RCD Espanyol

Espanyol

170px
Full name	Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Periquitos (Budgerigars) Blanquiazules (White and Blue) Mágico (Magical) RCD Español (name in Spanish)
Founded	28 October 1900 (28 October 1900) as Sociedad Española de Football
Ground	Estadi Cornellà-El Prat
Ground Capacity	40,500
Owner	Chen Yansheng
President	Chen Yansheng
Manager	Vacant
League	La Liga
2015–16	La Liga, 13th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [rəˈjaɫ ˈkɫub dəpurˈtiw əspəˈɲɔɫ də βərsəˈɫonə]; Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, or simply as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Founded in 1900, the team plays in La Liga, the highest division of Spanish football. It has won the Copa del Rey four times, most recently in 2006, and reached the UEFA Cup final in 1988 and 2007. The team compete in the Derbi barceloní against FC Barcelona.

Espanyol play at the 40,500-capacity Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, having previously played at grounds including the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

History

Foundation and club culture

Espanyol was founded on 28 October 1900 by Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz (1879–1959), an engineering student at the University of Barcelona. The club's original home was in the well-off district of Sarrià and was initially known as the Sociedad Española de Football. One year later, the club changed its name to Club Español de Fútbol. Espanyol was the first club in Spain to be formed exclusively by Spanish fans of the game.

The club originally played in bright yellow shirts, with the colour of the shorts being left to the individual player. A friend of the club founder owned a textile business and happened to have an abundance of yellow material left over from a job. In 1910, the club changed its name to Club Deportivo Español and chose blue and white stripes as shirt colours and as the central colours of the club badge. Blue and white was chosen in homage to the colours appearing on the shield of the great Sicilian-Aragonese Admiral Roger de Lluria, who sailed the Mediterranean protecting the interests of the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. The club were successful from the very beginning, winning the Campionat de Catalunya in 1903 and subsequently playing in the Copa del Rey.

Development of club's name

File:Espanyol 80.jpg

Line-up in the 1980s

In 1906, the club folded due to financial reasons and most of the players joined the X Sporting Club. This club won the Campionat de Catalunya three times between 1906 and 1908. In 1909, this club was effectively relaunched as Club Deportivo Español, and in 1910, they adopted their present-day colours. Espanyol are one of several Spanish football clubs granted patronage by the Spanish crown and thus entitled to use Real in their names and the royal crown on their badge. This right was granted to Espanyol in 1912 by Alfonso XIII and the club subsequently became known as Real Club Deportivo Español.

Following the abdication of the same king in 1931 and the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic, due to prohibition of royal symbols, the club adopted the more Catalan/republican friendly name, Club Esportiu Espanyol. After the Spanish Civil War, the name reverted.

The club took the Catalan spelling for its name in February 1995. The word Deportiu in Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a Catalanised form of the original word Deportivo (Castilian), despite the correct word being Esportiu in the Catalan language. This choice was made in order to retain the initials RCD in the club's name.

In 1994, Espanyol created its reserve team, Espanyol B, currently playing in the Segunda División B.

2006–07 UEFA Cup

With their win in the Copa del Rey the previous season, Espanyol entered the UEFA Cup. Following a 5–3 aggregate success against Artmedia Bratislava they were drawn in Group F, along with Dutch club Ajax, Belgian minnows Zulte Waregem, Czech side Sparta Prague, and Austrian side Austria Wien. Espanyol were group winners, victorious in all four of their ties.

Their opponent in the Round of 32 was Italian side Livorno, who had just scraped into the knockout stages. Espanyol were 4–1 victors on aggregate, recording a 2–1 win in Tuscany and finishing the job 2–0 in Barcelona. Next up was Israeli side Maccabi Haifa, and after a dour 0–0 draw in the away leg, Espanyol thrashed their Israeli counterparts 4–0 in the second leg. Many were starting to see Espanyol as favourites to go all the way to the final in Glasgow's Hampden Park.

However, if that were to be the case, Espanyol would have to defeat Portuguese club Benfica, two-time European Cup winners. Espanyol did not seem fazed by this, as they raced into a 3–0 lead in Spain. However, Benfica fought back and scored two away goals to leave the tie firmly in the balance. Nevertheless, Espanyol survived a daunting trip to Lisbon, coming away with a 0–0 draw, which was enough to book them a place in the semi-finals.

Germans Werder Bremen lay in wait for the Catalan side in the last four, but once again, Espanyol produced a brilliant home performance to virtually seal the tie on the night. A 3–0 rout of the Germans put the Spanish firmly in control, and any real doubts about their passage to the final disappeared, with a 2–1 win in Bremen. In the final, held on 16 May in Glasgow, Scotland, Espanyol fell to fellow La Liga side Sevilla, losing 3–1 in a shootout following a 2–2 draw. They became the only football team in UEFA Cup history to remain unbeaten in the tournament, yet didn't take home the trophy. Walter Pandiani, who would leave the club at the end of the season, was the top goal scorer of the UEFA Cup of that season.

On June 9, 2007, Raúl Tamudo became the top scorer in the history of Espanyol thus overcoming the 111 goals by Rafael Marañón, as he then scored his 113 goal. The most remembered Raul Tamudo's goal was undoubtedly the one he scored against FC Barcelona in season 2006/07 in the very last minute of the match in the Nou Camp that cost the League title to FC Barcelona and it was then Real Madrid the League Champion that season.

On May 31, 2009, Tamudo played the last match of that season at the Estadio Olímpico de Montjuic, defeating Málaga 3-0 and obatining his 129th goal. Espanyol played in the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic after moving from their all life ground in Sarria. But Tamudo, added a new special feature in his career as he started the following season 2009/10 at the new Stadium Cornellà-Prat being a very special case in the history of football as it will be virtually impossible to find any other player, in a major League, that played in three different grounds for the same team: Sarrià, Montjuic and Cornellà-Prat.

Back home

After twelve seasons at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuic, the Club moved on to Estadi de Cornellá-El Prat. The new stadium was officially inaugurated on 2 August 2009 with the match between RCD Espanyol and FC Liverpool. The periquitos (budgerigars) won 3-0. Luis García Fernández scored the first goal in said ground, then Ben Sahar scored two more goals. Also Raúl Tamudo scored a goal which was disqualified by the referee through a non-existent offside. After so many years, the Club had their own home again after the demolition of the mythical Estadi de Sarrià. The new ground should mean an inflection point for the entity both at a sport and economic level.

However, Espanyol were not happy for long as on August 8, 2009 one of the saddest moments in the history of the Club happened: captain Dani Jarque suddenly died when he was only 26 in the Italian village of Coverciano, where the Club was at the time playing on several fixtures in Italy, he died from a cardiac arrest. The Club lost its captain as well as one of their symbols. Since that horrible date, when the minute 21 of every match arrives, his shirt number, during a full minute, it takes place an outstanding ovation in his memory, Espanyol supporters pay tribute to Jarque by singing his name.

On September 10, 2009, the IFFHS published the best European Clubs classification during the 20th century and Espanyol got the 98th position due to their European participations.

Mauricio Pochettino, former player, coached the team during season 2008/09 in order to prevent the team from relegation to the Second Division; an objective that he fulfilled, the Club carries out a sport project based in the promotion of footballers coming from the Club lower teams as well as within this environment of cutbacks. In subsequent seasons, the Club managed to stay in the First Division trouble free, even in certain moments the team fought to take part in the UEFA Europa League. Nevertheless after 14 matches in season 2012-13, the Directors of the Club fired Pochettino since the team was last in the classification. A few days later, Mexican coach Javier Aguirre took over managing to revert the situation and obtaining good results.

Javier Aguirre carried on in charge one more year and again he managed to keep the Club in the First Division in the course of a so called transition season. Sergio González took over in the summer of 2014 and in his first season the team reached the semifinal of the Cup and the team ended the league with no difficulties in staying in the First Division. But on December 2015, the Board of Directors decided to sack him in view of poor results obtained. It was then Constantin Galca, another former Espanyol player, who was appointed as new Manager.

At the same time, there were remarkable changes office wise. President Joan Collet and his Board of Directors resigned on January 20, 2016 so that Chen Yanseng got in charge of the management of the Club. Rastar Managerial Group owner bought out in November 2015 the shares, over 50% of the written down capital to the main shareholders, thus he was able to be in full control although the operation was completed on January 19, 2016 when the acquisition was finally confirmed. His take over was crucial to cover several payments with the Treasury as well as various suppliers.

Stadia

From 1923 until 1997, Espanyol played their home games in Estadi de Sarrià in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona. In 1997, they moved to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Montjuïc. For the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Espanyol moved into the newly constructed Estadi Cornellà-El Prat in Cornellà de Llobregat.

Rivalries

El derbi Barceloní

Main article: El derbi Barceloní

Espanyol's local rival has always been FC Barcelona. Blanc-i-blaus, being one of the clubs granted royal patronage, was founded exclusively by Spanish football fans, unlike the multinational nature of Barça's primary board. The founding message of the club was clearly anti-Barcelona, and they disapprovingly saw FC Barcelona as a team of foreigners. The rivalry was strengthened by what Catalonians saw as a provocative representative of Madrid. Their original ground was in the affluent district of Sarrià.

During the dictatorships of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) and Francisco Franco (1939-1975), Espanyol was seen by the vast majority of Barcelona's citizens as a club which cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority, in stark contrast to Barça's revolutionary spirit. This feeling stands in contrast with the fact that Franco gave financial support to Barça Espanyol drew their support mainly from sectors close to the regime such as policemen, military officers, civil servants and career fascists.

Though it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga, it is also the most unbalanced, with Barcelona overwhelmingly dominant. In the league table, Espanyol has only managed to end above Barça on three occasions in almost 70 years and the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey final was won by Barça in 1957. Espanyol has the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6–0 in 1951. Espanyol achieved a 2–1 win against Barça during the 2008–09 season, becoming the first team to defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou in their treble-winning season.

Achievements

File:EstadioRCDE Pano.jpg

RCD Espanyol play at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat

• In 1928, Espanyol became a founding member of La Liga, and in 1929, the team won their first Copa del Rey. Espanyol has completed the highest number of seasons in La Liga without actually winning the title.
• The team has qualified seven times for the UEFA Cup (including the 2006–07 qualification following the 2006 Spanish Cup win) and reached the final in 1988, losing to Bayer Leverkusen of then-West Germany on penalty kicks (3–2), after a memorable home-and-away final (3–0 in Barcelona, 0–3 in Leverkusen), and in 2007, losing to Sevilla on another penalty kicks round (3–1), after a memorable match (ended 1–1 after normal time, and 2–2 after extra time).

Trophies

Men's football

Domestic competitions

• Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup)

Winners (4): 1929, 1940, 2000, 2006

• Segunda División

Winner (1): 1993–94

Regional Competitions

• Campionat de Catalunya

Winners (11): 1903–04, 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1911–12, 1914–15, 1917–18, 1928–29, 1932–33, 1936–37, 1939–40

• Copa Catalunya

Winners (6): 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2010–11

Runners-up (5): 1993–94, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09

Women's football

Main article: RCD Espanyol (women)

• Primera División

Winners (1): 2005–06

Runners-up (3): 2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11

• Copa de la Reina

Winners (6): 1996, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012

Runners-up (4): 1990, 2002, 2007, 2011

Men's basketball

Main article: RCD Espanyol (basketball)

• Copa del Rey

Winners (1): 1941

• Catalan championship

Winners (2): 1931, 1932

Runners-up (3): 1941, 1943, 1954

• EBA Catalan league

Winners (1): 1981

Women's basketball

• Copa de la Reina

Winners (1): 1943

Runners-up (1): 1944

Men's hockey

• Copa del Rey

Winners (11): 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1961, 1962

Runners-up (4): 1946, 1952, 1953, 1958

Women's volleyball

Main article: RCD Espanyol (volleyball)

• Superliga

Winners (3): 1985, 1988, 1991

• Copa de la Reina

Winners (5): 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992

Men's baseball

• División de Honor

Winners (2): 1946, 1953

Competition summary

• 7 participations in UEFA Cup
• 2 participations in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
• 2 participations in Intertoto Cup
• 80 seasons in La Liga
• 4 seasons in Segunda División

Current squad

As of 1 February 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Giedrius Arlauskis (on loan from Watford) 2 DF Rober Correa 3 DF Rubén Duarte 4 MF Víctor Sánchez (vice-captain) 5 MF Víctor Álvarez (3rd captain) 6 DF Enzo Roco (on loan from O'Higgins) 7 FW Gerard Moreno 8 MF Salva Sevilla 9 MF Burgui (on loan from Real Madrid) 10 MF Abraham González 11 MF Paco Montañés 12 MF Pape Diop 13 GK Pau López

No. Position Player 14 MF José Cañas 15 DF Michaël Ciani 16 MF Javi López (captain) 17 MF Hernán Pérez 18 DF Juan Fuentes 19 MF Joan Jordán 20 FW Felipe Caicedo 22 DF Álvaro González 23 DF Anaitz Arbilla 24 DF Óscar Duarte 25 MF Marco Asensio (on loan from Real Madrid) 28 FW Mamadou Sylla

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — GK Germán Parreño (on loan at Girona) — DF Antonio Raillo (on loan at Ponferradina) — DF Carlos Clerc (on loan at Girona) — MF Álex Fernández (on loan at Reading)

No. Position Player — MF Marc Caballé (on loan at Cornellà) — FW Adrián Dalmau (on loan at Numancia) — FW Jairo Morillas (on loan at Girona) — FW Thievy Bifouma (on loan at Reims)

Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in association football

21 Daniel Jarque (deceased) (2002–09)

See also Category:RCD Espanyol footballers

Players with most appearances

Competitive, professional matches only.

As of 24 May 2014

	Name	Years	League	Second Division	League Cup	Other	Total
1	Raúl Tamudo	1996–10	340	–	–	49	389
2	José María	1965–76	269	31	–	10	310
3	Antonio Argilés	1950–64	301	4	–	5	309
4	Mauricio Pochettino	1994–06	275	–	–	29	304
5	Thomas N'Kono	1982–90	241	33	19	10	303
6	Arteaga	1993–03	238	28	–	29	295
7	Manuel Zúñiga	1979–88	259	–	18	9	286
8	Fernando Molinos	1974–84	264	–	6	6	276
9	Diego Orejuela	1982–91	216	33	15	12	276
10	Marañón	1974–83	261	–	4	6	271

¹Includes Copa del Rey data only since 1997.

Managers

Dates Name 1922–24 Edward Garry 1924–26 Francisco Bru 1926–June 1930 Jack Greenwell July 1930–June 1933 Patricio Caicedo July 1933–June 1935 Ramón Trabal July 1935-Nov 1935 Harry Lowe Nov 1935–June 1943 Patricio Caicedo July 1943–Dec 1943 Pedro Solé Dec 1943-June 1944 Crisant Bosch July 1944–Dec 1945 Baltasar Albéniz Jan 1946-June 1946 Crisant Bosch July 1946–June 1947 Josep Planas July 1947–June 1949 José Espada July 1949–Feb 1950 Patricio Caicedo Feb 1950–June 1952 Juan José Nogués July 1952–Dec 1954 Alejandro Scopelli Dec 1954 José Espada Jan 1955-June 1955 Odilio Bravo July 1955–June 1957 Ricardo Zamora July 1957–June 1958 Elemér Berkessy July 1958–June 1959 Marcel Domingo July 1959–June 1960 Antonio Barrios July 1960–Jan 1961 Ernesto Pons Jan 1961-Feb 1961 Alejandro Scopelli Feb 1961-June 1961 Ricardo Zamora July 1961-Nov 1961 José Luis Saso

Dates Name Nov 1961-Dec 1961 Ricardo Zamora Dec 1961–June 1962 Julián Arcas July 1962–June 1963 Heriberto Herrera July 1963-Dec 1963 Pedro Areso Dec 1963–June 1964 Pedro Solé July 1964–June 1965 László Kubala July 1965–Feb 1966 Fernando Argila Feb 1966-June 1966 José Espada July 1966–Oct 1968 Jenő Kalmár Oct 1968–June 1969 Antonio Argilés July 1969–Feb 1970 Fernando Riera Feb 1970-June 1970 Rafael Iriondo July 1970–June 1971 Ferdinand Daučík July 1971–Dec 1977 José Santamaría Dec 1977–June 1978 Heriberto Herrera July 1978–Dec 1979 José Antonio Irulegui Dec 1979-June 1980 Vicente Miera July 1980–June 1983 José María Maguregui July 1983-Sep 1983 Milorad Pavić Sep 1983–June 1986 Xabier Azkargorta July 1986–Feb 1989 Javier Clemente Feb 1989-Apr 1989 Pepe Mauri Apr 1989 Raúl Longhi Apr 1989-June 1989 José María García Andoaín July 1989–Dec 1989 Benito Joanet Jan 1990-June 1990 Juanjo Díaz

Dates Name June 28, 1990 – June 9, 1991 Luis Aragonés July 1991-Nov 1991 Ljupko Petrović Nov 1991–Jan 1992 Jaume Sabaté Jan 21, 1992–June 30, 1992 Javier Clemente July 1992–May 1993 José Manuel Díaz Novoa May 1993-June 1993 Juanjo Díaz July 1993–June 1996 José Antonio Camacho July 1996–Jan 1997 Pepe Carcelén Jan 1997-Mar 1997 Vicente Miera Mar 1997-June 1997 Paco Flores July 1, 1997 – June 1, 1998 José Antonio Camacho July 1, 1998–Sep 6, 1998 Marcelo Bielsa Sep 1998–Jan 2000 Miguel Ángel Brindisi Jan 17, 2000–June 30, 2002 Paco Flores July 1, 2002–Oct 20, 2002 Juande Ramos Oct 2002-Dec 2002 Ramón Moya Dec 18, 2002–Nov 4, 2003 Javier Clemente Nov 4, 2003–June 30, 2004 Luis Fernández July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2006 Miguel Ángel Lotina July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2008 Ernesto Valverde July 1, 2008–Nov 30, 2008 Tintín Márquez Dec 1, 2008–Jan 20, 2009 Mané Jan 20, 2009–Nov 26, 2012 Mauricio Pochettino Nov 28, 2012–May 16, 2014 Javier Aguirre May 28, 2014 – December 14, 2015 Sergio González December 14, 2015 – May 27, 2016 Constantin Gâlcă

see also Category:RCD Espanyol managers

Presidents

Dates Name 1900–02 Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz 1902–06 Josep María Miró Trepat 1906–09 no activities 1909 Julià Clapera Roca 1909–10 Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz 1910–11 Evelio Doncos 1911–12 Josep García Hardoy 1912–13 Santiago de la Riva 1913–14 Alfonso Ardura 1914–15 Josep García Hardoy

Dates Name 1915–18 José María Bernadas 1918–19 Manuel Allende 1919–20 Victorià de la Riva 1920–22 Genaro de la Riva 1922–24 Victorià de la Riva 1924–25 Santiago de la Riva 1925–30 Genaro de la Riva 1930–31 Santiago de la Riva 1931–33 Javier de Salas 1933–42 Genaro de la Riva

Dates Name 1942–47 Francisco Román Cenarro 1947–48 José Salas Painello 1948–58 Francisco Javier Sáenz 1958–60 Frederic Marimón Grifell 1960–62 Victorià Oliveras de la Riva 1962–63 Cesáreo Castilla Delgado 1963–67 Josep Fusté Noguera 1967–69 Juan Vilá 1969–70 Josep Fusté Noguera 1970–82 Manuel Meler

Dates Name 1982–89 Antonio Baró 1989 Ferrán Martorell 1989–93 Julio Pardo 1993–97 Francisco Perelló 1997–11 Daniel Sánchez Llibre 2011–12 Ramon Condal 2012–2016 Juan Collet 2016– Chen Yansheng

See also

• RCD Espanyol B
• Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy

External links

• Official website (Catalan) (Spanish)
• RCD Espanyol at La Liga (English) (Spanish)
• RCD Espanyol at UEFA (English) (Spanish)