RCD EspanyolWhat's in name?
This is a big shame for the club as they are moving to their new stadium in Cornellà next season and it will be difficult for them to optimistic in their new surroundings if they're in Segunda. The following article was written at the beginning of 2008-09, I'll update it depending on what happens!
RCD Espanyol Club Data
Capacity: 56,000 If you can imagine what would happen to a football club in Glasgow
made up of Scottish players but called Her Majesty's English FC, then
you're some way to understanding why the majority of Catalans will
always find it difficult to support RCD Espanyol.
An innocent choiceAt the turn of the 20th century, nobody in Spain could have predicted how popular football would become and most of the early clubs were founded by groups of friends interested in playing the new exotic game. Español were no different but when University of Barcelona student Ángel Rodríguez decided to form his own football club in September 1902, the best names were already taken - a group of foreigners had founded FC Barcelona and in response some locals had set up a Catalan-only club called Català FC.Rodríguez's group was made up mainly of Catalans along with a couple of Basques and an Andalusian, so partly to reflect the Spanishness of the group but also because he was helped by his father,
who was president of the Sociedad Gimnástica Española, young Ángel decided to call his club
Sociedad Española de Football - the demure-sounding Spanish Society of Football.
Pros and ConsSporting success came quickly to the young club. In 1902 the team participated in the first national competition in Spain, the Copa de España, scoring the the very first goal and the following year won the Macaya Cup, the precursor to the Catalonia Cup, and also played against Madrid in their first visit to Barcelona. It seems that being the city's Spanish club gave the embryonic Español an early advantage over FC Barcelona, made up mainly of foreigners, or Català, made up only of Catalans, but the political situation in Catalonia at the time made it difficult for the club to be accepted in its home city.After nearly disappearing in 1906, the club merged with another football club and a jujitsu club and became Club Deportivo Español in 1910 and despite still writing the name in Spanish rather than the Catalan Espanyol began to attempt to establish their Catalan identity - the club's colours were changed from the original yellow to blue and white in honour of the legendary medieval Catalan warrior Roger de Llúria. In 1912 when the club accepted royal patronage and became Real Club Deportivo Español it
earned another black mark in the eyes of many republican Catalans - not only were they Spanish but
they were also monarchists.
Self DefinitionBy 1918, Español was firmly established as Barcelona's second club but was also beginning to define itself as 'not FC Barcelona' rather than in its own terms. In that year, as the campaign for autonomy for Catalonia was growing, FC Barcelona gave its support to independence whilst Español's Peña Ibérica started a petition in favour of the Spanish state.Similarly, although the club had initially played on fields near the Sagrada Familia, when it came to building its first decent stadium it chose the priveleged suburb of Sarrià, thus attracting support from the moneyed classes who for business reasons had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo - a complete contrast to republican Catalanist FC Barcelona, whose ground was in working-class Les Corts. Success on the field continued, however, and Español were amongst the ten clubs to participate in the first Liga in 1928, in which they also scored the very first goal. They won their first Copa del Rey at the end of that season and in 1930 beat Real Madrid 8-1, which remains the worst defeat in Madrid's history. Español won its second Copa del Rey in 1940 the first season after the beginning of Franco's dictatorship, but it's not fair to say that the club received favours from the dictator but rather that it passively benefitted from the persecution that was dealt out to its Barcelona rival. In fact, the club won no more trophies until after the return of democracy.
The Return of DemocracySince Franco died in 1975, much of the tension in Spanish society has dissipated and, despite a couple of humbling one-season relegations, democracy has brought moderate success to Español. They reached the finals of the UEFA Cup in 1988 and 2007, losing on penalties to Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla respectively, and won a further two Copas del Rey in 2000 and 2006.In 1995, Spanish Español finally changed its name to Catalan RCD Espanyol making it much easier to attract a
younger generation of supporters. A traumatic moment, though, was the closing of the Sarrià stadium in 1997 and
they've played their home games in the not very welcoming municipal Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc - it's difficult
to enjoy a game of football when there's an athletics track between you and the pitch.
A Bright FutureThe 2009-10 season is the beginning of a bright new future for RCD Espanyol. The club is moving to its new 42,000 seater stadium in Cornellà, a town outside Barcelona. Not only is the stadium beautifully-designed to UEFA standards but Espanyol will cease officially to be a Barcelona team and so will escape from Barça's oppressive shadow.Cornellà is a far cry from Sarrià but is a good choice. The town is in the centre of a number of other conurbations
mainly populated by Spanish immigrants and their children who came to Catalonia in the fifties and sixties. Spain is
not a dirty word in these towns so RCD Espanyol will have a new catchment area and will be able to represent an important
sector of the multicultural Catalan society and will hopefully go from strength to strength.
Espanyol Squad 2008-09Coach : Mauricio PochettinoReturn To Primera Liga
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