Introduction:

What can be said about the biggest and best football club in the world. Okay so I may be a bit biased but are you really going to argue with over 110,000 fans? And those are just the official numbers. No fewer than 80,000 people have permanent seats at the Camp Nou, Barcelona's football stadium and the biggest stadium in Europe. If you still need convincing read on ...

History:

Barcelona Football Club known affectionately to its fans as Barça was founded in 1899 ( Barça is celebrating its centenary this year ) by Swiss born Hans Gamper. This makes it one of the oldest clubs in Europe. It was also the first Spanish club to turn professional. Despite a turbulent beginning when it was a Catalan political statement more than anything else, the team really started to make its presence felt in 1951 with the signing of the Hungarian Kubala, known as the "blond arrow". So much so that the club president at the time had to agree to share Kubala with the Madrid team! It seems unbelievable to think of now but Kubala was actually playing for the two teams. At around the same time the government ordered the removal of the newly signed Di Stefano who, as you may know, went on to do great things with Madrid.

Since Kubala many other great players have joined the Barça ranks. There was Cruyf, Schuster, Maradona, Laudrup, Stoickov, Kuman, Zubizarreta, Romario, Ronaldo and now Rivaldo to name but a few. Barça have gone on to win every major European title and the world club competition including home league and cup championships too numerous to mention. Probably the most memorable of these ( at least for me ) was the 1-0 win over Sampdoria in the Champions League final in 1992. A Kuman free-kick in the dying minutes of the game was all that separated the two teams on a memorable night, when Barça was to win the European Cup for the first time.

Rivalry:

Since its foundation Barça has always had an intense rivalry with its most competitive opponents Real Madrid.

Honours:

Present Team (Season 1999-2000):

Goalkeepers
Ruud Hesp
Francesc Arnau

Defenders
Michael Reiziger
Abelardo Fernández
Frank de Boer
Frédéric Déhu
Sergi Barjuan
Winston Bogarde

Midfielders
Pep Guardiola
Xavi Hernández
Luis Enrique Martínez
Ronald de Boer
Jari Litmanen
Philip Cocu
Gabri García
Emmanuel Amunike

Forwards
Luis Figo
Simao Sabrosa
Patrick Kluivert
Rivaldo Vítor Borba
Dani García
Boudewijn Zenden

Transfers and New Signings:

Additional Information:

Definitely one of my favorite sites on the net and probably the one I most frequently visit is the official club site at http://www.fcbarcelona.es. Here you can find the latest information and match results as they happen, plus team news and loads more. Worth a visit!