FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional Football Club based in Barcelona,Catalonia,Spain .
Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper , the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). 

The official Barça anthem is the '' Cant del Barca''  written by Jaume Picas and Joseph Maria Espinas  was commissioned in 1974 to celebrate the club's 75th anniversary.The hymn was given its official debut on 27 November 1974 at the Camp Nou  before a game between FC Barcelona and East Germany.
FCB is the world's richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €398 million.
FCB holds a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid  and matches between the two teams are referred to as ''El Clasico''

FCB and Records
1)Barcelona is the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955.

2)In 2009, FCB became the first club in Spain to win the trble consisting of -
La Liga
Copa del Rey and
Champions League

3)FCB also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year(2009), thus completing  the sextuple, comprising -

1)La Liga
2)Copa del Rey and
3)Champions League
4)Spanish Super Cup
5) UEFA Super Cup and
6) FIFA Club World Cup


4)Barcelona has won as of Dec 2011-
 4 Times UEFA Champions League(1991-92,2005-06,2008-09 and 2010-11)
4 Times  UEFA Super Cup Winner's Cup(1978-79,1981-82,1988-89 and 1996-97)
4 Times  UEFA Super Cup(1992,1997,2009 and 2011)
3 Times  Intercities Fairs Cup and (1955-58,1958-60 and 1965-66)
2 Times  FIFA Club World Cup (2009 and 2011)
21 La Liga
25 Copa del Rey
10 Supercopa de Espana
3 Copa Eva Duarte and
2 Copa de la Liga

Manager of FC Barcelona

Josep Guardiola(DOB Jan 18,1971) ,a defensive midfielder spent the majority of his playing career with FCB and was part of Johan Cruyff's dream team that won Barcelona's 1st European Cup. After retiring as a player, Guardiola became coach of FCB on May 8,2008

On Jan 9, 2012 Guardiola received the FIFA World Coach of the year for Men's Football

On Sept 8 2011, Guardiola was awarded the Catalan Parliament's Gold Medal, the highest honour

Guardiola became the youngest UEFA Chanpions League -winning manager ever when FCB won in 2008-09

Ownership of FCB

Barcelona is organised as a registered association. Unlike a limited company, it is not possible to purchase shares in the club, but only membership.The members of Barcelona, called socis, form an assembly of delegates which is the highest governing body of the club. 

As of 2010 the club has 170,000 socis

President of FC Barcelona

 

Sandro Rosel(DoB March 6, 1964)is the Current and 39th President of FCB in office from July 1,2010

  

Support For FCB
In Spain, about 25% of the population are said to be Barça sympathisers, second behind Real Madrid , supported by 32% of the population. Valencia  is third, with 5%

FCB Vs Real Madrid

FCB and Real Madrid clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain: Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities. The rivalry reflects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians.

 FCB Shirt

The blue and red colours of the shirt were first worn in a match against Hispania in 1900. In Catalonia the common perception is that the colours were chosen by Joan Gamper and are those of his home team,FC Basel.

 FCB and Corporate Endorsements

Since its founding, Barcelona has never worn corporate advertisements on their shirt.Barcelona ended their refusal of corporate sponsorship prior to the commencement of the 2011–2012 season, signing a five-year €150m deal with the Qatar Foundation.

Camp Nou

Camp Nou  is a football stadium in Barcelona,Catalonia,Spain which has been the home of FC Barcelona  since 1957.The Camp Nou seats 99,354, reduced to 96,336 in matches organised by UEFA, making it the largest stadium in Europe and the 11th largest in the world in terms of capacity. It has hosted numerous international matches at a senior level including two UEFA Champions League Finals  and the Football Competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Lionel Messi becomes top scorer for Barcelona
Nicknamed "The Flea" for his headlong, goal-bound bursts, Messi made his Barcelona debut in 2004. 

Messi broke Cesar Rodriguez's 57-year-old Barcelona record, getting his eighth hat-trick of the season in a 5-3 Spanish league win over Granada that increased his goals total to 234.While Cesar set the mark in 13 seasons from 1942-1955, Messi needed just under eight campaigns to pass his milestone.

Messi has scored 153 goals in the Spanish league, 49 in the Champions League, 19 in the Copa del Rey, 8 in the Spanish Supercup,4 in the Club World Cup and 1 in the European Supercup.

The hat-trick was Messi's 18th for Barcelona and gave him 154 goals in his last 153 games over three seasons. His six hat-tricks in La Liga this season tie the record set by Ronaldo last year.

Guardiola said that Messi is to soccer what Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan was to basketball.