El Barça és més que un club
Barcelona is more than a club.
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Established in 1899, Futbol Club Barcelona is one of the leading football teams in Europe. It is more than a football club, it occupies a special place in the hearts of all the Catalan people. It symbolises their uniqueness.
How it all started
In the year 1899, Joan Gamper, put an advertisement in the local newspaper, asking people to join him in founding a Football club. Twelve people responded to his ad and thus FC Barcelona was born. From a humble beginning, the club rose to great heights and soon they were winning trophies by the dozen. All that changed during the civil war in the 1920’s and the club ground and headquarters were destroyed. During that time the Catalan flag was banned and thus the people of Catalonia started looking up to FC Barcelona as their sole representative in Spain. The club crest also has the Catalan flag on it.
Pride
This team has never displayed their sponsors logo on their jerseys. Till recently their jerseys had just the FC Barcelona logo. Recently, they started displaying a small Nike logo on the right side shoulder. The body of the jersey has been left unchanged. For the people of Barcelona, the scarlet and blue colours of the jersey symbolise their colours, the colours of Catalonia.
Glory years
The political environment mellowed down, and Barca (as the club is also known) started growing in stature and popularity. Along with popularity came the silverware and accolades. They had the power to get new and better players to the club. Their best player, Alfredo di Stefano was sold to bitter rivals Real Madrid in the 50’s.
The real glory period for the Catalan club came in the early 70’s when they signed Johan Cruyff of Holland. At that time, Holland was famous for its style of football called as “Total Football” and Cruyff brought this style to Barca and they thrashed Real 5-0. By then, Barca had already established themselves as one of the best football clubs in Spain and Europe. They had to wait till 1992 to taste UEFA championship success.
Their first Champions League title came in 1992. Soon after this victory, they appointed Bobby Robson as their manager. Robson brought a skinny teenager, Ronaldo from PSV to Barca. Robson also brought to Barca a Portuguese named as Jose Mourinho to be his assistant.
The fall
The club’s stars soon turned against them, and they were unable to match their earlier records. They were performing brilliantly in their domestic league (La Liga) but they could not replicate the same magic play in the Champions League. Ronaldo, one of their star players, too left for Inter.
The rise after the fall
The club’s fortunes started changing after 2003, when Joan Laporta was elected as the chairman. He had announced that he would bring David Beckham to Barca, which he thankfully couldn’t. However, he got someone more powerful and precious than Beckham, Ronaldinho. Around the same time, Frank Rijkaard was appointed as the manager. Under Rijkaard, the club started improving and soon was back at the top of the league. During this time, Barca purchased Samuel Eto’o, a brilliant striker from arch rivals Real Madrid.
Current Team
The current team under Rijkaard, consists of a lethal mix of talented youngsters and experienced players. After Ronaldinho, came Samuel Eto’o, Deco, Henrik Larsson, Lionel Messi, Guily. The team looks like a perfect machine, a machine that knows to destroy but at the same time play attractive football. They have got plenty of experienced players too, like their captain Carles Puyol. The team consists of football players, not big stars.
They are currently leading the Spanish League table and are at the top of their group in the Champions league.
Barca is a perfect example of “Money can buy everything, but it can’t buy you trophies”. They have got some of the most brilliant strikers and finishers in the game today, and it shows on the field too.
They have a young team, and they have plenty of time to grow and win plenty of trophies.
FC Barcelona
Stadium : Nou Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona (a.k.a Camp Nou)
Capacity : 98, 000.
Manager : Frank Rijkaard
Captain : Carles Puyol.