Winterthur FCB
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Club Name | FC Barcelona |
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Founded | 1926 |
Arena | Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. |
Capacity | 8.000 |
Chairman | Zoran Savic (for Joan Laporta) |
Manager | Dusko Ivanovic |
League | ACB |
Position 2005-06 | 3rd |
Website | FCBarcelona.com |
Winterthur FCB is a Spanish basketball team. It is part of the FC Barcelona family and was founded on August 24th 1926. The club has won seven of the last eleven Spanish League titles and in 2003 completed a Spanish League, Copa del Rey de Baloncesto and Euroleague treble. In 2004 the Winterthur Group, a Swiss insurance company with offices in Barcelona since 1910, became the team sponsors, which led to the team featuring the birthplace of Joan Gamper, the club's founder, on their shirts. The team also became known as Winterthur FCB. (Note: Winterthur Group was taken over by AXA in 2007 so the name may be changed shortly). The team play their home games at Palau Blaugrana which was opened on October 23rd 1971. They share the facilities with the roller hockey and five-a-side football teams.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
The club entered its first competition in 1927, playing in the Campionat de Catalunya de Baloncesta. 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 founder members of the Spanish League and finished as runners-up. In 1959 they won the Spanish basketball's first ever league and cup double.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 Aito Garcia Reneses and players like Epi, Andres Jimenez, Sibilio, Audie Norris and Solozabal, 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.
[edit] 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 Pau Gasol.
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.
On October 5, 2006, the club became the first European squad to defeat opposition from the NBA, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in an exhibition game 104-99. Star point guard Gianluca Basile scored over 20 points and held Allen Iverson to single digits in the landmark win.
[edit] Trophies
- European Champions:
- 2002-03: 1
- Spanish League:
- 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: 14
- Copa del Rey de Baloncesto:
- 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: 20
- Lliga Catalana de Basquet:
- 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2001-02: 11
- European Cup Winners' Cup:
- 1984-85 1985-86: 2
- European Super Cup:
- 1986-87: 1
- World Clubs' Cup:
- 1984-85: 1
- Korac Cup:
- 1986-87, 1998-99: 2
- Catalunya Cup:
- 1941-42, 1942-43, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48: 6
- Prince of Asturias Cup:
- 1988-89: 1
- Iberian Cup:
- 1947-48: 1
[edit] Current squad 2006/07
The numbers are established according to the official websites of FC Barcelona and the Spanish league.
As of November 1, 2006
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[edit] Squad changes during 2006/07 season
In:
- Lakovic - Signed From Panathinaikos
- Ukic - Signed From Saski Baskonia
- Kasun - Signed From Orlando Magic
- Fran Vazquez - Signed From CB Girona
Out:
- Milos Vujanic - Transferred To Panathinaikos BC
- Shammond Williams - Transferred To Los Angeles Lakers
- Victor Sada - Transferred To CB Girona
- Romain Sato - Transferred To Mens Sana Basket
- Bootsy Thornton - Transferred To CB Girona
- Gregor Fucka - Transferred To CB Girona
- Giannis Bourousis - Transferred To Olympiacos BC
- Marc Gasol - On Loan To CB Girona
- Ed Cota - Transferred To Hapoel Jerusalem
[edit] Famous Coaches
[edit] Former players
- Šarūnas Jasikevičius
- Artūras Karnišovas
- Dejan Bodiroga
- Aleksandar Đorđević
- Zoran Savić
- Gregor Fucka
- Roberto Dueñas
- Epi
- Pau Gasol
- Ignacio Solozabal
- Audie Norris
see also Cat:FC Barcelona basketball players
[edit] External links
- FCBarcelona.com - Official team page (English)
- Euroleague.net - Official team page (English)
- ACB.com - Official league page (Spanish)
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Akasvayu Girona | Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada | Bruesa GBC | CB Granada | Caja San Fernando | DKV Joventut | Etosa Alicante | Grupo Capitol Valladolid | Gran Canaria Dunas | Lagun Aro Bilbao | MMT Estudiantes | Pamesa Valencia | Polaris World Murcia | Real Madrid | TAU Cerámica | Unicaja Málaga | Vive! Menorca | Winterthur FCB | |
Euroleague 2006-07 |
Quarterfinalists: CSKA Moscow | Dynamo Moscow | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Olympiacos | Panathinaikos | TAU Cerámica | Unicaja Málaga | Winterthur FCB |
Sport in the Catalan-speaking world
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National: Andorran Football Federation| Andorra national football team | |