Editing FC Barcelona (section)

=== 1899–1922: Beginnings ===
[[File:Walter_Wild.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Walter Wild]], the club's first president (1899–1901). His main achievement was providing Barça with its first home ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/walter-wild-1899-1901|title=Walter Wild (1899–1901)|publisher=FC Barcelona|access-date=19 September 2016|archive-date=10 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210223513/https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/walter-wild-1899-1901|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Futbol club barcelona - notas de sport.jpg|thumb|250px|alt="SPORT NOTES Our friend and partner, Mr. Kans Kamper, from the Foot-Vall Section of the <<Sociedad Los Deportes>> and former Swiss champion, wishing to organize some matches in Barcelona, requests that everyone who likes this sport contact him, come to this office Tuesday and Friday nights from 9 to 11."|Gamper's advertisement in ''[[Los Deportes]]''
<nowiki>—</nowiki>
''English translation:''

"SPORT NOTE. Our friend and partner, Mr. Kans Kamper, from the Foot-Vall Section of the 'Sociedad Los Deportes' and former Swiss champion, wishing to organise some matches in Barcelona, requests that everyone who likes this sport contact him, come to this office Tuesday and Friday nights from 9 to 11."<ref name="Ball, Phil p. 89"/>]]

On 22 October 1899, Swiss [[Joan Gamper|Hans Gamper]] placed an advertisement in ''[[Los Deportes]]'' declaring his wish to form a football club; a positive response resulted in a meeting at the ''Gimnasio Solé'' on 29 November. Eleven players attended – [[Walter Wild]] (the first president of the club), [[Luis de Ossó]], [[Bartomeu Terradas]], Otto Kunzle, [[Otto Maier (footballer)|Otto Maier]], Enric Ducal, [[Pere Cabot]], Carles Pujol, [[Josep Llobet]], [[John Parsons (footballer, born 1875)|John Parsons]], and [[William Parsons (footballer)|William Parsons]] – and formed Foot-Ball Club Barcelona.<ref name="Ball, Phil p. 89">Ball, Phil p. 89.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/card/643865/1899-1909-foundation-and-survival |title=1899–1909. Foundation and survival |publisher=FC Barcelona |access-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513175149/https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/card/643865/1899-1909-foundation-and-survival |archive-date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Vitrina-1.v1311695239.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A formation of FC Barcelona in 1903]]
FC Barcelona had a successful start in regional and national cups, competing in the [[Catalan football championship|Campionat de Catalunya]] and the {{lang|es|[[Copa del Rey]]|italic=no}}. In 1901, the club participated in the first football competition played on the [[Iberian Peninsula]], the [[Copa Macaya]], narrowly losing to [[Hispania Athletic Club|Hispania AC]], but in the following year, Barça won the tournament, the club's first-ever piece of silverware,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/news/1645450/barca-rewind-the-first-ever-title |title=Barça Rewind: The first ever title |website=www.fcbarcelona.com |date=23 March 2020 |accessdate=26 July 2022 |archive-date=19 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919104048/https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/news/1645450/barca-rewind-the-first-ever-title |url-status=live }}</ref> and then participated in the [[1902 Copa de la Coronación|first Copa del Rey]], losing 1–2 to [[Bizcaya (football team)|Bizcaya]] (a combination of players from [[Athletic Bilbao|Athletic Club]] and [[Bilbao Football Club|Bilbao FC]]) in the [[1902 Copa de la Coronación Final|final]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/spancup1902.html |title=Spain - Cup 1902 |date=15 September 2000 |access-date=20 July 2022 |archive-date=21 July 2022 |website=[[RSSSF]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721002345/https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/spancup1902.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1908, Hans Gamper – now known as Joan Gamper – became club president, attempting to prevent Barcelona from shutting down. The club was struggling financially and socially, as well as in performance. They had not won a competition since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905. He said in a meeting, "Barcelona cannot die and must not die. If there is nobody who is going to try, then I will assume the responsibility of running the club from now on."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/joan-gamper-1908-1909-1910-1913-1917-1919-1921-1923-1924-1925 |title=Joan Gamper |publisher=FC Barcelona |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220140649/https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/joan-gamper-1908-1909-1910-1913-1917-1919-1921-1923-1924-1925 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925, spending a total of 25 years in the role. One of his main achievements was ensuring Barça acquired its own stadium and thus generated a stable income.<ref name="fcbarcelona1">{{cite web |url=http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/etapes_historia/etapa_1.html |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090702100948/http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/etapes_historia/etapa_1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 July 2009 |title=History part I |publisher=FC Barcelona |access-date=11 March 2010 }}</ref>

On 14 March 1909, the team moved into the [[Camp de la Indústria]], a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. To celebrate their new surroundings, the club conducted a logo contest the following year. [[Carles Comamala]] won the contest, and his suggestion became the crest that the club still wears – with some minor changes – as of the present day.<ref name=crest>{{cite web |url=http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/simbols/escut.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530060040/http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/simbols/escut.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 May 2012 |title=The crest |access-date= 30 July 2010 |publisher=FC Barcelona }}</ref>

The stadium is regarded as the main element that helped the club grow in the 1910s and become a dominant team,<ref name=camp>{{cite web |url=https://www.fcbarcelona.es/es/club/noticias/1645589/el-campo-de-la-calle-de-la-industria-111-anos-de-inspiracion |title=El campo de la calle de la Industria, 111 años de inspiración |trans-title=The field of Industry Street, 111 years of inspiration |language=es |publisher=FC Barcelona |access-date=28 July 2020 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127195901/https://www.fcbarcelona.es/es/club/noticias/1645589/el-campo-de-la-calle-de-la-industria-111-anos-de-inspiracion |url-status=live }}</ref> winning three successive Campionats de Catalunya between 1909 and 1911, three Copa del del Rey in four years between [[1910 Copa del Rey#Copa FEF (Federación Española de Fútbol)|1910]] and [[1913 Copa del Rey#Copa UECF (Unión Española de Clubes de Fútbol)|1913]], and four successive [[Pyrenees Cup]] between the inaugural year in 1910 and 1913. The Pyrenees Cup was one of the earliest international club cups in Europe. It consisted of the best teams of [[Languedoc]], [[Le midi|Midi]] and [[Aquitaine]] (Southern France), the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] and Catalonia, all former members of the [[Marca Hispanica]] region. The contest was the most prestigious in that era.<ref>Murray, Bill. p. 30</ref> Notable figures of Barça's first great team include Carles Comamala, [[Alfredo Massana]], [[Manuel Amechazurra|Amechazurra]], [[Francisco Bru|Paco Bru]], and [[Jack Greenwell]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/pyrenees.html |title=Coupe des Pyrenées – Copa de los Pirineos |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation |date=19 June 2001 |access-date=12 June 2010 |author=Ferrer, Carles Lozano |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803101250/http://rsssf.com/tablesp/pyrenees.html |url-status= live }}</ref> The latter became the club's first full-time coach in 1917.<ref>Closa ''et al.'' p. 62–63</ref>

During the same period, the club changed its official language from [[Spanish language|Castilian]] to [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and gradually evolved into an important symbol of Catalan identity. For many fans, participating in the club had less to do with the game itself and more with being a part of the club's collective identity.<ref>Spaaij, Ramón. p. 279</ref> On 4 February 1917, the club held its first [[testimonial match|tribute match]] to honour [[Ramón Torralba]], who played from 1913 to 1928. The match was against local side Terrassa where Barcelona won the match 6–2.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/ramon-torralba-larraz|title=Ramon Torralba Larraz|publisher=FC Barcelona|access-date=19 April 2018|archive-date=20 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420011337/https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/history/card/ramon-torralba-larraz|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gamper simultaneously launched a campaign to recruit more club members, and by 1922, the club had more than 20,000, who helped finance a new stadium. The club then moved to the new [[Camp de Les Corts|Les Cortes]], which they inaugurated the same year.<ref name=Arnaud103/> Les Cortes had an initial capacity of 30,000, and in the 1940s it was expanded to 60,000.<ref name="fcbarcelona2">{{cite web|url=http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/etapes_historia/etapa_2.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530060040/http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/etapes_historia/etapa_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 May 2012 |title=History part II |publisher=FC Barcelona |access-date=11 March 2010 }}</ref>

In 1912, Gamper recruited [[Paulino Alcántara]], the club's seventh all-time top-scorer. In 1917, Gamper also recruited Jack Greenwell as Barcelona's first full-time [[Manager (association football)|manager]]. After this hiring, the club's fortunes began to improve on the field and soon enjoyed its first "golden age". Along with Alcántara, the Barça team under Greenwell also included [[Emilio Sagi Liñán|Sagibarba]], [[Ricardo Zamora]], [[Josep Samitier]], [[Félix Sesúmaga]], and [[Franz Platko]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barca/20190531/samitier-y-zamora-la-edad-de-oro-barcelona-llega-centenario-7483576 |title=La 'Edad de Oro' del Barça llega a su centenario |trans-title=Barça's golden age reaches its centenary |language=es |author=Frederic Porta |date=31 May 2019 |publisher=El periodico |access-date=28 July 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112055950/https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barca/20190531/samitier-y-zamora-la-edad-de-oro-barcelona-llega-centenario-7483576 |url-status=live }}</ref> This team won 9 out of 10 Campionats de Catalunya between 1919 and 1928 and two Copa del Rey titles in [[1920 Copa del Rey|1920]] and [[1922 Copa del Rey|1922]]. In total, during the Gamper-led era, Barcelona won eleven Campionats de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cups.<ref name="rsssf1">{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/spancuphist.html |title=Spain&nbsp;– List of Cup Finals |author=Carnicero, José Vicente Tejedor |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation |date=21 May 2010 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=31 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731071239/http://www.rsssf.com/tabless/spancuphist.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="fcbarcelona1"/>