FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.06.2009 13:15

A historic season

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona Regals' title triumph in the Liga ACB has completed a hat-trick of championships for the club as the basketball side joined the football team and the roller hockey outfit in topping the table in their sport.

A club that so many sports under one roof like Barça does will always have the chance to win silverware with one team or another, but it brings even more pride for the Blaugrana fans when so many of those teams win their leagues in the same season.

Throughout the club's history, this feat has only been achieved once before when the football side won the league along with the basketball, handball and roller hockey teams in 1998/99. In 1959 the football team and the basketball team were both victorious in the same year.

Football and basketball 50 years ago

In the 1958/59 campaign, Barça won the first of two titles during Helenio Herrera's spell at the club as he showed that he knew better than anyone how to motivate a team that contained such star names as Kubala, Suárez, Kocsis, Czibor, Tejada, Evaristo, Eulogio Martínez, Ramallets, Olivella, Gràcia and Segarra. The title was won on penultimate day of the season, April 12, 1959, as Real Madrid lost 4-1 in San Mamés while Barça drew 1-1 against Atlético de Madrid.

Some weeks before, on March 8, the FC Barcelona basketball team had won their first ever league title as they beat Águilas 63-45 on the last of the campaign in the Palau d'Esports in Barcelona. Under coach Jaume Isal the team that won contained Canals, Bonareu, Alfonso Martínez, Josep Lluís Martínez, ‘Ninu’ Buscató, Cano, Plana, Miró, Mateu and Meléndez.

Success was made possible after Real Madrid had been beaten by Sabadell's Orillo Verde, 65-38, to end their chance of winning the championship. That same Barça team also won the cup by beating Aismalibar from Montcada i Reixac 50-36.

Centenary and four titles

The 1998/99 season was historical because the club celebrated it's centenary year and also because four of its teams won their respective league titles as the football, basketball, handball and roller hockey championships were all garnered.

Roller hockey first

On April 25, 1999, the Barça roller hockey team won their title by beating Jonquerenc 8-0 with two games of the season remaining. Barça had only lost two of their 28 games that term and ensured that they retained the championships trophy for a second consecutive year and made it 12 titles in all since the team was formed in 1942. Coach Carlos Figueroa was able to count on outstanding players such as Borregán, Gaby Cairo, Folguera, Gabaldón, David Páez and José Luis Páez

Fourth consecutive time

Two days later, on April 27, the handball side lifted the league trophy as they beat Ademar Lleó 24-30 to win the play-off series 3-0. With that triumph, Valero Rivera's team achieved their four consecutive title and made it ten triumphs in 14 seasons. The championships rounded off a magnificent season that also saw the team win the European Cup. Barrufet, Cavar,Garralda, Guijosa, Lozano, Masip, O’Callaghan, Ortega, Xepkin, Svensson and Urdangarin were the stars of the team.

Basketball triumph

The third league win of the season was that of the basketball team as on May 21 Aíto García Reneses led the team to a 56-60 victory against Sevilla's Caja San Fernando. In doing so, the team set a record of nine consecutive play-off wins as they beat Girona Gavis 3-0 in the quarter finals and then defeated Estudiantes by the same ratio in the semis before seeing off Caja San Fernando in the final.

Another trophy was also added the term as the Korac Cup was won against Estudiantes. That league title was Barça eleventh since it began in 1956 and the eighth of 16 Liga ACB's that they had played for. The stars of the campaign were Djordjevic, Esteller, Gurovic, Alston, Rentzias, Rodríguez, De la Fuente, Fernández and Dueñas.

Second title with Van Gaal

On May 22, Louis van Gaal's football team won the league title with a 1-4 win againats Alavés at Mendizorrotza and saw them crowned as champions with three games remaining. It was the club's second consecutive title and the sixth won of the 1990's. The team that won that game was Hesp, Reiziger, Abelardo, Frank de Boer, Sergi, Money Box (Pellegrino), Cocu, Figo, Luis Enrique, Kluivert and Rivaldo.