Futbol Club Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔɫ ˈkɫub bərsəˈɫonə] ( listen), English: Football Club Barcelona), also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (English: More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "Cant del Barça" written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €398 million. The club holds a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as "El Clásico".
They are the current Spanish and European football champions, and the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of domestic and overall trophies, having won 21 La Liga, 25 Copa del Rey, 10 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football Barcelona have won four UEFA Champions League, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, four UEFA Super Cup and a record two FIFA Club World Cup trophies. They also won a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup trophies, considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup-Europa League.
Camp Nou (Catalan pronunciation: [kamˈnɔw], "New Ground"), sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957.
The Camp Nou seats 99,354, reduced to 96,336 in matches organized by the UEFA, making it the largest stadium in Europe and the eleventh largest in the world in terms of capacity. It has hosted numerous international matches at a senior level including two UEFA Champions League finals, the most recent being in 1999. It also hosted several games, including bronze- and gold-medal matches, for the football competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics hosted by Barcelona. It held UEFA five-star status until 2006, when a new rating system was introduced by UEFA.
Its official name was Estadi del FC Barcelona (FC Barcelona Stadium) until 2000, when the club members voted to formally adopt the popular nickname Camp Nou. Though opposed by current club president Sandro Rosell, FC Barcelona initially approved the sale of its former training ground Mini Estadi to remodel the stadium on its fiftieth anniversary and increase capacity to 104,000 in 2007. The plans are on hold because of the World financial crisis.