De Vigo

Total Spending: 13,233,122€

Out

• Giovanni Van Bronckhorst to Feyenoord
• Juliano Belletti Out to Chelsea
• Ludovic Giuly Sold to Roma
• Javier Saviola to Real Madrid
• Thiago Motta to Atletico Madrid

18,912,209

Personnel

Current Board of Directors

President	Joan Laporta
First Vice-President (Institutional area)	Albert Vicens i Rahola
Vice-President (Sports Area)	Marc Ingla i Mas
Vice-President (Finance Area)	Ferran Soriano i Compte
Vice-President (Social Area) and Spokesman	Alfons Godall i Martínez
Vice-President (Marketing Area and Sections Area –Handball-)	Jaume Ferrer i Graupera
Secretary	Xavier Cambra i Vergés
Treasurer and Social Area (Supporters' Clubs)	Joan Boix i Sans

Current Technical Staff

Director of Football	Txiki Beguiristain
Head Coach	Frank Rijkaard
Assistant Coach	Johan Neeskens
2nd assistant Coach	Eusebio Sacristán
Goalkeeping Coach	Juan Carlos Unzué
Academy director	José Ramón Alexanko
B Team Head Coach	Josep Guardiola

Former personnel

Selected former presidents

see also Category:FC Barcelona presidents

• Walter Wild (1899-01)
• Bartomeu Terradas (1901-02)
• Paul Haas (1902)
• Arthur Witty (1902-05)
• Joan Gamper (1908-09, 1910-13, 1917-19, 1921-23, 1924-25)
• Otto Gmeling (1909)
• Josep Sunyol (1935-36)
• Enrique Piñeyro (1940-43)
• Agustí Montal (1969-77)
• Josep Lluís Núñez (1978-2000)
• Joan Gaspart (2000-2003)
• Joan Laporta (2003-Present)

Selected former managers

see also Category:FC Barcelona managers

Jack Greenwell, 1917-24, 1931-33 Ralph Kirby, 1925-26 Romà Forns, 1927-29 Franz Platko, 1934-35, 1955-56 Patrick O'Connell, 1935-37 Joan Josep Nogués, 1941-44 Josep Samitier, 1944-47 Enrique Fernández, 1947-50 Fernando Daucik, 1950-54 Sandro Puppo, 1954-55 Domènec Balmanya, 1956-58 Helenio Herrera, 1958-60, 1980, 1980-1981 Ladislao Kubala, 1962, 1980 Josep Gonzalvo, 1963 César Rodríguez, 1963-64

Vic Buckingham, 1969-71 Rinus Michels, 1971-1975, 1976-1978 Hennes Weisweiler, 1975-1976 Udo Lattek, 1981-1983 César Luis Menotti, 1983-1984 Terry Venables, 1984-87 Luis Aragonés, 1987-88 Johan Cruyff, 1988-96 Sir Bobby Robson, 1996-97 Louis van Gaal, 1997-2000, 2002-2003 Llorenç Serra Ferrer, 2000-2001 Carles Rexach, 2001-2002 Radomir Antić, 2003 Frank Rijkaard, 2003-present

Selected former players

1899 - 1940s Balmanya César Escolà Forns Gonzalvo II Gonzalvo III Herrerita Mariano Martín Nogués Sagi-Barba Félix Sesúmaga Samitier Velasco Zabalo Zamora Morera Soto Greenwell Wild Witty Normand Platko Casarín Alcántara Gamper Scarone 1950s - 1960s Basora Biosca Eladio Fusté Gallego Gensana Gràcia Manchon Moreno Olivella Pereda Pesudo Ramallets Segarra Suárez Torres

Seminario Evaristo Müller Czibor Kocsis Kubala Eulogio Mnez. Ré Benítez 1970s Artola Asensi De La Cruz Marcial Martí Filosia Reina Rexach Rifé Sadurní Heredia Krankl Cruyff Neeskens Sotil 1980s Alexanko Calderé Carrasco Esteban Gerardo Julio Alberto Marcos Migueli Moratalla Perico Alonso Pitxi Alonso Quini Robert Unzué Urruti Valverde Víctor Maradona

Aloísio Simonsen Lineker Schuster Amarilla Romerito Archibald Hughes 1990s Abelardo Amor Bakero Beguiristain De La Peña Eusebio Ferrer Goikoetxea Guardiola Juan Carlos Julio Salinas Luis Enrique Nadal Nando Roger Sergi Serna Soler Zubizarreta Pellegrino Pizzi Kodro Anderson Giovanni Rivaldo Romário Ronaldo Stoichkov Prosinecki Laudrup Litmanen Blanc F. De Boer R. De Boer Hesp

Koeman Witschge Zenden Fernando Couto Figo Vítor Baía Hagi Popescu 2000s Dani Gabri Gerard Luis García Mendieta Riquelme Saviola Belletti Giuly Petit Robert Enke Albertini Cocu Davids van Bronckhorst Kluivert Overmars Reiziger Quaresma Simão Andersson Larsson

World Cup winners

• Héctor Scarone (Uruguay 1930)
• Diego Maradona (Mexico 1986)
• Romário (USA 1994)^***
• Laurent Blanc (France 1998)
• Christophe Dugarry (France 1998)
• Thierry Henry (France 1998)
• Emmanuel Petit (France 1998)
• Lilian Thuram (France 1998)
• Ronaldo (Korea-Japan 2002)
• Juliano Belletti (Korea-Japan 2002)
• Edmílson (Korea-Japan 2002)
• Rivaldo (Korea-Japan 2002)^***
• Ronaldinho (Korea-Japan 2002)
• Gianluca Zambrotta (Germany 2006)

^*** Romário and Rivaldo won the World Cup while playing for FC Barcelona.

European Cup winners

• Jesús María Pereda (Spain 1964)***
• Josep Fusté (Spain 1964)***
• Fernando Olivella (Spain 1964)***
• Bernd Schuster (Italy 1980)
• Koeman (West Germany 1988)
• Laurent Blanc (Belgium & Netherlands 2000)
• Emmanuel Petit (Belgium & Netherlands 2000)
• Lilian Thuram (Belgium & Netherlands 2000)
• Thierry Henry (Belgium & Netherlands 2000)

^*** Pereda, Fusté and Olivella won the European Cup while playing for FC Barcelona.

See also

• List of fan-owned sports teams
• Supporters of FC Barcelona

Sources

• Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball.
• Barça: A People’s Passion (1998), Jimmy Burns.

References

• Richest football clubs

External links

• Official club website
• Fútbol Club Barcelona at the Liga de Fútbol Profesional official website
• FC Barcelona at the UEFA official website