Arena Capacity 7,585 President Josep Maria Bartomeu | Team colors Blue, Cardinal, Yellow Team manager Rodrigo De La Fuente Founded 24 August 1926 | |
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History F.C. Barcelona(1926–present) Profiles | ||
FC Barcelona Lassa is a Spanish professional basketball club. It is part of the FC Barcelona sports club and was founded on 24 August 1926 which makes it the oldest club in Liga ACB. The club competes in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. It has won seven of the last thirteen ACB championships and in 2003, completed a Liga ACB, Copa del Rey and EuroLeague treble. FC Barcelona Bàsquet has played in seven EuroLeague finals, with the last being their 2010 win.
Contents
- Early years
- Decline in the 1960s
- Revival in the 1980s
- Champions of Europe
- Recent years
- Sponsorship naming
- Home arenas
- Notable players
- Head coaches
- Domestic
- European
- Worldwide
- Unofficial
- Regional
- Records
- References
The team plays its home games at Palau Blaugrana, which was opened on 23 October 1971. They share the facilities with the roller hockey, futsal and handball teams.
Well-known players that have played with the team have included: Pau Gasol, Rony Seikaly, Marc Gasol, Anderson Varejão, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jaka Lakovič, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dejan Bodiroga, Gianluca Basile, Ricky Rubio, Juan Antonio San Epifanio "Epi", Sasha Djordjevic, and Tony Massenburg.
FC Barcelona Lassa also has a reserve team that plays in LEB Oro.
Early years
The club entered its first competition in 1927, playing in the Campionat de Catalunya de Basquetbol (Catalonian Basketball Championship). During these early years basketball in Catalonia was dominated by other clubs such as CE Europa, Laietà BC, CB Atlètic Gràcia and Société Patrie and it was not until the 1940s that FC Barcelona became established as a basketball team. During this decade they won six Copas del Generalísimo and were runners-up once. In 1956 they were founding members of the Liga Española de Baloncesto and finished as runners-up. In 1959 they won Spanish basketball's first-ever league and cup double.
Decline in the 1960s
The 1960s and 1970s saw the team in decline. In 1961 the club president Enric Llaudet dissolved the team in spite of its popularity. However, in 1962, the club was reformed after a campaign by the fans. In 1964 the league's Primera División was cut from fourteen teams to eight and the club found themselves in the Segunda División. However they quickly returned to the top division after being crowned Segunda champions in 1965. During the 1970s the club was persistently overshadowed by its rivals Real Madrid and Joventut.
Revival in the 1980s
In the 1980s club president Josep Lluís Núñez gave the team his full support with the aim of making the club the best in Spain and Europe. His support produced results and during the decade inspired by their coach Aíto García Reneses and players like Epi, Andrés Jiménez, Sibilio, Audie Norris and Solozábal, the club won six Spanish championships, five Spanish cups, two European Cup Winners Cups, the Korać Cup and the World Championship. However the European Cup remained elusive. They were, however, runners-up in 1984.
Champions of Europe
The club built on this success during the 1990s, winning a further four Spanish championships and two Spanish cups. They were still unable to win the European Cup despite playing in a further four finals in 1990, 1991, 1996 and 1997. They also made a record six EuroLeague Final Four appearances. The star player during this era was Juan Antonio San Epifanio.
Their persistence eventually paid off and in 2003, inspired by Dejan Bodiroga, Gregor Fučka, Šarūnas Jasikevičius and Juan Carlos Navarro, they won the EuroLeague, beating Benetton Treviso 76–65 in front of a packed Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. They repeated the feat in 2010, and that October, they made further history when they beat the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers - including Kobe Bryant and FCB Bàsquet alumnus and Barcelona native Pau Gasol - 92-88 at the Palau Sant Jordi as part of the 2010 NBA Europe Live Tour. The match was also notable for being both a match-up between the reigning NBA and EuroLeague champions and the first time a European team had won against a defending NBA champion. Two FCB Bàsquet players in that game - captain Navarro and point guard Ricky Rubio - either had or went on to play in the NBA.
Recent years
In the following years, Barcelona would stay on top of Spanish basketball, playing almost all league and cup finals against rival Real Madrid. From 2012 till 2014, Barcelona managed to reach the Euroleague Final Four. However, it could not reach further than the semifinals.
Sponsorship naming
From 2004 until 2007 the club was sponsored by the Winterthur Group, a Swiss insurance company with offices in Barcelona since 1910, which led to the team featuring the birthplace of Joan Gamper, the club's founder, on their shirts. In 2006 the Winterthur Group was taken over by AXA, leading to a change in the club name. In the 2008–09 season, the club's sponsorship changed to Spanish insurer Regal (a division of Liberty Seguros, the Spanish subsidiary of American insurer Liberty Mutual). This sponsorship finished in June 2013.
Home arenas
Notable players
To appear in this section a player must have either:Head coaches
Managers since 1974:
Domestic
Liga ACB
Spanish Cup
Spanish Supercup
Prince of Asturias Cup
European
EuroLeague
FIBA Saporta Cup
FIBA Korać Cup
Worldwide
FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Unofficial
European Super Cup
Triple Crown
Regional
Catalan League
Catalan Cup
Records
Note: Players with a * are still playing for Barcelona.