La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia, (Catalan pronunciation: [ɫə məˈzi.ə], English: "The Farmhouse"), is the name given to FC Barcelona's training facilities located near the Camp Nou in the Les Corts district of Barcelona, and is often used to generically describe the youth academy of Barcelona.
The youth academy of Barcelona holds more than 300 young players, and has been praised since 2002 as one of the best in the world, being a significant factor in FC Barcelona's European success as well as the Spanish national team's success at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2010, la Masia achieved a record breaking honour becoming the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the Ballon d'Or in one same year, with Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández.
The building itself is an ancient country residence (In Catalan: masia) built in 1702, and once Camp Nou was inaugurated in 1957, the building was remodelled and extended for use as the club's social headquarters. With the gradual expansion of the club, the building became too small for headquarters, and, on 20 October 1979, La Masia was converted into a dormitory for young players from outside of Barcelona. On June, 30, 2011 the Masia building ceased housing the young sportsmen who are trained to become a part of the Club’s professional teams. In a simple, but emotionally charged ceremony, the doors were closed and the new Masia-Centre de Formació Oriol Tort, at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, took over the function of the residential center for the youngsters.