Naturally, Barcelona FC is most famous for its La Liga (League of Professional Football) team. It is also well known for the Barcelona B, its reserve football team. The club also incorporates four other pro sports teams – it has expanded into roller hockey, handball, basketball and indoor football (futsal). These teams wear the same colors and are subsidised by the football section. Among them are FC Barcelona – Cifec and Winterthur FCB.
Football Club Barcelona was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper. He was born in a Swiss canton, and selected maroon and blue as the official team colors because they were the colors of that canton. The club also includes several excellent amateur sports teams competing at wheelchair basketball, women's basketball, women's football, and rugby.
At first the club only had 11 players. In the years after its founding it quickly acquired a great reputation on the Spanish football scene. The team took part in the first Copa del Rey and the first Catalan Championship.
Joan Gamper became club president in 1908. He spent 25 years at the fore, having been appointed to this position various times in the club's history. The club received its own stadium during his tenure, which was his main achievement as president. Barcelona had over 10 000 members by 1922. Gamper signed legendary players like Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora. These players helped win the first Professional League championship in 1929.
The club's rivalry with Real Madrid goes back a long way. This is hardly surprsing, as hard feelings often develop between the two best teams in a national league. Ever since the beginning the clubs were believed to represent the two rival Spanish cities, Castile and Catalonia. The antagonism reached a new level during the despotic regime of Franco. Real Madrid was regarded as the regime team, while Barcelona was considered the opposition team.
Prior to 2005 Barca refused to feature sponsorship logos on team uniforms. The team colors are believed to represent Catalonia and logos were considered intrusive. In 2005 the team began to wear the logo of Catalonia TV. Recently the players have worn a symbol of the Catalan flag on their shorts, reinforcing the associations of the club with Catalonia.
The club's rivalry with Real Madrid goes back a long way. This is hardly surprsing, as hard feelings often develop between the two best teams in a national league. Ever since the beginning the clubs were believed to represent the two rival Spanish cities, Castile and Catalonia. The antagonism reached a new level during the despotic regime of Franco. Real Madrid was regarded as the regime team, while Barcelona was considered the opposition team.
2005 was a spectacular year for Barca, with an influx of new and talented football players like Deco, Eto'o, Giuly, and of course Ronaldinho, who was voted Footballer of the Year. The team also boasts a group of experienced professionals, such as Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rafael Márquez, and Henrik Larsson. Due to their combined efforts Barca won the Professional League competition and the Supercup of Spain in 2005. 2006 has also started on a high note for the team. Barca won the UEFA Champions League on May 17, 2006. This is their second UEFA championship victory in history (the other was in 1992). On May 3, 2006, Barcelona won their 18th La Liga title. They emerged as the reigning champions of Spain.
In 2009, Barça became the best placed team in Spain and Europe after winning three important trophies: their third UEFA Champions League, la Copa del Rey (King's Cup) and La Liga española (the Spanish Football League).
The team's major trophies include four victories of the European Cup Winners Cup (1979, 1982, 1989, 1997), three victories of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1958, 1960, 1966), two victories of the European Super Cup (1992, 1997), and two Copa Latina victories (1949, 1952).
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