Who is Pep Guardiola?

Josep Pep Guardiola I Sala was born in the year 1971 on January 18^th. He is a well renowned Spanish football manager and also a former football player. During his tenure as a player, Guardiola played in the defensive midfielder where he spent the majority of his playing career with the Barcelona team.

Pep was part of Johan Cruffy’s dream team that helped FC Barcelona win Barcelona’s first ever European Cup. Pep also went ahead to play for Brescia and Roma in Italy: Al-Ahli in Qatar; and for Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico as he attended managing school.

During his tenure as a football professional in Italy, he served a whole four month ban after testing positive in a drug tests, however on appeal he was cleared on any wrong doing in the year 2009 before the Courts of Justice of the Italian Football Federation as well as the Federal Anti-Doping Courts of the Italian Olympic Committee.

As an international football player, he played for Spain and also in friendly matches for Catalonia. When he retired as a player, Guardiola started coaching FC Barcelona B. and on 8^th May 2008, Pep was named as the head coach for FC Barcelona. 

 On the 5^th June day of 2008,Pep signed his contract and started his first season as FC Barcelona’s manager, he led Barca into winning the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. This wins made Pep became the youngest UEFA Champions League-winning manager ever.

The season that followed saw Pepe help Barca win the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, bringing the manager's tally to the maximum of six trophies in six competitions in one year, thus completing six trophies sextuple in two seasons.

On the 8^th of September, in the year 2011, Pep was awarded the Catalan parliament's Gold Medal, the highest honour. On January 9^th the year 2012, Pep was awarded the FIFA World Coach of the year for Men’s Football award.

He won this award with 42% of the votes beating Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United’s manager to second place where he received 16% and the third place was taken by Jose Mourinho who coaches Real Madrid a where he gathered 12% vote. 

On June 30^th the year 2012, Pep quit as Barca’s manager where he left after achieving a record 14 titles in a record four years being the clubs head coach. 

Pep was born in Santpedor, Barcelona, Catalonia, where he joined the football junior league Masia at the age of 13 years where he rose through the ranks at the youth academy of Barcelona for a record six years.

Barcelona FC

Football Club Barcelona which is also known as Barcelona not forgetting Barca. This is a professional football club that is based in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. This football club was founded in the year 1899.

A group of English, Swiss and Catalan footballers who were led by a Joan Gamper, Ever since then, Barcelona has become a symbol of Catalan culture and also Catalanism and its no wonder the motto  "Més que un club" (More than a club), was founded.

Barcelona FC’s official anthem is known as the "Més que un club" (More than a club). Barcelona is a unique football club that ids owned and run by supporters. Barcelona doubles up as the second richest club in terms of revenue where it operates an annual turnover of 398 million pounds.

FC Barcelona is a club that holds a long standing rivalry with FC Real Madrid and when the two teams meet on the playing field, the matches are referred to "El Clásico". FC Barcelona are the current Copa del Rey Champions and they have won a record 21 La Liga titles, 26 Copa del Rey, 10 Supercopa de Espana  , 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies.

Barcelona is the record holder for the latter four competitions and for the international scene, Barcelona has won a record four UEFA Champions league, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, four UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a record two FIFA Club World Cup trophies. 

FC Barcelona doubles up as the only European club that has ever played the continental football every season since the year1955. FC Barcelona is also one of three clubs that have never been relegated from La Liga the rest being Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

In the year2009, FC Barcelona became the very first Spanish club to ever win six out of six competitions in a single year! This made the club win a sextuple that compromised of the treble as well as the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Cup as well as FIFA World Cup. 

During the date22nd of October the year1899, a gent by the name Hans Kamper placed an advertisement in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club; he was bombarded with a positive result which led to a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November. 

A record eleven players attended and from then on FC Barcelona had their very successful start in regional as well as national cups, Barcelona started competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey.

Back in the year 1902, Barcelona was able to win its first ever trophy, the Copa Macaya, and participated in the first Copa del Rey, losing 1–2 to Bizcaya in the final.In the year 1908,Kamper who was to be known as Joan Gamper became FC Barcelona’s club president. 

And during his 25 years reign as club president, Joan ensured that FC Barcelona go to acquire its very own stadium thus helping the club to start generating a stable income. 

FC Valencia

Valencia club is a Spanish club also known as Valencia CF, Valencia and even Los Che, this football club is located in Valencia city. FC Valencia is a club that is big on the La Liga and it’s actually has a history as being one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish football and European football.

 

As up to today, Valencia have won a record six La Liga tittles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup winner’s Cup and also two UEFA super cups. Its also on record that this football club has successfully reached two UEFA champions league final and in a row!

Valencia is a football club that was a member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs. In a nutshell Valencia has reached a total of seven major European finals where they have won four of them. 

In the La Liga table, FC Valencia takes up the third position tailing Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. When it comes to continental titles, Valencia is also placed as the third-most successful behind the two making these three Spanish clubs is the only Spanish clubs to have won five or more continental trophies. 

 Valencia FC is a football club that was founded in the year 1919 and have played their home games in their 55,000 Seater stadium known as Mestalla, since the year 1923. But in the year 2013, the club is scheduled to move into their new 75,000 seater Nou Mestalla that is located in the north-west of the city of Valencia.

In the whole of Spain, Valencia is slated as the third most supported football club in Spain and it serves as one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates who are registered paying supporters and the club also boasts of more than 50,000 season ticket holders and another 20,00+ season ticket holders who are on the waiting list who will be easily accommodated  in their new 75,000 seater stadium.

FC Valencia History

Valencia CF moved into the Mestalla stadium in the year 1923 after having played their home matched at the Algiros ground since the date 7^th December 1919. The very first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellon Castalia which ended as a nil, nil draw.

Yet in another match which was played the day after, Valencia won against the same opposition 1-0. In the year 1923, Valencia won the Regional Championship and the club was eligible to play in the domestic Copa del Rey cup competition for the very first time in the clubs history. 

In the 1960’s, FC Valencia had its first European success in the form of the Inter cities fairs cup which served as the forerunner to the UEFA Cup. In the 1961-62 seasons, Valencia was able to beat FC Barcelona in the final. 

 In the season played in 1962-63 edition of the Inter-cities Fairs Cup final FC Valencia won against the Croatian club known as Dinamo Zagreb.