FC Barcelona tickets
If ever a football club was more than just the sum of its parts, it is FC Barcelona.
Yes, FC Barcelona are one of Europe’s most consistently successful teams. Yes, they play in Europe’s largest stadium. And yes, they consistently try to play a kind of football that most of us can only dream about.
But they are still so much more than just a football club.
To begin with, they are, literally, more than just a football club. Acting as a role model for several other clubs, in Spain and elsewhere, Barcelona are, in fact, a multi-sport organisation – sports such as basketball, handball, indoor football and hockey all being represented by the Barcelona colours. There was one wonderful season – ironically enough the centenary year of the club, 1999, when the football, hockey, basketball and handball teams all won their respective Spanish league titles.
FC Barcelona tickets
You can now reserve FC Barcelona tickets from a choice of 5 different categories, depending on your own requirements or budget supplied by a Barça authorized agent with blocks of seats allocated for every match. Collect in Barcelona or have delivered to your hotel.
The influence of the football club extends right down to the ‘football base’ levels as well. There are many feeder clubs and nursery clubs, all feeling a vital part of the Barça fraternity. This link with the local community has meant that now the club’s cantera or youth policy is second to none in the world. The first team squad is now a football supporter’s dream – the very best players on the planet performing alongside half a team that have been wearing the Barça kit since they first started playing.
As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona is, of course, inextricably linked with the politics of the region. The dark days of the Franco era have been well documented, when the Catalan flag and language were officially banned, but, even in today’s democratic times, there is a sometimes bitter divide between the Spain of Madrid and the people of Barcelona. There is a banner which can be seen at the Nou Camp, proudly proclaiming that Catalonia is not Spain. FC Barcelona represents, for Catalans, the pride and passion in their city and culture that began to be internationally recognised during the Olympic Games of 1992.
All of this justifiable pride is reflected in the Nou Camp – the new ground. Constructed in the mid 1950s, it was given its name to distinguish it, surprisingly, from the old ground, at Les Corts, and, although the club wanted to christen its stadium Estadi del FC Barcelona, they asked their supporters to vote on the matter and 68% wanted the current name. Barcelona’s democratic roots in action!
Although at one stage permitted to hold 120,000, the Nou Camp now has a capacity of slightly less than 99,000 and is an awe-inspiring bowl of a stadium. Most people now know that it has its own chapel for players next to the home dressing room and, of course, since 1984 it has had its own museum – another feature widely copied throughout the rest of the football world. Not only is the Barça Museum the most visited museum in Barcelona, with in excess of 1,200,000 visitors every year, it is also the most visited in the whole of Catalonia – the Dali and Picasso museums included. More than just a club, indeed.
To visit the Nou Camp – to take the tour and explore all around the stadium – is, for many, an almost spiritual matter. But, to truly understand that Barcelona magic, there is no substitute for going on a match day and being part of the whole incredible experience. Being part of the crowd when the Barca hymn rings out before the match and then see the cules get behind their team enables you to know exactly why El Barca es mes que un club.
