Greatest FC Barcelona players of each decade (Post 1950)
Founded in November 1899, FC Barcelona evolved from a small Catalonian side to one of the biggest sports clubs in the world. Alongside Real Madrid, they have dominated football in Spain and Europe.
Over the years, FC Barcelona has been home to some of the most illustrious names from the world of football, players who transcended generations and left a deep impression on time. Today we look at such footballers who quintessentially defined their respective decades at FC Barcelona.
Note: Due to limitations in availability of facts and details from pre-1950s, the article has been restricted to players post that period. Therefore names like Paulino Alcantara and Josep Samitier haven't been included.
1950's - Ladislao Kubala
It's fair to say Barcelona wouldn't have been even remotely close to the club it is today had it not been for this man. Ladislao Kubala played at various clubs in Europe before he fled from his native country Hungary to escape its communist rule.
Despite joining Barcelona in 1950, he had to wait for a year until the end of a ban imposed on him by FIFA. With a total of five trophies, including La Liga, Kubala lead Barcelona to unprecedented success in his very first season at the club. Although he won four League titles and five Copa del Generalissimo with Barcelona, Kubala's real legacy was something else.
With his muscular frame, blistering speed and elegant style of play, Kubala captured the imagination of millions of Catalonians, who saw him as a ray of hope amid their identity crisis under Franco's rule. Unable to hold the humongous audience that turned up on regular basis to watch their hero, Barcelona decided to build the modern day Colosseum that we know as Camp Nou, a place that would forever encapsulate the legend of Lazlo Kubala.