Supporters of FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona is a professional multi-sports club based in Barcelona, formed in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German and English footballers led by Joan Gamper. It has been part of the Spanish top-flight, La Liga, since the league's inception in 1928, winning it 28 times, along with a record 32 Copa del Rey and five UEFA Champions League victories.
The arrival of Ronaldinho in 2003, and Barcelona's subsequent success in La Liga and Champions League, has been seen as crucial to an increase in the national, and worldwide, fan-base of the club. This development of a larger national fan-base has created friction between the Catalan nationalist supporters, who wish to secede from Spain, and the club's other Spanish supporters.
There are three different type of supporters of Barcelona; one is the soci or club-member, who is eligible to vote in the presidential election of the club and other matters. The penyes, who are closely affiliated with the socis, are fan-clubs, which in the past have been responsible for large donations to the club. Lastly there are the ordinary fans of the club, the culers, who do not possess any formal membership.