FC Barcelona Bàsquet

Infobox Basketball club
color1 =#FFFFFF
color2 =#003366
name =Regal FC Barcelona
nickname =Barça
Culers
Blue-Dark Red
logo =Regal FC Barcelona logo.png imagesize =120px
leagues =1st - Spanish ACB
Euroleague
founded =1926
history =1926 - present
arena =Palau Blaugrana (capacity: 8,250)
location =Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
colors =blue and maroon
president =flagicon|ESP Joan Creus
(for Joan Laporta)
coach =flagicon|ESP Xavier Pascual
championships =See "Trophies"
website = [http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/ www.fcbarcelona.cat]
h_body=aa0000
h_pattern_b=_bluestripes
h_shorts=aa0000
h_pattern_s=
a_body=ffff33
a_pattern_b=_thinblacksides
a_shorts=000000
a_pattern_s=

FC Barcelona Bàsquet, known for sponsorship reasons as Regal FC Barcelona, is a Spanish-Catalan professional basketball team. It is part of the FC Barcelona family and was founded on August 24, 1926. The club has won seven of the last thirteen Liga ACB titles and in 2003 completed a Liga ACB, Cup and Euroleague treble. From 2004 until 2007 they were 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. However, in the summer of 2006 the Winterthur Group was taken over by AXA, and in 2007 AXA decided to merge Winterthur's brand into its own, leading to a change in the club name. Starting with the 2008-09 season, the club's sponsorship changed again, this time to Spanish insurer Regal (a division of Liberty Seguros, the Spanish subsidiary of American insurer Liberty Mutual). The team play their home games at Palau Blaugrana which was opened on October 23, 1971. They share the facilities with the roller hockey, five-a-side football 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, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dejan Bodiroga, and Tony Massenburg.

History

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 Generalissimo" and were runners-up once. In 1956 they were founding members of the Spanish League and finished as runners-up. In 1959 they won the 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 Nuñez 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 League titles, five Copas del Rey, two European Cup Winners Cups, the Korac 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 League titles and two Copas del Rey. 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 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, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Juan Carlos Navarro, they won the Euroleague, beating Benetton Treviso 76-65 in front of a packed Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.

Trophies

*Liga ACB (14):
**1958-59, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04.
*Spanish King's Cup (20):
** 1942-43, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1958-59, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1990-91, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07.
*Euroleague (1):
**2002-03.
*European Cup Winners' Cup (2):
**1984-85 1985-86.
*Korac Cup (2):
**1986-87, 1998-99.
*European Super Cup (1):
**1986-87.
*World Clubs' Cup (Intercontinental Cup) (1):
**1984-85.
*Lliga Catalana de Bàsquet (12):
**1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2004-05.
*Catalunya Cup (6):
**1941-42, 1942-43, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48.
*Prince of Asturias Cup (1):
**1988-89.
*Iberian Cup (1):
**1947-48.
*Spanish Super Cup (1):
**2004.

Current Squad

Famous Coaches

*flagicon|ESP Manel Comas
*flagicon|ESP Manolo Flores
*flagicon|ESP Aíto García Reneses
*flagicon|ESP Eduard Kucharsky
*flagicon|ESP Eduard Portela
*flagicon|ESP Antoni Serra
*flagicon|MNE Duško Ivanović
*flagicon|SRB Božidar Maljković
*flagicon|SRB Svetislav Pešić
*flagicon|SRB Ranko Žeravica

Former Players

"see also cl|FC Barcelona basketball players"

Retired Numbers

*4 – flagicon|ESP Andrés Jiménez – power forward (1986-1998), 7 Leagues, 4 Cups and 1 Korac Cup winner, 4 times Euroleague runner-up.
*7 – flagicon|ESP Nacho Solozábal – point guard (1978-1994), 6 Leagues, 9 Cups, 2 Cup Winners' Cups and 1 Korac Cup winner, 3 times Euroleague runner-up.
*12 – flagicon|ESP Roberto Dueñas – center (1996-2005), 6 Leagues, 2 Cups, 1 Euroleague and 1 Korac Cup winner.
*15 – flagicon|ESP Juan Antonio San Epifanio – small forward (1979-1995), 7 Leagues, 10 Cups, 2 Cup Winners' Cups and 1 Korac Cup winner, 3 times Euroleague runner-up.

External links

* [http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/english/basquet/ FCBarcelona.cat - Official team page] en icon
* [http://www.euroleague.net/main/teams/showteam?clubcode=BAR Euroleague.net - Official team page] en icon
* [http://www.acb.com ACB.com - Official league page] es icon
* [http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002InfEq.php?ideq=36&idioma=3 Completed list of former FC Barcelona Bàsquet players (1957-2007) by basketpedya.com]