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 41 different presidents. The club is owned by the club-members of 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.
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, 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 Barcelona, and ever since members of the club have elected the club president. The process of electing a president of 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 the 22 years of his tenure, 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, with the team in 15th place, two points above the relegation zone.[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, the 2008–09 Copa del Rey, the 2009 Supercopa de España, the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, the 2009 UEFA Super Cup and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.[7]
On 13 June 2010, Sandro Rosell was elected president of Barcelona with more than 60% of the vote of Barça's club members, and he formally took over the presidency on 1 July 2010. He resigned in 2014 as a result of a scandal involving the signing of Neymar.[8]
Josep Maria Bartomeu replaced Rosell on January 23, 2014, before resigning in October 2020. A management commission led by Carles Tusquets took over, until Joan Laporta was elected for a second time on 7 March 2021 with over 54% of the vote.[9]
Below is the official presidential history of Barcelona, from when Walter Wild took over at the club in 1899 until the present day.[10]
| scope=col | Name | scope=col | Nationality | scope=col | From | scope=col class="unsortable" | To | scope=col class="unsortable" | Honours (total number) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | Swiss | ||||||||
| scope=row |  Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | German | ||||||||
| scope=row | English | ||||||||
| scope=row | Josep Soler | Spanish | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Swiss | ||||||||
| scope=row | German | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Swiss | 2 Copa del Rey (2) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Swiss | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Swiss | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Swiss | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 2 Copa del Rey (2) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 La Liga (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | [11] | |||||||
| scope=row | Managing Commission | N/A | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 La Liga, 1 Copa Eva Duarte (2) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 3 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 2 Copa Eva Duarte (7) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Copa Eva Duarte (3) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 2 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 2 Fairs Cup (6) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Fairs Cup (2) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey (2) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 1 Copa del Rey (1) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 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 (27) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | ||||||||
| scope=row | Managing Commission | N/A | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 4 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 3 Spanish Supercup, 2 Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup (12) | |||||||
| scope=row | Spanish | 2 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 3 Spanish Supercup, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup (9) | |||||||
| scope=row | Josep Maria Bartomeu | Spanish | 4 La Liga, 4 Copa del Rey, 2 Spanish Supercup, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FIFA Club World Cup (13) | ||||||
| scope=row | Carles Tusquets (interim) | Spanish | |||||||
| scope=row | Joan Laporta | Spanish | Incumbent | 1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Spanish Supercup (3) |