Football in Catalonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Football in Catalonia. Catalonia was one of the regions in Spain where football initially gained popularity. Futból remains one of the most popular sports in the region. As in the rest of Spain , modern football was introduced to Catalonia in the late 1800s by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers and visiting sailors and Spanish students returning from Britain. The region led the way in the development of football in Spain, organising both the first association and the first league. Today football in Catalonia is organized by the RFEF and the Federació Catalana de Futbol and teams from Catalonia compete in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Copa Catalunya.
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[edit] Earliest Clubs
Catalan football teams are among the oldest in Spain. The oldest club in Catalonia, and one of the oldest in Spain, is Palamós Foot-Ball Club founded in 1898. Although Gimnàstic de Tarragona was formed in 1886, the club did not form an actual football team until 1914. Català SC and Foot-Ball Club Barcelona were both founded in 1899. Several clubs also emerged with a reference to Spain in their title. These included Hispania AC and Sociedad Española de Football, both formed in 1900, and FC Espanya. On November 11th 1900 the Federació Catalana de Futbol was formed as the Football Associació de Catalunya. It was the first football association founded in Spain. The first president was Eduard Alesson and the original members included FC Barcelona, Sociedad Española de Football, Català SC and Hispania AC.
[edit] Campionat de Catalunya
Soon there were enough clubs in Catalonia to organise a league and in December 1900, Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, offered a trophy. The Copa Macaya eventually evolved into the Campionat de Catalunya, the first league championship ever played in Spain. After 1903 the championship was organised by the Football Associació de Catalunya and the winners began to represent Catalonia in the Copa del Rey. By 1917 the league had turned professional and included a second division. In 1928 three Catalan clubs - FC Barcelona, RCD Español and CE Europa - became founder members of La Liga and gradually the Campionat de Catalunya began to decline in importance. In 1940 it was disbanded by the Franco regime.
[edit] Winners
- FC Barcelona: 22
- 1901-02, 1904-05, 1908-09, 1909-10, 1910-11, 1912-13, 1915-16, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1933-34, 1935-36, 1937-38
- Club Español / X Sporting Club / RCD Español/ CD Espanyol : 12
- 1903 , 1903-04, 1905-06, 1906-07, 1907-08, 1911-12, 1914-15, 1917-18, 1928-29, 1932-33, 1936-37, 1939-40
- FC Espanya : 3
- 1912-13, 1913-14, 1919-17
- Hispania AC : 1
- 1901
- CE Europa : 1
- 1922-23
- CE Sabadell : 1
- 1933-34
[edit] La Liga
Since La Liga was formed in 1928, seven Catalan clubs have played in the Primera Division. These include FC Barcelona who have never been relegated and RCD Espanyol who have only missed out on four seasons in the top division. CE Sabadell played for 14 seasons in the Primera Division. CE Europa, founding members of La Liga have played three seasons while Gimnàstic de Tarragona, UE Lleida and CD Condal all made brief appearances.
Eleven other clubs FC Barcelona B, Terrassa FC, CF Badalona, Girona FC, UE Sant Andreu, UE Figueres, Palamós CF, CE L´Hospitalet, CE Júpiter, Granollers EC and CFJ Mollerussa have all played in the Segunda Division.
[edit] Catalan national football team
[edit] Copa Catalunya
In 1984 following the restoration of the democracy in Spain, a new competition for Catalan clubs was organized. The Copa Generalitat was not initially recognised by the RFEF and only teams from the Spanish Third Division entered. After 1990 however the Copa Generalitat, now organized by the Federació Catalana de Futbol, became an official competition and Catalan clubs in La Liga began to enter. In 1993 it was renamed the Copa Catalunya. The competition has gradually diminished in prestige and FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol rarely field strong teams.
