Barcelona's rich history begins with one man, Joan Gamper. His vision, along with that of eleven men, founded on November 29, 1899 the institution that is today known as Futbol Club Barcelona. Gamper was a swiss merchant that loved football (soccer). He lived in the small town of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles in Catalonia and regularly played football matches with local Scots and Britons. From those early beginnings FC Barcelona has had 31 presidents, from Gualtieri Wild to the current man in charge, Josep Lluis Nunez. The current president's reign has been the most succesful in the club's history. Since taking over in the late 70s, the club has grown into a financial giant signing lucrative contracts with TV3, Kappa, and most recentrly Nike. He enlarged the Camp Nou's seating capacity to accomodate 120.000 spectators. From then on, FC Barcelona has become the club with the highest number of socios or members in the world, at just over 109.000. La Masia was created as a place to give young boys a place to study, train, and teach them about football. A museum was also built to attract more visitors to the city of Barcelona and to experience what FC Barcelona means to the Catalan people. The club has grown with the city and both have received praise.       The club shield has been modified from the early diamond-shaped shield through more metamorphic phases but the "essence" has remained constant. Catalonia's red and yellow flag, and the F.C.B. letters. The shields also have a red cross which is the cross of Catalonia's patron saint, Sant Jordi. The current shield has a more futuristic design but the constants remain the same.

1899 - 1999 CENTENNIAL In 1999 FC Barcelona will celebrate it's centennial. There are various activities planned for the centennial and a year-long celebration began last November 29, 1998 with fireworks and the unveiling of the team's new centennial jersey worn in the match against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou. Another match will take place against Brazil in the coming months. Celebrate the Centenari with BarcaMania! This is Barcelona's centennial logo. It includes all the basic elements of the symbolism of the club (shield and colors) concocted in a visual and synthetic manner. The one hundred years of the club's existence are easily identified with the numbers 1899 1999, but are also more symbologically identified with the presence of 100 spears in the interior and exterior of the logo therein. This magnificent poster by renown Catalan artist Tapies has things very clear: colors, forms, and symbols are intertwined to form a grandiose concept of design. The 'B' of Barca and the city of Barcelona and the centennial's years. A phrase on the center of the poster that is accompanied by symbols. The boot and the cross. The cross represents the opression suffered by the Catalan people during Franco's reign. The club's colors, blue and red. All these colors, forms and symbols make this poster by Tapies a true work of art. These men formed one of the earliest teams in the history of FC Barcelona. The first official club was assembled in 1901. Here's an interesting fact: Barcelona are the only European club that has never failed to qualify for European competition since UEFA went to their current cups format. This is just another way FC Barcelona is mes que un club, more than a club.