FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔɫ ˈkɫub bərsəˈɫonə]), 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). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the second most valuable sports team in the world, worth $3.16 billion, and the world's second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €560.8 million. The official Barcelona anthem is the "Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs.

Domestically, Barcelona has won 23 La Liga, 27 Copa del Rey, 11 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a shared record five UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a record three FIFA Club World Cup trophies. Barcelona was ranked first in the IFFHS Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 and currently occupies the second position on the UEFA club rankings. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid; matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico.

FC Barcelona Handbol

Futbol Club Barcelona Handbol is a Spanish handball team based in Barcelona, Catalonia, that plays in Liga ASOBAL. It is the most successful handball club in Spain and Europe with a record number of domestic, European and international titles.

History

The handball section of Futbol Club Barcelona was founded on 29 November 1942 during the presidency of Enrique Piñeyro. In the beginning handball was played with eleven players per team and did not have a specialized field to play. They used football fields until the late 50's, when they started to play, as in actual games, with seven players and a covered field.

In the early stages, competitions were dominated by other teams like Atlético de Madrid and Granollers, breaking their domination few times. Things changed radically with the arrival of one of the best coaches in handball history, Valero Rivera. With him, the team became virtually unbeatable in Spain and in Europe, winning a record of 62 trophies under his rule, including 5 consecutive European Cups.

FC Barcelona Bàsquet

FC Barcelona Lassa is a Spanish professional basketball club. It is part of the FC Barcelona sports club and was founded on 24 August 1926 which makes it the oldest club in Liga ACB. The club competes in the Liga ACB and the Euroleague. It has won seven of the last thirteen ACB championships and in 2003 completed a Liga ACB, Copa del Rey and Euroleague treble. FC Barcelona Bàsquet has played in seven Euroleague finals, with the last being their 2010 win.

The team plays its home games at Palau Blaugrana, which was opened on 23 October 1971. They share the facilities with the roller hockey, futsal and handball teams.

Well-known players that have played with the team have included: Pau Gasol, Rony Seikaly, Marc Gasol, Anderson Varejão, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jaka Lakovič, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dejan Bodiroga, Gianluca Basile, Ricky Rubio, and Tony Massenburg.

FC Barcelona Lassa also has a reserve team that plays in LEB Oro.

History

Early years

The club entered its first competition in 1927, playing in the Campionat de Catalunya de Basquetbol (Catalonian Basketball Championship). During these early years basketball in Catalonia was dominated by other clubs such as CE Europa, Laietà BC, CB Atlètic Gràcia and Société Patrie and it was not until the 1940s that FC Barcelona became established as a basketball team. During this decade they won six Copas del Generalísimo and were runners-up once. In 1956 they were founding members of the Liga Española de Baloncesto and finished as runners-up. In 1959 they won Spanish basketball's first-ever league and cup double.