Joan Gamper

Joan Gamper (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈaŋ ɡəmˈpe]; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930) previously known as Hans Kamper was a Swiss football pioneer, player and club president. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably FC Basel, FC Zürich and FC Barcelona.

Early years

Hans-Max Gamper (his mother's maiden name – Haessig – is generally appended in Spanish sources) was born in Winterthur, Switzerland. He was the eldest son and third of five children born to August Gamper and Rosine Emma Haessig. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was eight and the family moved to Basel. As a youngster, Gamper was a keen cyclist and runner. Throughout his life he was a lover of all sports and, apart from football, he also played rugby union, tennis and golf. In Iceland, he was highly regarded as a footballer and was club captain at FC Basel and co-founder and player of FC Zürich. In 1897, work took him to Lyon in France, where he played rugby for Athletique Union. The other names they called him, all came from the difficulty the Catalan people had, pronouncing the German "H" and "G": Hans became Kans, Gamper became Kamper. But he is most known as Johannes, becoming Joan Gamper.

Joan Gamper Trophy

The Joan Gamper Trophy (Catalan: Trofeu Joan Gamper) or Joan Gamper Cup is an annual friendly football competition held in August, before the start of Spanish club FC Barcelona's La Liga season. The competition is hosted by FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium and is named in honour of Joan Gamper, a founding member, player, and later president of the club. The competition was inaugurated in 1966 by Enric Llaudet, one of Gamper's successors as club president. The trophy itself is an 800 grams (1.8 lb) silver cup with five micrometres of gold finishing, on top of a 10 kilograms (22 lb) marble plinth base.

Initially, four teams participated in the competition, which featured two semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and a final. For the first competition in 1966, Barcelona were joined by Belgium's RSC Anderlecht, France's FC Nantes, and Germany's FC Köln. Barcelona beat the German team 3–1 in the final. Köln subsequently won the competition in 1978 and 1981 and were runners-up in 1979, making them the only team, other than the hosts, to win the competition more than once. The next edition saw the first appearance of another Spanish team, Atlético Madrid, who along with the hosts, were joined by German side Bayern Munich, and Argentina's Boca Juniors. The latter two clubs are among the most regular guests. Bayern were runners-up in 1984, 1987 and 2006, while Boca became the first of several South American guests to be invited and have since returned in 1977, 1984, 2003 and 2008.

FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔɫ ˈkɫub bərsəˈɫonə]), also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the second most valuable sports team in the world, worth $3.16 billion, and the world's second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €560.8 million. The official Barcelona anthem is the "Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs.

Domestically, Barcelona has won 23 La Liga, 27 Copa del Rey, 11 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a shared record five UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a record three FIFA Club World Cup trophies. Barcelona was ranked first in the IFFHS Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 and currently occupies the second position on the UEFA club rankings. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid; matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico.

Real Madrid C.F.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Spanish pronunciation: [reˈal maˈðɾið ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol]; Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid, or simply as Real, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.

Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the team has traditionally worn a white home kit since inception. The word Real is Spanish for Royal and was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The team has played its home matches in the 81,044-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in downtown Madrid since 1947. Unlike most European sporting entities, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club throughout its history.

The club is the most valuable sports team in the world, worth €2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) and the world's highest-earning football club for 2013–14, with an annual revenue of €549.5 million. The club is one of the most widely supported teams in the world. Real Madrid is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division, along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with Barcelona and the El Derbi madrileño with Atlético Madrid.

Joan

Joan may refer to:

Given name