Barcelona FC History - Essay Example

BARCELONA FC HISTORY By Many sporting events, mainly originating from different cultures throughout the world, have been developed and well natured to a point of being used as sources revenue. In this regard, football is acknowledged as the most famous sporting activity presently in the world. It is undoubted that football commands a large number of spectators from all the corners in the world. It is as a result of the large number of spectators that some football clubs have attracted an international attention. On this basis, the Football Club Barcelona (FCB) is one of the premier football clubs that have entertained as well met the expectations of the spectators. This essay will discuss the history of FCB and also highlight some of the challenges and achievements of the club. To start with, the FCB was founded on unique basis when compared to other prominent football clubs in the world. According to FCBarcelona, the football club was initiated in the year 1899 by Gamper, who was also assisted by other young foreigners and Catalans (n.d). in addition, the FCB was initiated through membership where people though out the world were allowed to register as members to the club and hence contribute funds used to keep FCB active. Such members became to be known as socios and were mainly drawn from spectator group of the club. Contrastingly, many prominent football clubs in other countries, like England and Italy, were founded by business people who mainly ventured the sporting entrepreneurship with a core aim of making profits in addition to entertaining different spectator groups. The socios of FCB usually contribute an annual membership fee in addition to actively participating in the general elections of the club in order elect their preferred club president. Of more significance, the FCB was founded as a basis of Catalan identity following the Spanish Civil War, which started in the year 1936. In the year in 1925, celebrations held in Barcelona stadium were halted by a crowd of people opposed to the royal march as a way of expressing their dissatisfaction with the autocratic leadership system by the Primo de Rivera family in the country. As a result, the ruling family authorized the closure of the Barcelona stadium in addition to forcing Gamper, the founder of FCB, to exit from the position of FCB president. In addition, during the period of Spanish civil war, FCB was considered as one of the major opponents to military appraising and this later led to the murder of one time FCB president, Joseph Sunyol. It is this dramatic event that led to the death of Joseph that led to historical identity of FCB and Catalonians as being against the ruling family. Further, due to security reasons, some FCB players were forced to seek for refuge in other countries, specifically Mexico and France, hence affecting the club performance significantly. However, despite the many challenges in the initial years of FCB foundation, the club did not take long before it started to enjoy success on various strategies and also in field activities. During the time of Spanish war, the team was faced with financial crisis in addition to having unsupportive government system that frustrated many initiatives taken by the club. According to Barcelona.de, the period of 1940s was a blessing to FCB for having attained membership of around 25,000 people and won 21 Catalan matches in addition to getting 9 trophies (n.d). It is the continued success of the club in field activities that continued to attract additional members to join the club hence relieving the FCB financial burden. In addition, the increased membership and growth of the number of fans necessitated the construction of a larger stadium that would host a larger number of spectators allied to the club. Therefore, the FCB initiated the construction of stadium Camp Nou that took about three years for completion (Barcelona.de, n.d). Additionally, the FCB motto has contributed significantly to the success of the club since it was founded. The club motto, "Més que un club", meaning more than a club, was proclaimed by Narcís de Carreras, a onetime FCB president, in 1968 (Barcelona.de, n.d). During the reign of the authoritarian leader, Francisco Franco, the FCB had been given a lot of restriction pertaining the club operations also membership because of the perceived association to radicalization of the Catalans. As a result, Carreras used his position as the club president to elevate the club position in the country by dubbing it to be a symbol of Catalan struggle for independence and opposition to the Franco regime (Barcelona.de, n.d). Consequently, the club gained popularity among the Catalans and other people who were against Francisco Franco dictatorship hence making the club to gain political influence in the country. In addition, the political influence attracted more fans and members who wanted a different type of leadership in the country. The successor of Carreras also used the same slogan and actively advocated for removal of sporting restrictions initiated the Franco regime. On the other hand, considering the sporting history of the FCB, the club has not always enjoyed continuous success all through. The club has time and again experienced poor on-field performances that can be attributed to poor leadership and management styles exhibited by some of the club managers. Since 1994 to 2003, the FCB has had poor field performances that made the club to train behind the close rival, namely Real Madrid. The dwindling on-field performance of the club not only got the attention of the fans and official club members but also necessitated a drastic management action to be initiated by then club members. In addition, the decrease in fan base of the club meant that there were growing financial challenges. Therefore, unlike other football clubs such as Manchester United, which had their revenues increase exponentially due to the increased number of funs, FCB encountered a significant decrease in revenue over the years. This trend was finally offset with the election of Joan Laporta as the FCB president in the year 2003. Laporta was a young and development minded leader who upon the being elected as the FCB president, appointed a body of directors consisting of young but entrepreneurially motivated members. As a result the club began to experience both on-field success as well as off-field commercial activities hence improving the financial status of the club. Finally, since the inception of new management under President Joan Laporta, FCB has adopted management principles that are unique compared to other football clubs in the world. President Laporta and his team introduced a management system that was concerned with revenue generation management, international team development and quality product management. Considering team development, Laporta was determined to transform FCB to a football club that could effectively compete with already established clubs such Manchester United. For instance, the club was involved in awarding contracts to the well known foot ball players in the recent years such as Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. However despite having acquired some of the well known foot ball stars, FCB did such acquisitions in a way that enabled the club to save on the operational costs yet ensuring an effective product management. For example, Lionel Messi was acquired by the club at the age of 13 years and was fully developed into a reputable football star. On a rather interesting note, the FCB has limited commercial contracts that generate significant revenue to other competing football clubs. This is because the FCB was founded under the basis of ‘more than a club’ with an ultimate aim of representing community union and care. In this regard, the FCB signed a contract with UNICEF in 2006 to help generate more income into the club in addition to representing similar missions of addressing community needs. In conclusion, Football Club Barcelona is one of the oldest football clubs existing in the world. The club has survived different challenges since it was founded in 1899 ranging from external government influences to internal management issues. From the above discussion, it is evident that FCB was closely associated with political activities considering the fact that many fans were against the dictatorial leadership style in the country. In addition, it is evident that the club management affected the performance of the club on both on-field and off-field activities. Works Cited Barcelona.de n.d, FC Barcelona, more than a club, viewed 16 June 2014, < http://barcelona.de/en/fc-barcelona-barca.html >. FCBarcelona n.d,1899 -1909 Foundation and Survival, viewed 16 June 2014, < http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history>. Read More