Football Club Barcelona, having strong fanbase Club to Post Messi Era
Football Club Barcelona, also known as Barcelona or Barca, is a professional football team with its base in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It competes in La Liga, the first division of Spanish football.
The club, which was established in 1899 by a group of football players from Switzerland, Catalonia, Germany, and England under the leadership of Joan Gamper, has come to represent Catalan nationalism, hence the motto "Més que un club" ("More than a club"). Barcelona is owned and run by its supporters, unlike many other football clubs. With a market value of $4.76 billion, it is the fourth most valuable sports team in the world. With a revenue of €582.1 million a year, it is also the fourth wealthiest football club in the world. The "Cant del Barça," composed by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs, serves as the national song of Barcelona. Barcelona is known as the Blaugrana because they wear dark blue and garnet stripes when they play.
Barcelona holds the record for the last four competitions and has won a record 75 domestic trophies, including two Copa de la Liga championships and 26 La Liga, 31 Copa del Rey, 13 Supercopa de Espaa, and 3 Copa Eva Duarte victories. The club has won 20 European and international club football championships, including three FIFA Club World Cups, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a joint record five UEFA Super Cups, five Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, and five UEFA Champions League wins. Barcelona held the top spot in the Club World Ranking of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015, and as of July 2022, it is rated sixth in the UEFA club rankings. El Clásico refers to the rivalry between the club and Real Madrid, which has existed for a very long time.
Strong Fanbase among giants Clubs
Barcelona has one of the highest social media followings among sports clubs worldwide and is one of the most widely supported teams in the world.
Johan Cruyff was one of the twelve Ballon d'Or winners for Barcelona players, and Romário, Cristiano, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho were among the seven FIFA World Player of the Year winners. It was a first for players from the same football academy when three players who went through the club's youth program—Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, and Xavi—were selected as the FIFA Ballon d'Or winners in 2010. In addition, members of the team have taken home a record eight European Golden Shoe honors.
Along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, Barcelona is one of the three original members of the Primera División that have never been demoted from the top league since its foundation in 1929. Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009, making them the first Spanish football club to sweep all six competitions in a calendar year. They also became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League.
With five victories, the club repeated as European champions in 2011. Some in the sport believe that this Barcelona club, which won fourteen trophies in just four years under Pep Guardiola, is the best team that has ever existed. Barcelona became the first European football team in history to accomplish the continental treble twice by capturing their fifth Champions League trophy in 2015.
Post Messi Era
With 54.28% of the voting, Joan Laporta won the presidency of Barcelona on March 7, 2021. Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in the championship match to win their 31st Copa del Rey, their lone victory under Ronald Koeman. Barcelona announced a club debt of €1.35 billion and a payroll bill that represented 103% of all income in August 2021 when they discovered they were unable to meet La Liga's Financial Fair Play rules. The final year of Lionel Messi's contract had been the subject of continuing negotiations. On August 5, 2021, Barcelona made the announcement that they would be unable to extend Messi's contract due to La Liga rules. Despite the fact that the club and Messi had agreed upon the terms of a new deal, this nevertheless occurred.
After playing for Barça for 21 years and becoming the club's all-time greatest scorer, Messi left the team and joined French champions Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. The financial ramifications also limited Barcelona's ability to sign new players, therefore the majority of those signings were either free transfers or loans, and the club had to lower player salaries in order to sign the newcomers.
Ronald Koeman was fired on October 28 after poor results in La Liga and the Champions League, and he was replaced by club star Xavi.
Barcelona slipped down to the Europa League for the first time since 2003-04 because Xavi was unable to turn around their Champions League fortunes, and they eventually lost in the quarterfinals. Xavi significantly improved Barça's performance in the domestic league, taking them from eighth to second and securing a Champions League spot for the next year. However, after earlier Supercopa and Copa del Rey exits, this also meant Barcelona finished trophyless.
Supporters of FC Barcelona
As fans at the first stadium, Camp de la Indstria, sat with their culs over the stands, the nickname culer for a Barcelona supporter is derived from the Catalan cul (English: arse). In Spain, Barça is reportedly supported by 25% of the population, placing them second to Real Madrid, who has 32% of the country's support. Barcelona is the most favored second-choice club in Europe.
From 100,000 in the 2003–04 season to 170,000 in September 2009, the club's membership counts increased significantly. The quick jump is credited to Ronaldinho's impact and the then-president Joan Laporta's communication strategy, which focused on Spanish and English online media. The club had 143,086 socis, or members, as of June 30, 2022.
In addition to membership, there are 1,264 officially recognized fan clubs, or penyes, all throughout the world as of March 2022.
When visiting Barcelona, the fan groups receive advantageous discounts and promote Barcelona in their area. With almost 103 million Facebook fans as of December 2021, Barcelona is among the best-supported teams in the world and has the second-highest social media following among sports teams, just behind Real Madrid with 111 million. Numerous well-known individuals have supported the club throughout the years, including José Luis Rodrguez Zapatero, a former Spanish prime minister, and Pope John Paul II, who was an honorary member.
