CF Barcelona (1940-1973)
Club shield during the Franco dictatorship
After the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language and flag were banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield. During the Franco era one of the few places that Catalan could be spoken freely was within the club's stadium. Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 they also won the first Copa Latina. Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalisimo, the Copa Latina and the Copa Eva Duarte in 1952. In 1953 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalisimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalisimo in 1957 and the Fairs Cup in 1958.
With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup game, thus ending their monopoly of the competition.
The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club winning the Copa del Generalisimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalisimo final at the Bernabéu. The club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona in 1974.[2]
Development of the rivalry with Real Madrid
There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league and this is particularly the case in La Liga, between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, this game is also know as El Clasico. From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain, Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilleans.
During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco, all regional identities were openly suppressed (e.g. the peripheral languages were officially banned). So FC Barcelona become more than a club (més que un club) for Catalonia and one of its greatest ambassadors as a defender of the collective rights. At the same time, Real Madrid, selectively or not, was the best representative of the sovereign conservatism.
However, during the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. In 1936 FC Barcelona president Josep Sunyol, a Republican, was murdered by Franco's forces. Rafael Sánchez Guerra, another prominent Republican and Real Madrid president at that time, was imprisoned and tortured. They also arrested and murdered a Real vice-president and club treasurer and an acting president disappeared.
During the 1950s the rivalry was exacerbated significantly when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the semi-final stage of the European Cup.
As nowadays FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two biggest and most successful clubs in Spain, the rivalry is renewed on an almost annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The current Clasico was played in the Camp Nou and ended with a 3-3 draw, and with Lionel Messi scoring his first hat-trick.
See also El Clasico, Major football rivalries
The arrival of Cruijff
The 1973/74 season saw the arrival of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruijff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruijff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year twice in a row while at club.
