Barcelona kvinner

1970–1980s: Beginnings

Women's football in Spain, particularly Barcelona, had a certain level of popularity in the 1960s, but was amateur and unofficial. In at least as early as the 1960s, FC Barcelona had women's teams play in exhibition games at the Camp Nou; the club does not consider these antecedents to its current women's team as they "[were] teams that had been created only for that occasion, unlike Selecció Ciutat [de Barcelona], which was created with the idea of continuity and laying the groundwork for a future project." Upon Barcelona announcing Selecció Barcelona as its new women's team, El Noticiero Universal [es] reported that the club had almost pioneered women's football in Spain "many years earlier", having gone so far as to organise a game that could not be played for reasons beyond their control.

The "embryo" of Barcelona Femení was the Selecció Ciutat de Barcelona, formed in November 1970 after footballer Immaculada Cabecerán approached the club with the proposition of a women's team. The Selecció Barcelona played their first match on Christmas Day 1970, winning on penalties against Unió Esportiva Centelles in front of a crowd of around 60,000 people. Although the team was not officially recognised by the club, it was the first match played by a women's team associated with FC Barcelona (then known as CF Barcelona). The team then changed its name to Penya Femenina Barça or Peña Femenina Barcelonista, playing more matches at the Camp Nou with large crowds, and Ramallets coached them until 1972.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) formally recognised women's football in 1980, with Núria Llansà, one of the original players, becoming Barcelona coach in 1982 and president of the team in 1984. She remained manager until the team was incorporated as an official section of FC Barcelona.

During the 1980s, the team was renamed Club Femení Barcelona. They reached an informal integration agreement with FC Barcelona where they were allowed to use the colours, badges and facilities of the club, but it took a few more years to adopt the crest. On 29 June, 1985, the team won its first competition – the Generalitat Cup.

1988–2001: Liga Nacional and inconsistency

In 1988, Club Femení Barcelona, which was sponsored by FC Barcelona, was a founding member of the Liga Nacional, the first top-flight national women's league in Spain. Their performances in this iteration of the league were inconsistent from the start, losing to weak teams and beating otherwise unbeatable ones, cementing themselves as a mid-table team. They had a successful three-year run in the early 1990s, placing in the league top three between 1992 and 1994, and winning the 1994 Copa de la Reina de Fútbol. They subsequently declined to bottom table positions but, despite their weaker performances in the later years of the Liga Nacional, always managed to stay in the top division.^[]

2002–2007: Becoming an official section and Segunda División

In 2001, the league was rebranded into the Superliga Femenina due to natural growth; Barcelona was not accepted into the top division due to their poor results in the previous season and were installed in the new Superliga second division, the lowest tier of national football at the time (though sub-divided by regional group).^[] On 26 June 2002, CF Barcelona was incorporated to FC Barcelona as an official section, and the club rebranded the women's section to Futbol Club Barcelona Femení.

Barcelona won its group in the Segunda División in 2002 and 2003, but remained in the second division after unsuccessful appearances in the promotion playoffs. It was eventually promoted to the Superliga Femenina in 2004. Once promoted, the team enjoyed some popularity in the 2004–05 season due to the signing of the Mexican international Maribel "Marigol" Domínguez and the Spanish María Luisa Coimbra, though this did not translate into quality results for the team.^[] Xavi Llorens was hired as manager in 2006 to replace Natalia Astrain, but Llorens was unable to keep the section in the Superliga. At the end of the 2006–07 season, the team was relegated from the Superliga and the club considered dissolving the section.^[]

2008–2015: Return to the top flight and first Golden Era

Barcelona returned to the Superliga in 2008, and between 2009 and 2011, they consolidated themselves in top positions in the league table.^[] In 2011, they won their second Copa de la Reina, beating local rivals Espanyol 1–0 in the final. In 2012, they won their first league title with a then-record 94 points, qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time before exiting in the first round.^[] They successfully defended the league in 2013 with a last matchday away win over leading team Athletic Bilbao, before winning the 2013 Copa de la Reina to become the fifth Spanish women's team to achieve the domestic double.^[]

Barcelona qualified for the quarterfinals of the Women's Champions League for the first time in the 2013–14 edition, a season in which they won their third straight league title. Between 17 April 2011 and 11 December 2011, Barcelona maintained a 15-match winning streak, the longest consecutive run in Spanish women's football history by 2015; and between 23 September 2012 and 20 April 2014, they had a 54-game unbeaten run, another record at the time. By the end of the 2013–14 season, the club referred to the previous four years of Barcelona Femení as a Golden Era in which they "absolutely dominated the Spanish football scene", and the team had received their own section in the Barça Museum. In the following 2014–15 season, they became the first team in the Spanish women's league to win four straight league titles.

2015–2018: Professionalism and rivalry with Atlético Madrid

In the summer of 2015, the club made the decision to professionalise the women's section. Despite their domestic success, players were unable to make a living playing for Barcelona Femení, and the club knew it could not compete in the Champions League against professional teams from other countries. The team had made a sponsorship deal with Stanley Tools in 2014, which allowed them to become professional, and added a shirt deal in 2018 that made Stanley the first shirt sponsor specific to the women's team.

Barcelona's domestic dominance ended as they went through the process of becoming professional, with then-captain Vicky Losada later saying that the jump "was a big change" initially, disrupting the team. As part of their new professionalism, Barcelona placed a greater priority on competing in the Champions League, though focused on improving conditions rather than immediately trying to match the level of foreign teams. They reached their first Champions League semifinal in the 2016–17 season, which was compared to the rapid rise of Manchester City W.F.C., who had become professional and achieved this milestone at the same times as Barcelona.

This period also coincided with Atlético Madrid Femenino "emerg[ing] as a really strong side". Atlético became a challenger to Barcelona's success, and did so by playing with a style that counteracted Barcelona's: a rivalry developed between the teams that Losada described as the women's Clásico. Atlético won the three league titles between the 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons, and Barcelona were runners-up in each of those seasons.

After struggling against Atlético for a few years, Barcelona beat them in the final of the 2017 Copa de la Reina, in Llorens' final match as coach. Llorens had come in to restructure the women's section when it was weak, and his departure also brought about change. Under his replacement, Fran Sánchez, Barcelona Femení moved away from its focus on development and integration of youth players and signed multiple big names in international football, including England star Toni Duggan and Lieke Martens, who they made the highest-paid female footballer. In the summer of 2018, Barcelona Femení joined the men's team on a pre-season tour for the first time, one of the measures that made The Guardian consider them a groundbreaker in "growing commercial opportunities" and promoting equality for women's football.

2019–present: Second Golden Era

Barcelona defeated Atlético at the Wanda Metropolitano on 17 March 2019, in a match that broke the world record for attendance at a women's club football match with 60,739 attendees. Later that season, Barcelona progressed to their first ever Champions League final, meeting and losing 1–4 to five-time Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais Féminin. Starting in summer 2019, Barcelona aimed to reduce the number of signings each year, returning to the long-term project of homegrown talent as the basis of the team. They began only incorporating external players who connected to the team's style, with Losada insisting that "the style of the club is sacred."

After having been runners-up in all competitions for two years, Barcelona won four titles in the 2019–20 season,^[] but did not reach the final of the 2019–20 Champions League, which the club considered disappointing. Since 2020, Barcelona has won the league and reached the Champions League final every season, while also winning at least one of the Copa de la Reina and Supercopa each year.^[]

They also pushed for further improvement in conditions and standards of professionalism during this period. In 2020–21 they won the Champions League for the first time by defeating Chelsea 4–0 in the final. Having played the first professional women's match at the Camp Nou in January 2021, and also achieving a continental treble, the club initially announced that then-manager Lluís Cortés was set to stay. Cortés abruptly left a month later in a mutual termination as staff and players felt there was a need for change in the management. Prior to his departure, the news caused significant speculation, with some media saying that the players had asked for him to be sacked, villainising them – Cortés said such rumours were unfounded. Amidst the media heat, Barcelona suffered their only league defeat of the season, losing 3–4 to rivals Atlético Madrid, but still achieved a record 33 wins and 99 points in the league.

Losing their manager did not harm the team: their 2021–22 season is considered one of the most dominant in football. Grant Wahl said the team was one of the best women's sides in history, and attributed their resilience and increasing success to having established a new culture within the team itself. Continuing to excel in all competitions, Barcelona also began to dominate in individual awards. In November 2021, captain Alexia Putellas won her first Ballon d'Or Féminin, with Hermoso placing second. Putellas went on to sweep all individual awards corresponding to the previous season, the first such player to do so. Their dominance in Spain also reached new heights. On 23 January 2022, Barcelona summarily defeated Atlético 7–0 in the Supercopa final, and had mathematically won the league by March.

Though they did not win the Champions League, losing to Lyon in the final again, their Champions League campaign was also historic, as they twice set a new official world record for attendance of a women's football match. Barcelona beat Real Madrid and then Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou, with respective attendances of 91,553 and 91,648. Putellas repeated her individual trophy-winning success.

The summer of 2022 brought about a large shift in Barcelona's squad with four major player departures, including all-time top scorer Hermoso and longest-serving player and record appearances holder Melanie Serrano, and more signings than they had made in years to balance the squad. As one of these, Barcelona paid €470,000 to Manchester City for Keira Walsh, breaking the world record for a transfer fee in women's football. The team continued to succeed and grow, winning three titles, including their second Champions League after a comeback victory over Wolfsburg in the final. Midfielder Aitana Bonmatí then won all individual titles, with the most decorated season of any footballer.