Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional association football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded by a group of Swiss, German, 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 Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Unlike many other football clubs, the socis, who are the members and supporters of the club, own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €582.1 million in the 2020–21 season.
Barcelona played its first friendly match on 8 December 1899 against the English colony in Barcelona in the old velodrome in Bonanova. Initially, Barcelona played against other local clubs in various Catalan tournaments. In 1929, the club became one of the founding members of La Liga, Spain's first national league, and has since achieved the distinction of being one of only three clubs to have never been relegated, along with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona is also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. They hold a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, with matches between the two teams referred to as "El Clásico" (El Clàssic in Catalan). Matches against city rivals Espanyol are known as the "Derbi barceloní".
Barcelona has amassed various records in regional, domestic and continental tournaments since its founding. During the time the club played in regional competitions until the end of the Catalan championship in 1940, it won a record 23 titles from a possible 38. In 2009, Barcelona achieved an unprecedented sextuple by winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Champions League, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in one calendar year. Additionally, Barça has won the coveted continental treble, consisting of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in the aforementioned 2009 and again 2015, becoming the first European club to have won the treble twice.
Barcelona has signed several high-profile players, setting the world record in transfer fees on three occasions with the purchase of Johan Cruyff from Ajax in 1973, Diego Maradona from Boca Juniors in 1982 and Ronaldo from PSV Eindhoven in 1996. The club's players have received seven FIFA World Player of the Year awards, twelve Ballon d'Or awards, three UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards and eight European Golden Shoe awards.
Honours
FC Barcelona won their first trophy in 1902 when they lifted the Copa Macaya, which was the predecessor to the Catalan Championship. The club won the Catalan Championship a record 23 times during the 40-year span of the tournament.
When the national league was established in 1929, the importance of the regional league declined, and it was abandoned in 1940. From then on, Barcelona did not participate in regional competitions until the establishment of the Copa Catalunya in 1993, a cup they have won a record nine times.
They are the most successful football club in Spain, having won a total of 77 domestic titles: 27 La Liga, a record 31 Copa del Rey, a record 14 Supercopa de España, a record three Copa Eva Duarte and a record two Copa de la Liga.
The club is also one of the most successful clubs in international club football, having won 22 official trophies in total, 14 of which are UEFA competitions and 8 recognised by FIFA. Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup titles, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup titles (non-UEFA), a shared record of two Latin Cup titles, a shared record of five UEFA Super Cup titles and three FIFA Club World Cup titles. They are also second to Real Madrid in terms of overall official titles 99-101.
Regional titles (34) Campionat de Catalunya:
Winners (23) (record):
Copa Messi (1): 1902
Copa Barcelona (1): 1903
Campionat de Catalunya (21): 1904–05, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1912–13, 1915–16, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38
Runners-up (5): Copa Macaya (1): 1901 Campionat de Catalunya (4) : 1907–08, 1911–12, 1932–33, 1936–37
Liga Catalana: Winners (1) (record): 1937–38
Catalan Cup: Winners (8) (record): 1990–91, 1992–93, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2012–13, 2013–14 Runners-up (10): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2015–16
Supercopa de Catalunya: Winners (2) (record): 2014, 2018 Runners-up (2): 2016, 2019