On November 29, 1899, Hans Gamper founded Futbol Club Barcelona, along with eleven other enthusiasts of 'foot-ball', a game that was still largely unknown in this part of the world.

He could never have imagined the magnitude of what that initiative would eventually develop into. Over more than one hundred years of history, FC Barcelona has grown spectacularly in every area and has progressed into something much greater than a mere sports club, turning Bar?a?s ?more than a club? slogan into a reality.



Bar?a has become, for millions of people all around the world, a symbol of their identity, and not just in a sporting sense, but also in terms of society, politics and culture. Throughout the most difficult of times, Bar?a was the standard that represented Catalonia and the Catalan people's desire for freedom, a symbolism that has continued to be closely linked to the idiosyncrasy of the Club and its members to this day. Within the context of Spain, Bar?a is seen as an open and democratic club. And all around the world, Bar?a is identified with caring causes, and most especially children through its sponsorship agreement with Unicef.



For a whole century, FC Barcelona has passed through moments of glory and pain, periods of brilliance and other less successful ones, epic victories and humbling defeats. But all these different moments have helped define the personality of a Club that, due to its peculiar nature, is considered unique in the world.



With over one hundred years of history, there have naturally been many different periods, both in a social and a sporting sense. In the early years (1899-1922) , from the foundation of the club to the construction of Les Corts stadium, Bar?a was a club that had to distinguish itself from all the other football teams in Barcelona, to the point that it would come to be identified with the city as a whole. Bar?a soon became the leading club in Catalonia, and also associated itself with the increasingly growing sense of Catalan national identity.



From Les Corts to the Camp Nou (1922-1957), the club went through contrasting periods. Its membership reached 10,000 for the first time, while football developed into a mass phenomenon and turned professional, and these were the years of such legendary figures as Alc?ntara and Samitier. But due to material difficulties and the political troubles of the Spanish Civil War and post-war period, the club was forced to overcome several adverse circumstances, including the assassination of president Josep Sunyol in 1936, the very person who had propagated the slogan ?sport and citizenship'. But the club survived, and a period of social and sporting recovery materialised in the form of the Camp Nou, coinciding with the arrival of the hugely influential Ladislau Kubala.



From the construction of the Camp Nou to the 75th anniversary (1957-1974) , Bar?a suffered mediocre results but was consolidated as an entity, with a constantly increasing membership and the slow but steady recovery, in the face of adversity, of its identity. A very clear sensation that was manifested for the first time ever in the words ?Bar?a, more than a club? proclaimed by president Narc?s de Carreras. The board presided by Agust? Montal brought a player to Barcelona who would change the history of the club, Johan Cruyff.



From the 7th anniversary to the European Cup (1974-1992) the club saw the conversion of football clubs to democracy, the start of Josep Llu?s N??ez?s long presidency, the extension of the Camp Nou on occasion of the 1982 World Cup and the Cup Winners Cup triumph in Basle (1979), a major success not just in a sporting sense but also in a social one, with an enormous and exemplary expedition of Bar?a supporters demonstrating to Europe the unity of the Barcelona and Catalan flags. Cruyff returned, this time as coach, and created what would come to be known as the 'Dream Team' (1990-1994), whose crowning glory was the conquest of the European Cup at Wembley (1992), thanks to Koeman?s famous goal.



From Wembley to Paris (1992-2006) was when the club?s most recent developments occurred in between its two greatest achievements, becoming champions of Europe. Josep Llu?s N??ez?s long presidency came to and end, and the club displayed its finest potential during the celebrations of the club Centenary. Following on from Joan Gaspart (2000-2003), the June 2003 election brought Joan Laporta into office, and the start of new social expansion, reaching 150,000 members, and more successes on the pitch, including two league titles and the Champions League won in Paris.



The grandeur of Futbol Club Barcelona is explained, among many other factors, by its impressive honours list. Very few clubs anywhere in the world have won so many titles. The Intercontinental Cup is the only major football trophy that has never made its way into the club museum, where the club's greatest pride and joy remain the two European Cups won at Wembley (1992) and in Paris (2006).



These were Bar?a's finest hours on the continental stage, but the Club also has the honour of being the only one to have appeared in every single edition of European club competition since the tournaments were first created back in 1955. Barcelona's many achievements in Europe include being considered 'King of the Cup Winners Cup', having won that title a record four times.



In addition, FC Barcelona also won three Fairs Cups (the tournament now known as the UEFA Cup) in 1958, 1960 and 1966. In 1971, Bar?a won that trophy outright in a match played between themselves, as the first ever winners of the competition, and Leeds United, as the last. But Bar?a not only rules in Europe, but also in Spanish competitions, specifically in the national cup, the Copa del Rey, which they have won 24 times, more than any other club.



The Spanish League has traditionally been one of the competitions Barcelona has found the hardest to win, but especially thanks to some wonderful seasons in the 1990s, a decade when six championships were won, and two more championships in the last two years, Futbol Club Barcelona has now won 18 Spanish League titles.

There are few elements that symbolise an organised group more than its crest.

From the very moment Bar?a was founded, the club had its own emblem that the players proudly wore on their shirts. It was the coat of arms of the city of Barcelona, a diamond shape divided into four quarters, with a crown and a bat on top, and surrounded by two branches, one of a laurel tree and the other a palm. This, even at such an early stage, was a way of expressing the club's link to the city in which it was born.



This crest remained unchanged until 1910. Shortly after Gamper had saved the club from serious crisis in 1908, a decision was made to give the club its own differentiated crest. In 1910, the club held a competition between all the members interested in presenting proposals. The winner was Carles Comamala, who played for the club between 1903 and 1912, and was a medicine student at the time, as well as being a fine artist. And so the crest that the club wears to this day was created, although there have been a few variations. It is a bowl-shaped design, in which the two upper quarters maintain the St George Cross and the red and yellow bars of the original, which are the most representative symbols of Barcelona and Catalonia. The club initials FCB appear on a strip across the centre, and below are the Bar?a colours and a ball. So, what we have is a crest that honours the sporting dimension of the club as well as its connection to its city and country.



Since 1910, the changes made to the design have been minimal, generally just modifying the aesthetics and the patterns used for the outline. The biggest changes came about as a result of political obligations. When Franco came to power, the letters FCB were replaced by CFB, to reflect the way the club was forced to use the Spanish version of its name. The dictatorship also obliged the club to remove two of the four bars from one of the upper quarters, thus excluding the Catalan flag from the crest. On occasion of the club's 50th anniversary in 1949, the four bars returned. The original letters were not recovered until late 1974, when the crest reverted to the original 1910 design.



The present crest is based on an adaptation made by designer Claret Serrahima in 2002, in which the lines are a little more stylised, the dots between the letters have been taken away, the name has been made smaller, and there are fewer pointed edges. The lines in this latest design are somewhat simpler, to make it easier for the crest and the club's corporate identity to be reproduced in all the different formats.

The old Les Corts ground after several expansions had increased its capacity to 60,000.

It was still not big enough to cope with the surging interest in the team though, especially after the arrival of Hungarian superstar Ladislau Kubala and the new Bar?a stadium was built to replace it.



The stadium was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans Mir? and Josep Soteras Mauri, with the collaboration of Lorenzo Garc?a Barb?n, and it was constructed between 1954 and 1957, using mainly concrete and iron. The whole project cost a staggering 288 million pesetas, which meant the club would spend the following years in heavy debt.



Although it was originally going to go under the official name of 'Estadi del FC Barcelona', it soon came to be popularly known as the 'Camp Nou' (the 'new ground'), as opposed to the club's old home at Les Corts. It was not until the 2000/2001 season that, following a mail vote made by the club membership, that the decision was made to make 'Camp Nou' the official name of the stadium. Of the 29,102 votes the club received, a total of 19,861 (68.25%) preferred Camp Nou to Estadi del FC Barcelona.



The stadium's maximum height is 48 metres, and it covers a surface area of 55,000 square metres (250 metres long and 220 metres wide). In accordance with UEFA stipulations, the playing area has been downsized to 105 metres x 68 metres.



With a capacity of 98,787, it is now the biggest stadium in Europe. However, the total capacity has varied over the years owing to different modifications. When it was first opened in 1957, it held 93,053 spectators, which would be increased to 120,000 in 1982 on occasion of the FIFA World Cup. However, the introduction of new regulations outlawing standing areas reduced the stadium's capacity in the late 1990s to just under 99,000.



In the 1998-99 season, UEFA recognised the services and functionalities of the Camp Nou by awarding it five star status. In the whole of Spain there are only three other stadiums that can claim that, the Llu?s Companys Olympic Stadium, also in Barcelona, the new Cartuja Olympic Stadium in Seville and the Vicente Calder?n, home of Atl?tico Madrid.



Of the different facilities on offer inside the stadium, of particular note are a chapel next to the changing rooms, the presidential box, the VIPs lounge, the press rooms, several television studios, the Sports Medicine Centre, the Operative Control Unit (UCO), the veteran players area, the FC Barcelona club museum, the nursery and the offices of all of the many different club departments.

Opened on 23rd September 1982, the Miniestadi is a ground used by Barca's reserve teams.

On the 23rd September 1982, the Miniestadi, brainchild of architect Josep Casals and project manager Ramon Domenech, was inaugurated. In just nine months the stadium, with a capacity of 15.276 split in two tiers and with a covered grandstand, was completed. The pitch measures 103 metres by 65 metres.

Facilities

Next to the 'Mini' (the nickname bestowed on the new ground) there are two training pitches, called pitch 3 and 4, which have artificial turf. This last pitch, of regulation size, is 100 metres by 70 metres and has seating for 1000 spectators. The Miniestadi normally hosts FC Barcelona B and FC Barcelona C matches.

Main sporting events

Amongst the highlights of matches played at the Mini, the Copa del Rey match in the 1983-84 season between a Barca reserve side, known at the time as Bar?a Atl?tic, and the Real Madrid first team stands out. The 0-0 draw turned out to be an historic result as the 1-0 scoreline in the return leg proved to be enough to put the Bar?a youngsters through. Four years later, in the 1987-88 season the stadium was fill to capacity once more for an under-19 Bar?a-Real Madrid match.

The Mini has also hosted Andorra's international fixtures including games against Ireland and Holland. The Barcelona Dragons were based there in 2002. It is also the customary location for the Clubs Presidential elections.

Capacity crowd for Paris broadcast

But one of the most emotional evenings at the Miniestadi was the broadcast of the 2006 Champions League Final. Saint-Denis in Paris was not the only stadium in Europe to be enraptured by FC Barcelona?s victory. 11,000 people filled every seat to watch Bar?a on the giant screen as they came from behind to beat Arsenal and claim the trophy for the second time. It was yet another unforgettable evening for FC Barcelona?s amazing supporters.

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