List of FC Barcelona presidents

Futbol Club Barcelona is a football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain that competes in La Liga, the most senior football league in Spain. Since its founding in 1899, the club has had 40 different presidents. The club is owned by the club-members of FC Barcelona, and similarly to a limited liability company, they elect the president by a ballot. The president has the responsibility for the overall management of the club, including formally signing contracts with players and staff. In Spain, it is customary for the president to watch the games in which the first-team participates, together with the president from the opposing team.

Gamper's advertisement in Los Deportes

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 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."

History

On 22 October 1899, Swiss sportsman Joan Gamper placed an advertisement in the Los Deportes newspaper declaring his wish to form a football club in the city. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November which eleven men attended, including Walter Wild, later to become the first president of the club, and Bartomeu Terradas, who became the second president. As a result of this meeting FC Barcelona was formed.[1]

In 1908, Gamper became club president for the first time, taking over the presidency to save the club from extinction.[1] The club had not won anything since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905, and as a result was experiencing severe financial difficulties. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925 and spent 26 years with the club. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium and thus a way of generating stable income.[1] An annual pre-season competition, the Joan Gamper Trophy, has been held in his honour since 1966.[2]

The team won six Campionat de Catalunya titles between 1930 and 1938,[3] but success at national level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title) evaded them. From the formation of La Liga until 1978, Barcelona had 20 different presidents, meaning each presidential period lasted on average two-and-a-half years. In 1978 Josep Lluís Núñez became the first elected president of FC Barcelona, and ever since members of the club have elected the club president. The process of electing a president of FC Barcelona was closely tied to Spain's transition to democracy in 1974 and the end of Franco's dictatorship. Núñez's main objective was to develop Barça into a world-class club by giving it stability both on and off the pitch.[4] His presidency lasted for 22 years, making him the longest-serving president.

After the departure of Núñez in 2000, his vice-president through 22 years, Joan Gaspart took over the club. During his presidency of the club, the team won no trophies and, after two-and-a-half years Gaspart resigned his position on 12 February 2003 when the team lay in 15th place, two points above relegation.[5] Enric Reyna was elected as temporary president until the board resigned on 5 May 2003. Hereafter an interim commission presided until the general elections were held.[6] On 15 June 2003 Joan Laporta entered office and was the most successful president in terms of Champions league trophies. The club won the Champions League twice within three years and completed an "unprecedented sextuple" by winning the 2008–09 La Liga, 2008–09 Copa del Rey, 2009 Supercopa de España, 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, 2009 UEFA Super Cup and 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.[7]

On 13 June 2010 Sandro Rosell was elected president of FC Barcelona with more than 60% of the vote of Barça's club members, and he formally took over the presidency on 1 July 2010.[8]

List of presidents

Joan Gamper was Barcelona's founder and one of the first players.

Joan Laporta was the most successful president in terms of trophies won per year.

Josep Maria Bartomeu, the previous president

Below is the official presidential history of FC Barcelona, from when Walter Wild took over at the club in 1899, until the present day.[9]

FC Barcelona Presidents

Name	Nationality[n 1]	From	To	Honours
Walter Wild	Swiss	29 November 1899	25 April 1901
Bartomeu Terradas	Spanish	25 April 1901	5 September 1902
Paul Haas	German	5 September 1902	17 September 1903
Arthur Witty	English	17 September 1903	6 October 1905
Josep Soler	Spanish	6 October 1905	16 October 1906
Juli Marial	Spanish	16 October 1906	11 November 1908
Vicenç Reig	Spanish	11 November 1908	2 December 1908
Joan Gamper	Swiss	2 December 1908	14 October 1909
Otto Gmeling	German	14 October 1909	17 November 1910	1 Copa del Rey
Joan Gamper	Swiss	17 November 1910	30 June 1913	2 Copa del Rey
Francesc de Moxó	Spanish	30 June 1913	30 July 1914
Àlvar Presta	Spanish	30 July 1914	29 September 1914
Joaquim Peris de Vargas	Spanish	29 September 1914	29 June 1915
Rafael Llopart	Spanish	29 June 1915	25 June 1916
Gaspar Rosés	Spanish	25 June 1916	17 June 1917
Joan Gamper	Swiss	17 June 1917	10 June 1919
Ricard Graells	Spanish	10 June 1919	27 June 1920	1 Copa del Rey
Gaspar Rosés	Spanish	27 June 1920	17 July 1921
Joan Gamper	Swiss	17 July 1921	29 July 1923	1 Copa del Rey
Eric Cardona	Spanish	29 July 1923	1 June 1924
Joan Gamper	Swiss	1 June 1924	17 December 1925	1 Copa del Rey
Arcadi Balaguer	Spanish	17 December 1925	23 March 1929	2 Copa del Rey
Tomàs Rosés	Spanish	23 March 1929	30 June 1930	1 La Liga
Gaspar Rosés	Spanish	30 June 1930	22 October 1931
Antonio Oliver	Spanish	22 October 1931	20 December 1931
Joan Coma	Spanish	20 December 1931	16 July 1934
Esteve Sala	Spanish	16 July 1934	27 July 1935
Josep Sunyol	Spanish	27 July 1935	6 August 1936
Managing Commission	N/A	6 August 1936	6 May 1939
Joan Soler	Spanish	6 May 1939	13 March 1940
Enrique Piñeyro	Spanish	13 March 1940	10 July 1942	1 Copa del Rey
Josep Vidal-Ribas	Spanish	10 July 1942	13 August 1942
Enrique Piñeyro	Spanish	13 August 1942	20 August 1943
Josep Antoni de Albert	Spanish	20 August 1943	20 September 1943
Josep Vendrell	Spanish	20 September 1943	20 September 1946	1 La Liga, 1 Copa Eva Duarte
Agustí Montal Galobart	Spanish	20 September 1946	16 July 1952	3 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 2 Copa Eva Duarte
Enric Martí Carreto	Spanish	16 July 1952	22 September 1953	1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Copa Eva Duarte
Francesc Miró-Sans	Spanish	22 September 1953	28 February 1961	2 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 2 Fairs Cup
Enric Llaudet	Spanish	28 February 1961	17 January 1968	1 Copa del Rey, 1 Fairs Cup
Narcís de Carreras	Spanish	17 January 1968	18 December 1969	1 Copa del Rey
Agustí Montal Costa	Spanish	18 December 1969	18 December 1977	1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey
Raimon Carrasco	Spanish	18 December 1977	1 July 1978	1 Copa del Rey
Josep Lluís Núñez	Spanish	1 July 1978	23 July 2000	7 La Liga, 6 Copa del Rey, 2 Copa de la Liga, 5 Spanish Supercup, 1 European Cup, 4 Cup Winners' Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cup
Joan Gaspart	Spanish	23 July 2000	12 February 2003
Enric Reyna	Spanish	12 February 2003	6 May 2003
Managing Commission	N/A	6 May 2003	15 June 2003
Joan Laporta[n 2]	Spanish	15 June 2003	30 June 2010	4 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 3 Spanish Supercup, 2 Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup
Sandro Rosell	Spanish	30 June 2010	23 January 2014	2 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 2 Spanish Supercup, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup
Josep Maria Bartomeu	Spanish	23 January 2014	27 October 2020	3 La Liga, 4 Copa del Rey, 2 Spanish Supercup, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup
Carles Tusquets (interim)	Spanish	29 October 2020	Incumbent

References

General

• "List of all Presidents". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2010.

Specific

1. The information in the nationality column is according to how they were then referred to, and may not reflect their then, or current, citizenship or birthplace
2. From 30 June 2006 to 22 August 2006, FC Barcelona was controlled by a managing commission[10]

1. "Origins (1899-1922)". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
2. Lozano Ferrer, Carles; et al. (19 February 2010). "Trofeo Joan Gamper (Barcelona-Spain) 1966–2008". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 9 June 2010.
3. Ferrer, Carles Lozano (22 October 2009). "Spain – Final Tables Catalonia". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 1 June 2010.
4. "75th Anniversary to the European Cup (1974-1992)". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
5. "Barca boss Gaspart steps down immediately". CNN. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
6. "Presidency of Eric Reyna". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
7. "Kings, queens and a young prince". Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 23 December 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
8. "Sandro Rosell elected as new Barcelona president". BBC News. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
9. "Presidents" (PDF) (in Catalan). FC Barcelona. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
10. "Managing Commission (2006)". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2010.