Futbol Club Barcelona was founded in 1899 by a team of English, Swiss, and Catalan footballers, headed by Joan Gamper and today the club enjoys spectacular worldwide support, as well as being one of the most popular expressions of Catalanism and Catalan culture. This sometimes puts it at odds with Real Madrid and the result is a long-standing rivalry between the two biggest clubs in Spain, whose highly anticipated matches are dubbed «el clasico», with Barcelona representing a Spain of regions against Real Madrid’s centralist vision of the country.
The club first got off the ground when Gamper put an advertisement in the Los Deportes regarding his desire to form a football club, and soon he found some supporters who met at the Gimnasio Sole on 29th November to discuss plans. The meeting was attended by Walter Wild who went ahead to become the first director of the club, Otto Kunzle, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Josep Llobet, Otto Maier, Josep Llobet, Carles Pujol, John Parsons, Lluís d’Osso, Bartomeu Terradas, and William Parsons – FC Barcelona was born!
The club had a successful start in the regional as well as national level, and it went from strength to strength. The team won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya in 1902. Since its inception, FC Barcelona has achieved fame across the world with its consistent efforts to excel and create a mark in the history of football. Such is the support that the club even has an official anthem, called the «Cant del Barça», written by Josep Maria Espinas and Jaume Picas.
Contrary to many other football clubs, FC Barcelona is owned and operated by its members. The club is often considered to be the second-richest football club in the world, in terms of revenue. Barcelona is the only European club that has consistently played European football matches every season since 1995 and is also one of only three clubs that have never been relegated from La Liga, alongside arch-rival Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.
In the year 2009, FC Barcelona became the first Spanish club ever to be victorious in the treble, constituting of Copa del Rey, La Liga, and the Champions League. In the same season, the club also became the first in Spain to win six out of six matches in the same year. FC Barcelona has fans across the world eagerly waiting for each season to see how their favorite team will battle out with other teams for the trophy.