Collblanc

The best time to visit the FC Barcelona museum is Monday to Saturday on NON MATCH DAYS, between 10am and 5pm. At these times you can tour both the museum and the Nou Camp Stadium. Entry costs €13 (concessions €10.40). Match day tickets are purchased from the clubs website.

FC Barcelona, simply known as Barça, is one of the worlds most famous soccer clubs. It has become a Catalan institution, with the motto Més que un club, meaning ‘more than a club’. The team have won the Spanish league title no less than 18 times and the European Champions League twice – in 1992 and 2002. They continue to attract world class players such as Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Patrick Kluivert, Michael Laudrup, Gary Lineker, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff.

2006 Champions League Trophy, Barca beat Arsenal 2-1

It all started in 1898 when Joan Gamper, a Swiss accountant travelling to Africa to help establish a sugar trading company, decided to call and see his uncle in Barcelona. He fell in love with the city and decided to stay.  In 1899 he placed an advert in a local newspaper declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting and Barcelona FC was born. The founders included a collection of Swiss, British and Spanish enthusiasts; with Gamper selecting the legendry club colours after his home country club of FC Basel. Although Gamper was the driving force behind the club, initially he chose only to be a board member and club captain. He was still only 22 and wanted to concentrate on playing the game he loved. He played 48 games for FC Barcelona between 1899 and 1903, scoring over 100 goals.

Advert placed in Los Deportes

Joan Gamper at his desk

In 1908 Joan Gamper became president of FC Barcelona for the first time, just as the club was on the verge of folding. Several of the clubs better players had retired and had not been replaced. This soon began to effect the club’s performances both on and off the field. The club had not won anything since 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. He spent 25 years at the helm and one of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire their own stadium. The team had played at various grounds, none of them owned by the club. Gamper raised funds from local businesses and in 1909, they moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. He also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Les Corts; a stadium with an initial capacity of 20,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000.

The Early Years, as told in the Barca Museum

Figures of great players in the museum

Joan Gamper’s presidency ended in controversial circumstances and personal tragedy. On June 24, 1925, FC Barcelona fans jeered the Spanish national anthem and then applauded “God Save the Queen” performed by a visiting British Royal Marine band. Gamper was accussed of promoting Catalan nationalism; the Spanish dictatorship closed down Barcelona FC for six months and Gamper was expelled from Spain. He returned to Switzerland where after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems he committed suicide on July 30, 1930.

Catalan Coat of Arms

Barca fans waving Catalan flags

Barcelona FC enjoyed a golden age during the 1940s and 50s, winning numerous major trophies. As a result, in 1957 the club moved from its outgrown Camp de Les Corts stadium to a new purpose built Camp Nou, meaning new field. This stadium is UEFA 5-star rated and has a current capacity of almost 100,000, making it the largest in Europe.  The stadium houses the most visited museum in Catalonia, El Museu del Barça, which attracts over a million visitors every year. The museum tells FC Barcelona's history, showcasing come of the trophies and includes a tour of the magnificent Camp Nou.

Celebrating success, as shown in the Barca museum

Camp Nou Stadium

The 1973/74 season saw the arrival, as player, of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruyff. Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco! He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu.

As manager, Johan Cruyff assembled the so-called Dream Team winning 4 consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They also beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final.

Coach Dug-out

The opening ceremony of the 1982 World Cup was held on June 13th at the Nou Camp. In front of a 100,000-strong crowd, Belgium beat Argentina 1-0.

UEFA 5 Star Plaque

The view of the pitch from the press box

On September 18, 2007, British architect Norman Foster and his company was selected to "restructure" the Camp Nou. The plans include an extra 10,000 seats to be added and the estimated cost is €250 million.

Model of the restructured Nou Camp

Top - Home