The Nou Camp
The unfortunate climax of the Di Stefano affair, which saw the Argentinean star finally sign for Real Madrid, led to the dismissal of Barca President Enric Martí Carreto. His successor, Francesc Miró-Sans put all his energies into the building of the Nou Camp Stadium, which was opened on 24th September 1957. The new stadium had a 90,000 capacity and was the perfect setting for a team who'd just won their latest Spanish Cup and now had 40,000 members. With boss Helenio Herrera in charge, the team, with such excellent players as Kocsis, Czibor, Evaristo, Kubala, Eulogio Martínez, Suárez, Villaverde, Olivella, Gensana, Segarra, Gràcia, Vergés and Tejada. won the Spanish League in 1958-59 and 1959-60 as well as the Fairs Cup in 1957-58 and 1959-60. Unfortunately the sixties didn't see a continuation of their success and the team won only three trophies during the decade: the Spanish Cup in 1963 and 1968 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Despite this, the club became more and more identified with the Catalan society of that time and began to be known as 'more than a club' because of its social importance. The club again became a focus for nationalist sentiments during a period of dictatorship which came down hard on any other popular manifestations of Catalan identity.
Johan Cruyff arrives
Barca won the Spanish Cup in 1971 and began work in October on the Palau Blaugrana and the ice skating rink. Two years later, in 1973, the signing of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff put the finishing touches to a wonderful forward line of Rexach, Asensi, Cruyff, Sotil and Marcial, who led the league winning side of 1973-74.Coinciding with the club's 75th anniversary, there were now 69,566 members, making it the most powerful sporting club in the World.
The current era
Having won the cup, on May 6, 1978, Josep Lluís Núñez took over as President of the club. From that moment the Blaugrana has enjoyed strong economic growth along with a large social expansion (there was a considerable increase in the number of members and fan clubs) and ground improvements with the opening of the Mini Estadi and two significant changes to the Camp Nou. On the sporting front, trophies started to flood in.
Among this great haul of silverware was the 1979 European Cup Winners' Cup victory in Basel with 30,000 Barca fans at the game; the 1984-85 League title that was won in impressive form under the guidance of English coach Terry Venables; and the Dream Team era (1990-94), with Johan Cruyff as trainer, when the club won four League titles and the European Cup at Wembley.
20 May 1992: An unforgettable day
But most outstanding of all was that glorious night of May 20, 1992 at the legendary Wembley Stadium in London, when Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 to win the European Cup. Ronald Koemans goal in the 112th-minute of the game now forms part of the Blaugrana legend and the side that featured in that historic match has gone down in gold letters in the clubs proud history: Zubizarreta, Nando, Ferrer, Koeman, Juan Carlos, Bakero, Salinas (Goikoetxea), Stoichkov, Laudrup, Guardiola (Alexanko) and Eusebio.
The last few years
The Cup Winners Cup, Spanish Cup and Spanish Super Cup won by English manager Bobby Robson's Barca in 96-97, the League and Cup double in 1998, and the League in 1998-99 (the first of Van Gaal's two periods in charge at the club) were the last major titles to be won by the FC Barcelona first team.
Another highly emotional occasion was the Club Centenary in 1999 (Antoni Tàpies designed the official poster), which served as a link between a glorious past and hope for continued success in the future. In its historic centenary year, Barcelona won the football, basketball, handball, and roller hockey leagues.
On July 23, 2000, Joan Gaspart took over the presidency of the club, and on January 22, 2002, work began on the 'Joan Gamper' training grounds in Sant Joan Despí. Another of the Club's proudest moments came on May 11, 2003, when the basketball team won the Euroleague for the first time ever. The final was played in the Palau Sant Jordi against Benetton Treviso. The score that memorable day was Barca 76-Benetton 65.
Joan Laporta, teh new president
On June 15, 2003 Joan Laporta won the clubs presidential elections. A new period in the history of FC Barcelona had begun, with a forward-looking plan and such world famous players being signed as Ronaldinho, Giuly, Deco, Larsson and Eto'o. The number of club members has also started increasing thanks to the 'Big Challenge' campaign.
The club in the 21st century
As the social, cultural and sporting dimensions of the club grow and grow, FC Barcelona is considered to be most important multi-sport club in the world. The football team has won 16 Catalan Leagues, the Latin Cup twice, the Fairs Cup three times, the European Cup Winners' Cup four times, the European Cup once, the European Super Cup twice, the Spanish Cup 24 times, the Spanish League 16 times and the Spanish Super Cup on five occasions. Barca is the only club on the continent to have been ever-present in European competition since it began in 1955. The club is also the king of the European Cup Winners' Cup with four victories and has won the Spanish Cup the most times with 24 wins.
The other sections of the club (basketball, handball, roller hockey, athletics, field hockey, ice hockey, figure skating, futsal, rugby, baseball, volleyball, cycling and women's football) have all achieved success both at domestic and international level. In 2004, these sections of the club have won an amazing 829 titles between them. All these play with the full support of 125,000 club members and more than 1600 fan clubs around the world.
