In a newspaper advertisement, Swiss-born Hans Joan Gamper called on players in 1899 to help found the Foot-Ball Club Barcelona.
With a mix of English, Swiss, and Catalan players, the team played its debut match later that same year. Barça achieved its first successes in the 1920s, but politics hindered the Catalan club.
In the first month of the Spanish Civil War, soldiers loyal to Franco murdered president Suñol. Forty years of repression of Catalan expression followed.
In 1940, the team was forced to adopt the Spanish name “Club de Fútbol,” and Barcelona grew into a symbol of the region. Catalonia seemed to come alive only during the team’s matches.
The first Spanish professional club to never be relegated, Barcelona endured Franco’s oppression.
From 3,486 members during the Civil War, the club grew into one of the largest in the world.
