Are you a soccer fan? Barcelona, home of the FC Barcelona team, football forms a very important part of everyday life and the Catalan culture. The team FC Barcelona was originally founded in 1899. As the sport quickly grew in popularity, here in Spain and internationally, the team grew immensely in size. As the team’s popularity increased, so did its fan base. It is said that currently, 26% of Spain’s population are Barça supporters!.
It is said that before the year 1909, the team would play in various stadiums, not having one specific stadium which belonged to the team. It was not until the year 1922 when the team moved to a stadium in Les Corts that has a capacity of 20,000 people. Here is where the different types of FC Barcelona fans were created.
There are many types of supporters for a team of this size and popularity as the fan base reaches multiple countries around the world. Some fans have memberships with the team and are considered to be a sort of associate. However, the Catalan natives that have a certain homage to their home team are known as Culés. It is said that in the stadium, those that would sit in the upper sections were known as the Culs because from outside of the stadium one could see the bums of the spectators hanging over the bleachers! This stadium was eventually expanded to be able to hold a capacity of 60, 000 viewers!
Now, the home of FC Barcelona is known as the stadium of Camp Nou. This massive stadium was constructed in 1957 and has a capacity of 99, 354 people! This change in stadium was a must in order to host all of the fans who travel to Barcelona to see the matches. The team has won a number of very important titles, championships and even the World Cup causing the number of supporters to sky rocket! In fact, Barça has surpassed over 100 million fans on the social media accounts alone! The team has various motto’s, two of the most important being: Més que un club, una afició or More than a club,a passion and Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya or Long live Barça (team) and long live Catalunya. The FC Barcelona team and the culture of the Catalan people will forever be intertwined.
