FC Barcelona - The Catalan Giants of Spain and Europe

FC Barcelona are one of the giants of world football. The Catalonian side are one of the top clubs in the Spanish La Liga and a dominant force in the UEFA Champions League. The team is based at the port of Barcelona and reside in the stadium that is the Camp Nou. The club was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper, a Swiss businessman. It all started when Gamper placed an advert in his local newspaper about starting a local football team. Little did he know how far this was going to go. The team was created and was comprised of local talent.

In 1908 however FC Barcelona came close to going under and Joan Gamper became club president in order to prevent this from happening. Gamper was able to get the club their own stadium at the Carrer Industria and was able to attract better players and managers to get the side back on track. In 1922 things began to really take off for Barcelona and they moved to an even bigger stadium with a capacity of 60,000. This was 'the Cortes'. In the mid 1920s a Barcelona crowd jeered the Royal March in an objection to the Spanish dictatorship which resulted in the closing of the Stadium for 3 months. Joan Gamper was forced to resign as club president and things were not looking good for the side. The clubs founder committed suicide July 30, 1930 due to a bout of depression and financial hardship.

Today the club is thriving. One of the biggest clubs in the world with a stadium seating over 80,000 it is now something that Joan Gamper would be proud of. The club is managed by Dutchman Frank Rijkard. Barcelona have won numerous league tiles and countless others trophies since Gamper's presidency. In 2006 they were an unstoppable force. They strung together a patch of 17 straight wins across all competitions and went on to win their domestic title and the Champions League. They fielded a side of creative footballing talent that included at the time the 'FIFA World Player of the Year' Ronaldinho. The side were a joy to watch and you really did not know what was going to happen next.

Barcelona's greatest rival in the league of Spain are the giants of the capital Real Madrid. Partly fuelled by the fact that Barcelona is actually a Catalan team but mainly because of the years of history between the two teams. The match between the two teams is known as El Clásico and is the highlight of the football calendar for the Spanish media. Barcelona do not yet have the number of titles to their name that Real Madrid possess but are growing in global support as the seasons go by. Barcelona have grown a legacy of their own and is a team that has history.

Who would have thought that an advert in a local newspaper to start a football team would grow into the legacy that is FC Barcelona?

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