IT’S birthday day today for one of the biggest clubs in the world. FC Barcelona have more history than you can shake a stick at and it all started today back in 1899, when Joan Gamper and his group of merry men founded the side that, as their motto suggests are ‘more than a club’ for the legions of fans in Catalonia and beyond.

In a move that would delight the dwellers of lonely heart columns across the land, the Barca ball started rolling when Gamper placed an advert in the local rag Los Deportes, asking if anyone was up for a regular kick-about. A group of eleven Swiss, Catalan and Englishmen turned up for the first meeting and FC Barcelona were born.

One of the first points on the new club’s agenda was creating Barca’s now iconic strip. It’s been rumoured that Gamper based it on a mixture of his hometown team of FC Basel and Merseyside’s Merchant Taylors’ School. For over a hundred years the shirt was untouched by sponsors and now it only shows that of Unicef. Well done lads.



Off the field Barca have historically played a big part in the identity of the Catalan people. A nation within a nation, the region of Catalonia was suppressed by Franco’s fascist rule and the Camp Nou was the only place that proud Catalonian’s could express any form of regional identity without fear of reprisal.

As Real Madrid have been traditionally been seen as Franco’s team, there’s not many matches in the world that are explosive as the Barca-Real derby. Whether it’s been Alfredo Di Stefano turning out for Real after a tug of war for the player between the two clubs or Luis Figo having a pig’s head thrown at him on his return to Camp Nou, El Clásico rarely disappoints the neutral.

You could write a book on the trophies and greats who have graced Camp Nou over the years, but we’ll leave you with a montage of los culés at their finest and if you’ve ever thought you were underpaid and underappreciated at work come back tomorrow.

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