Josep Lluís Núñez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Josep Lluís Núñez
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| 35th President of FC Barcelona | |
| In office 1 July 1978 – 23 July 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Raimon Carrasco |
| Succeeded by | Joan Gaspart |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
José Luís Núñez Clemente
7 September 1931 Barakaldo, Basque Country, Spain |
| Died | 3 December 2018 (aged 87) Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
José Luis Núñez Clemente (7 September 1931 – 3 December 2018) was a very important person in the history of FC Barcelona. He was the president of the famous football club for a long time, from 1978 to 2000. People often knew him by the Catalan version of his name, Josep Lluís Núñez i Clemente.
He was chosen as president even though he had no past connections with the club. His main goals were to make Barça a top sports club in the world. He also wanted to make sure the club was financially stable. Before his time at Barça, Núñez and his wife, Maria Lluïsa Navarro, owned a construction company and a hotel chain.
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Leading FC Barcelona
Núñez led FC Barcelona during one of its most successful times. He is known as Barça's most successful president when it comes to winning trophies. During his time, the club's four main professional teams won a huge 176 trophies. This included 30 in football, 36 in basketball, 65 in handball, and 45 in roller hockey.
In 1999, which was the club's 100th birthday, all four teams became champions of Spain. The FC Barcelona football team also won the European football championship in 1992.
Growing the Club
Under Núñez, the number of FC Barcelona members grew a lot. It went from 77,905 to 106,000. This growth led to making the Camp Nou stadium bigger. The number of fan clubs, called penyes, also increased. They grew from 96 in Spain to over 1,300 all around the world.
Núñez helped the club become very strong financially. He also oversaw the building of new facilities. The club built the Mini Estadi in 1982. The FC Barcelona Museum opened in 1984. The Palau Blaugrana was made bigger to hold 8,500 people. The club also bought land for the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. He also opened La Masia, a special home for young players.
Challenges and Changes
Núñez was re-elected twice without anyone running against him. But in 1988, he faced a challenge from the players. This event was called the Hesperia Mutiny. It happened at a hotel where the players met. After this, many players and the coach left the team.
Working with Coaches
After the Hesperia event, Núñez hired Johan Cruyff as coach. This led to a "Dream Team" era for the club. They won the club's first European Cup in 1992. Núñez won re-election in 1989 against Sixte Cambra. He was re-elected again without opposition in 1993. The next year, he started the F.C. Barcelona Foundation. This helped keep the club from becoming privately owned.
Later, Núñez and coach Cruyff had disagreements. This led to Cruyff leaving the club. After this, Núñez faced strong opposition from the former coach. In 1997, he was re-elected for the last time. He won against Ángel Fernández. A few months later, he survived a vote of no-confidence. This vote was started by a group called "L'Elefant Blau." One of their leaders, Joan Laporta, later became the club's president.
Núñez then hired Bobby Robson and later Louis van Gaal as coaches. But the team did not win many titles in van Gaal's third year. Also, van Gaal did not get along well with the fans. This led to van Gaal leaving. Núñez himself resigned in 2000. He had been president for 22 years.
Facing Criticism
Even with all his achievements, Núñez was not always popular. He did not want to pay very high wages to players. This made some people criticize him. It also led to famous players like Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Bernd Schuster, Hristo Stoichkov, and Luís Figo leaving the club.
Club Successes Under Núñez
Here are some of the major trophies FC Barcelona won during José Luis Núñez's presidency:
- La Liga (7):
- 1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99
- Copa del Rey (6):
- 1980–81, 1982–83, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1997–98
- Copa de la Liga (2):
- 1983, 1986
- Supercopa de España (5):
- 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996
- UEFA Champions League (1):
- 1991–92
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (4):
- 1978–79, 1981–82, 1988–89, 1996–97
- UEFA Super Cup (2):
- 1992, 1997
See also
In Spanish: José Luis Núñez para niños
