Barcelona’s history

The early days of the team (1899-1922)

Barcelona recruitment advertisement

On October 22, 1899, Hans Gamper published an advertisement from a magazine The advertisement claimed that he wanted to build a football club. Finally, at the meeting held in Gimnasio Solé on November 29, a total of eleven players from Switzerland, England and Catalonia joined the team, including: Gualteri Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons and William Parsons, on this day FC Barcelona was officially founded. [5]

Early Barcelona Football Club

Barcelona’s first meeting elected the club president and named the team name. The president’s decision was made by the local Catalan club. Romanian Gualteri Wild took over, and the club was named FC Barcelona. The club emblem uses the same emblem pattern as the city of Barcelona (that is, a white background with a red cross on the left, and a red and yellow straight strip on the right) to express the relationship with Catalonia, while the jersey is based on Gamper. The colors of the jerseys of the former club Basili were dark red on the left and blue on the right, dividing the blue and red colors in the middle. Gamber just swapped the two colors as Barcelona's founding jersey.

In December 1899, Barcelona participated in the competition for the first time. Under the influence and promotion of the team, the Spanish royal family decided to create the King of Spain Football Tournament. In 1900, Barcelona participated in the first Macaya Cup (that is, the Catalonia Regional League) and achieved four wins, one draw and one loss in six games. **Scored as many as forty-seven goals and finished second.

In 1901, Barcelona won the Macaya Cup with a perfect victory in eight games, which was also Barcelona's first championship trophy. [6]

The first Copa del Rey was held in 1901, but Barcelona failed to win the cup as expected. It was not until 1910 that they won the cup for the first time, and then won the cup twice in 1912 and 1913.

In 1902, they and Espanyol were invited to participate in the Spanish Cup held to celebrate the accession of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Barcelona first defeated Madrid Football Club 3-1 to advance to the competition. However, in the final stage, they lost 1-2 to Bilbao Bilbao and missed the championship.

Growth stage (1909-1919)

Early lineup

In November 1908, the club was going through a difficult period, with 38 members preparing to leave . Gamble was determined to keep the club going. This was the first time Gamble became president of the club. In less than 10 years as Gamble was chairman, the number of members grew from 201 in 1909 to 2,973. During this period, Barcelona laid a solid foundation and gradually became the football club it was originally envisioned to be.

On March 14, 1909, the Carrer dela Indústria Stadium was officially opened as the team's home stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 people.

To celebrate this event, the club organized a emblem design competition the following year. Carles Comamala won the competition, and his design became the emblem that the club has used ever since, with minor tweaks until the final adjustment in 2012.

In the new sports city, Barcelona participated in the first Pyrenees Cup. The participating teams at that time were Languedoc (a province in southern France in ancient times), Pyrenees A tournament for the best teams from these regions, including Montagne (the name of a place in southwestern France) and Aquitaine (a historical region in southwestern France), the Basque Country and Catalonia. They are all Spanish regions. Founding member of. The game was the most prestigious event of its era. From the first tournament in 1910 to 1913, Barcelona won this championship for four consecutive years.

Carles Comamala, Amechazurra and Jack Greenwell all played four games as integral members, with Jack Greenwell later becoming the club's first full-time coach in 1917. The last edition of this championship was held in Barcelona in 1914 and was won by Barcelona's city rivals Espanyol.

At the same time, Barcelona changed the official language of the club from Spanish to Catalan, which gradually evolved into an important symbol of Catalan identity. For many fans, joining a club is not just about participating in the game itself, but also a certification of the club's identity. On February 4, 1917, the club held its first memorial match for Ramón Torralba, a player who played for Barcelona from 1913 to 1928. This game was against the local team Terrassa, and Barcelona won 6-2 in the end.

Historical photo of the team

Gamble also launched a new campaign to recruit more members. By 1922, the club had more than 20,000 members, who funded Construction of a new stadium. After the new stadium Les Cortes was built, the club moved there and held its opening ceremony in the same year. At that time, the capacity of Les Cortes was 30,000 people, and it was expanded to 60,000 people in the 1940s.

Gamper recruited Jack Greenwell as head coach, becoming the first full-time head coach in the history of FC Barcelona. Following this recruitment, the club's fortunes on the pitch began to change. During the era led by Gamper, Barcelona won 11 Catalan Cups (Campeonato de Catalu?a), 6 Copa del Reys and 4 Pyrenees Cups, ushering in the first "golden era" in the club's history. . [7]

In the 1911/12 season, the 15-year-old legendary shooter Paulino Alcantara from the Philippines joined Barcelona and quickly became Barcelona’s top scorer. This man often wore a scarf around his waist. The striker scored an incredible 369 goals in 357 games, helping Barcelona win 5 Spanish Championships and 10 Catalan Championships. [8]

First peak (1919-1930)

Joseph Samitier

In 1919, legendary goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora and Striker Joseph Samitier joins Barcelona.

On December 7 and 8, 1924, Barcelona celebrated its 25th anniversary. At that time, the club already had 12,207 members.

On June 14, 1925, during the Spanish Rivera dictatorship, Barcelona fans booed the Spanish national anthem during a Barcelona home game and were ordered by the government to close the home stadium for six months. Later, It was reduced to 3 months.

In 1926, the club directors announced that they would operate Barcelona Football Club in a professional football club manner, and the club transitioned to the professional football stage.

In the 1928 Spanish Cup, in the final held in Santander, Barcelona finally defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 after drawing in the first two rounds.

La Liga was founded in 1929. At that time, there were only 10 teams participating. Barcelona won the first league with 11 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses and accumulated 25 points (at that time, winning points were 2 points). Real Madrid won the first La Liga championship with 23 points.

On July 30, 1930, Gamble committed suicide due to depression, which was caused by the pressure of personal and financial problems.

In 1919-1930, Barcelona won 10 Catalan championships, 5 Spanish Championship championships and 1 La Liga championship. [7]

Nirvana and Rebirth (1930-1949)

The death of Gamper

On July 30, 1930, Gamper, one of the founders of Barcelona, ??was murdered It was confirmed that he committed suicide due to personal factors and passed away at the age of 52

The new club charter adopted in May 1932 redefined the organization. According to its first chapter, FC Barcelona is "a cultural and athletic association." In October, a cultural committee was established to organize activities for members.

In July 1935, the new chairman Joseph Sunol clarified his political philosophy based on the Catalan nation. Using the famous saying "Sports and Citizenship", he emphasized the connection between society and competition.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1937, Josep Sonol, the chairman of Barcelona who stayed in Spain, was shot to death on the order of the rebel leader Francisco Franco. The Barcelona players were on an exhibition tour in Mexico and the United States when they were not shot.

In the 1936/37 season, the Catalan Football Federation organized a tournament involving six Catalan teams and four Valencian teams. This tournament was used to replace the teams that had been eliminated due to the war. After the forced cancellation of the league, Barcelona became the champion of the Mediterranean League. To escape the war, but also to seek funds to improve the club's deplorable financial situation, Bar?a traveled to Mexico and the United States. Some players never even returned to Barcelona. In the summer of 1937, the team was received by Mexico as ambassadors of democracy and freedom.

In 1944, Joseph Samitier became the team coach

On May 16, 1938, Francisco Franco's army attacked Barcelona at the Social Club of Barcelona Bombs were dropped, causing great damage. A few months later, Barcelona was occupied by Franco's troops. FC Barcelona, ??a symbol of Catalanism, has been ordered to reduce its membership to 3,486 members and faces huge survival problems.

On June 29, 1939, Les Corts Stadium officially reopened for a match. The game is hosted by a host of military personnel and people in authority. In a speech before the game, the club stated that it would no longer be a carrier of anti-Spanish sentiment, but would become the new icon of Spanish athletics under the new regime.

In March 1940, Enrique Pinheiro, an official of the Franco government, was appointed president of Barcelona, ??and the club's name was also ordered to be changed from the original more British name Futbol Club Barcelona to a Spanish one. Club de Futbol Barcelona (restored its original name in 1973), the four red bars on the Catalan flag were ordered to be reduced to two, until they were restored to their original state in 1949.

In a 1943 match against Real Madrid, Barcelona players received death threats from referees and police. Although Barcelona president Pinheiro was a fascist, he was finally fed up with the treatment his club received from the Madrid government and finally resigned.

In 1944, Samitier coached Barcelona and won the 1944/45 Spanish League Championship. This was the team's first league championship since 1929.

Barcelona won the league championship in three seasons: 1944/45, 1947/48, and 1948/49, and also won the Latin Cup in 1949. Barcelona held a celebration to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary in 1949, with a membership of 24,893. It has won 21 Catalan Cup championships, 9 Spanish Cup championships, and 4 league championships.

Five-Crown Dynasty (1950-1968)

The team lineup of the 1960s

In June 1950, Kubala joined Barcelona. Under the leadership of coach Ferdinand Dau?ík and Kubala, the club won the league championship in the 1951/52 and 1952/53 seasons, and also won the Spanish Cup championship in 1951/953. In the 1951/52 season, Barcelona, ??led by a striker composed of Barossa, Cesar, Kubala, Moreno, and Mancon, became the top five winners of the League, Spanish Cup, Latin Cup, Martin Cup, and Rossi Cup. crown king. [10]

In 1953, the club won the La Liga championship and the Grand Marshal's Cup. In the same year, Barcelona reached an agreement with River Plate to sign Di Stefano and own the player's ownership. At the same time, Real Madrid started negotiations with the Milan club where Di Stefano was playing at the time. With the support of the Francoists, a strange result was born. Di Stefano was required to play for the two clubs in turn. Barcelona was very dissatisfied with this ruling and took the initiative to give up the player. Kubala's Barcelona and Di Stefano's Real Madrid have been locked in a years-long battle for dominance of Spanish football.

[10]

With the success of Kuba

Barcelona players in the 1960s scored goals

With his departure, Barcelona's five-cup dynasty came to an end.

With the opening of the newly built Camp Nou Stadium on September 24, 1957, Barcelona officially entered a new era.

Won the league championship twice in the 1958/59 and 1959/60 seasons, and won the Fair Cup in the 1957/58 and 1959/60 seasons. In 1961, Barcelona defeated AC Milan at San Siro and reached the UEFA Champions League final for the first time, but lost 2-3 to Portugal's Benfica Football Club.

In the 1968 Spanish Cup final, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 1-0 at the Bernabeu and won. A few minutes before the end of the game, the audience threw glass bottles at Barcelona players, so this game was also called " Glass Bottle Final”. [9]

Cruyff Period (1969-1978)

Cruyff Signing

In 1969, Montal won the election and became club president . His plan was to insist on universal participation, and he instilled the idea that all members would have their ideas reflected through their votes.

In 1972, Catalan was played over loudspeakers at Camp Nou, and club news began to be in Catalan. In 1973, the club restored its original name: FC Barcelona

In 1973, Montal was elected as president again. His campaign slogan was "Barcelona is more than just a club."

In 1973, Barcelona signed Dutch football legend Cruyff.

Barcelona won the league championship in the 1973/74 season, which was a great gift for the club's 75th anniversary celebration. At this time, Barcelona already had 69,566 members and became the most influential football club in the world at that time.

On February 17, 1974, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabeu and won the La Liga championship in the 1973/74 season. It can be said that it ended a 14-year trough.

Dream Dynasty (1978-1995)

In 1978, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey.

The final in Basel

On May 6, 1978, Josep Luis Nunez was elected president of Barcelona. Since then, he has become the longest-serving president of Barcelona. . [11]

On May 16, 1979, Barcelona and Dusseldorf met in the final. This epic match lasted until overtime, and Barcelona won 4-3 to become the winner. cup champion. This is the first title of Nunez's tenure as president.

On March 1, 1981, the team's top scorer Enrique Castro - "Gini" was kidnapped in front of his home. He was locked up for 25 days, during which time the team rallied around him. Gini's kidnapping had a huge psychological impact on the team. Although the team has lost its forward, the team is still required to continue playing in the league, but has lost the possibility of competing for the championship. Barca supporters organized a huge demonstration demanding Gini's release, and he was eventually released on March 25.

Maradona joined Barcelona in 1982, but due to hepatitis and a series of injuries, Maradona did not achieve the expected results in Barcelona.

Barcelona in the 1990s still achieved excellent results. Barcelona, ??coached by Cruyff, has won four consecutive league championships since 1991. In addition, in 1992, Koeman's goal defeated Sandoria and won the club's first Champions League championship. Therefore, it is known as Barcelona's history. Here comes the "Dream Team" (Dream Team). At that time, there were many famous players in the team, from Koeman and Russell on defense to Romario and Sabonis on offense. The only shortcoming was that the team was defeated by AC Milan coached by Capello in the 1994 Champions League final with a score of 0-4, and could not win another Champions League championship.

Plain period (1995-2002)

Ronaldinho

Barcelona’s results have been mediocre in the following years, but when the team was in 1997 After Dutchman Louis van Gaal took over in the summer of that year, the team won the league championship in 1998 and 1999. At that time, Van Gaal introduced a large number of Dutch players. From the defensive Cocu to the forwards Kluivert and Van Fondreau, they were all star Dutch players and were known as the "Dutch Team".

It is a pity that Van Gaal failed to go further for the club. The reason was that Van Gaal continued to argue with his players over tactical issues, which affected the team's morale. The disagreement with some stars also caused Van Gaal to be very critical of the players. When mid-sized club Deportivo La Coruna won the La Liga title in 2000 and Barcelona finished second, Van Gaal announced his resignation and even criticized the players at a press conference for their lack of quality and inability to achieve good results. Since then, Barcelona has entered a period of decline, falling to 15th in the league for a time, and even losing its Champions League spot many times.

Dream II Dynasty (2003-2007)

Barcelona Football Club Poster

In the summer of 2003, during Barcelona’s major reforms, Laporta became the club’s president and hired Dutchman Frank Rijkaard came to the club as head coach and acquired Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho. This marked the revival of Barcelona, ??which rebounded to second place in the 2003-04 season. After famous players such as Deco, Eto'o, Giuly, and Larsson joined, Barcelona won two consecutive league championships. In 2006, Barcelona defeated rival Arsenal in the European Champions Cup final, winning the championship for the second time after 1992. However, as the conflicts in the locker room escalated step by step, Barcelona failed to win a championship in the next two seasons, and the Dream II Dynasty became deeper and deeper into the whirlpool in the locker room.

A new journey (2008-)

Barcelona and Guardiola won the third Champions League trophy in 2009

In the summer of 2008, Rijkaard left. Guardiola, the former King of Camp Nou, took office. In order to alleviate the conflicts in the locker room, Barcelona sent away Ronaldinho and Deco, the core members of the second dream dynasty, and promoted Messi, who was only 21 years old, as the new core. Paying attention to the youth training camp has always been Guardiola's characteristic. In the La Masia youth training camp, Guardiola promoted Busquets, Pedro and recalled young players from the youth training such as Pique, who was unsuccessful at Manchester United, and consolidated the Iniesta's main position, and this also laid the foundation for Barcelona's revival. In the 2008/09 season, under the leadership of Guardiola, Barcelona won the league championship, European championship and King's Cup championship, and in the first half of the 2009/10 season, they won the European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Club World Cup. In 2009, he won an unprecedented six crowns, which also marked the birth of Barcelona's third dynasty.

At the beginning of the 2009/10 season, Real Madrid's new chairman Florentino came back to power and purchased world-class superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká in an attempt to revive the Galacticos. At the beginning of the season, Barcelona led all the way, and Real Madrid took the lead midway. Later in the league, Barcelona once again surpassed Real Madrid. In the two games against Real Madrid in the league, Barcelona defeated its opponent 1-0 and 2-0. That season, Barcelona had 18 wins and 1 draw at home and was undefeated, with a final score of 99 points and a nearly "perfect score" record to defend the La Liga crown. [12-13]

In the 2010/11 La Liga season, Barcelona scored 98 goals and conceded 24 goals in the first 38 rounds of the league, accumulating 99 points and achieving three consecutive league championships[14]. In the Champions League, on May 29, 2011, Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final. It defeated Manchester United for the second time in three years and won the Champions League twice. It was the fourth time in history that Barcelona won the Champions League. [15]

Messi, the core of the team

In the 2011/12 La Liga season, Barcelona lost the chance to win the championship after losing to Real Madrid at home in the 35th round. In the end, Mourinho coached Real Madrid won the La Liga title with a record 100 points, ending Barcelona's three consecutive championships. After the season ended in April 2012, Guardiola resigned and his assistant Tito Vilanova replaced him as Barcelona's new coach; Barcelona lost 2-3 in two legs of the Champions League (0-1 away, 2-2 at home). Stopped in the final at Chelsea. [16]

In the 2012/13 La Liga season, Barcelona started with 6 consecutive victories, with 18 wins and 1 draw in the first 19 rounds. Halfway through the league, Barcelona was 11 points ahead of the second place. In the end, the team With 32 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, they accumulated 100 points, leading the second place Real Madrid by 15 points to win the championship. It also tied the points record set by Real Madrid just last season; Barcelona and ??the Champions League met 0-7 (0-4 away, 0-3 at home) lost to Bayern Munich, who later won the championship, and failed to reach the final.

[17-18]

In the 2013/14 La Liga season, Barcelona finally finished second with 27 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses, accumulating 87 points, 3 points behind the champion Atletico Madrid[19]; ??in the Champions League, Barcelona finished second with two goals Lost to Atletico Madrid in round 1-2 (1-1 at home, 0-1 away) and stopped in the quarter-finals[20].

In the 2014/15 La Liga season, Barcelona accumulated 89 points and won the championship one round ahead of schedule. It was also the 23rd La Liga championship in the club’s history [21-22]; on June 7, 2015, the 60th Champions League final was held in The Olympic Stadium in Berlin started. Barcelona defeated Juventus 3-1 and won the title for the fifth time, tying with Liverpool and Bayern. It won another treble after the 2008/09 season. It was also the eighth team to win the treble and the first team to win twice. The team that won the Triple Crown