Més que un club

Lore & Background

Barcelona are one of the world's most decorated clubs. Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 82 trophies: 29 La Liga, 32 Copa del Rey, 2 Copa de la Liga, 16 Supercopa de España and 3 Copa Eva Duarte titles, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barça has won 22 European and worldwide titles: five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, a joint record two Latin Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.

Barcelona was ranked first in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and occupies the ninth position on the UEFA club rankings as of May 2023. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico. Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid.

In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League titles, and also became the first European football club to win six competitions in a single year. In 2011, the club became European champions again, winning five trophies. This Barcelona team, which won fourteen trophies in just four years under manager Pep Guardiola, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest of all time.

By winning their fifth Champions League trophy in 2015 under Luis Enrique, Barcelona became the first European football club in history to achieve the continental treble twice.

Reader's Guide

Barcelona had a successful start in regional and national cups, competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey. In 1901, the club participated in the first football competition played on the Iberian Peninsula, the Copa Macaya, narrowly losing to Hispania AC, but in the following year, Barça won the tournament, the club's first-ever piece of silverware, and then participated in the first Copa del Rey, losing 1–2 to Bizcaya (a combination of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC) in the final.

In 1908, Hans Gamper – now known as Joan Gamper – became club president, attempting to prevent Barcelona from shutting down. The club was struggling financially, socially, and in performance. They had not won a competition since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905. He said in a meeting: "Barcelona cannot die and must not die.

If there is nobody who is going to try, then I will assume the responsibility of running the club from now on." He was club president on five occasions from 1908 to 1925. One of his main achievements was ensuring Barça acquired its own stadium and thus generated a stable income. On 14 March 1909, the team moved into the Camp de la Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000.

To celebrate their new surroundings, the club conducted a logo contest the following year. Carles Comamala won the contest, and his suggestion became the crest that the club still wears – with some minor changes – as of the present day. The stadium is regarded as the main element that helped the club grow in the 1910s and become a dominant team, winning three successive Campionats de Catalunya between 1909 and 1911, three Copa del Rey in four years between 1910 and 1913, and four successive Pyrenees Cup between the inaugural year in 1910 and 1913.

The Pyrenees Cup was one of the earliest international club cups in Europe. It consisted of the best teams of Languedoc, Midi and Aquitaine (Southern France), the Basque Country and Catalonia, all former members of the Marca Hispanica region. The contest was the most prestigious in that era. Notable figures of Barça's first great team include Carles Comamala, Alfredo Massana, Amechazurra, Paco Bru, and Jack Greenwell. The latter became the club's first full-time coach in 1917.

Did You Know?

• Barcelona's first-ever piece of silverware was the Copa Macaya, won in 1902.
• Barcelona players have won a joint record twelve Ballon d'Or awards and a record six FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
• In 2010, three players from Barcelona's youth academy—Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi—were the top three in the Ballon d'Or ranking.