Futbol Club Barcelona is one of the best known sports clubs in Spain Though it is mainly known for its football team - if you want to see them play you can buy Barcelona tickets in advance - FC Barcelona also includes 4 other professional sports squads, competing in basketball, handball, futsal, and roller hockey. FC Barcelona, known familiarly by its fans as Barça, has been around for over one hundred years and has been consistently popular throughout.
In common with many Spanish clubs, Futbol Club Barcelona was started by a foreigner living in Spain. Hans Gamper - usually Catalanised to "Joan" Gamper - was a Swiss businessman who had made Barcelona his home. Gamper sought to start a football club and placed an ad in a paper, receiving several responses and quickly assembling a team that went on to emerge as one of the leading teams in their home region of Catalonia and the greater country of Spain. In 1902, the club won the Copa Macaya.
However, it wasn't all plain sailing; Gamper was forced to step in and save the club from bankruptcy in 1908, when he became president. After failing to win any trophies since 1905 and with many players leaving through retirement the club was in crisis. Gamper was able to get the club its own stadium, formally moving into the Carrer Industria on March 14, 1909. Gamper was also able to recruit top-notch players and managers and get the club back into the business of winning with him at the helm. As support for the club grew they needed a new stadium with greater capacity. In 1922 they moved to Les Corts, which at its peak could hold a staggering 60 thousand spectators.
Barça was just entering a new period of hardship though; When Barça supporters protested against the dictatorship in the mid 1920s the stadium was ordered to close for three months and Gamper conceded the presidency. Gamper later committed suicide owing to financial and personal problems, which plunged him into depression.
When the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War was over, the country was in the hands of the dictator General Franco, and the use of any language other than Castilian was outlawed. Futbol Club Barcelona was forced to change its name to Club de Futbol Barcelona and the rivalry with Real Madrid began thanks to Franco's support for the latter. However, Barcelona did go on to add trophies to its name throughout the 1940s and 50s, despite the persecution.
When the 1960s arrived though it was a different matter. The club lacked cash thanks to its new stadium and was unable to buy new players; despite knocking Real Madrid out of the European Cup in 1961, the Spanish League was dominated by Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid. However, when Johan Cruyff joined the squad he turned around the club's fortunes and won the league in 1974.
Despite frequent management clashes the club did win many trophies over the next few years. However, when Cruyff was lured back in 1988 he assembled what came to be known as the Dream Team - a group of elite players, Cruyff remains the most successful Barcelona manager to date.
After Cruyff left in 1994 the club once more went into decline and it wasn't until Joan Laporta became president in 2003 that the old guard was removed from power. One of his first moves was to bring in Frank Rijkaard who won a string of trophies. However, when his star faded Laporta brought in Pep Guardiola in 2008. Guardiola has done an unbelievable job, winning the Spanish League title in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and the Champions League in 2009 and 2011. If you're planning on visiting Barcelona then make sure to buy your FC Barcelona tickets before you travel otherwise there is a good chance you'll miss out on seeing the best team in the world.
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