Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona
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Details:Full Name: Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona Description:The Sociedad Española de Football (Spanish Football Society) was founded at the University of Barcelona on October 28, 1900. The club was initially created as an all-Spanish team, unlike many of the clubs at that time which were largely composed of foreigners. The club's name was chosen based on this. The club actually folded in 1906, to be relaunched three years later under a new name. In 1910 the club adopted its present blue and white colors in honor of the Mideval Italian admiral Ruggiero di Lauria, who led the fleet of Aragon based in Barcelona. In 1912, the Spanish king Alfonso XIII granted the club the title of Real (Royal), and use of the crown in its logo. The name then became Real Club Deportivo Español. The Blanquiblaus (The Blue and White) were founder members of the Spanish Liga in 1928 and actually scored the inaugural goal in the competition. From 1931-1939 the club used the Catalan language in its name before being forced to change back to the Spanish during the Franco era as part of a general crackdown on regional/separatist tendencies in places like Barcelona. In 1995 the official club name was changed to the Catalan language. It translates as Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona.
Espanyol's best performance in Europe is reaching the UEFA Cup final, which they did in 1988 and 2007. In the most recent final they lost to fellow Spaniards Sevilla. Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Lluís Companys:The stadium was built for the 1992 Olympics and is named for a Catalan political leader killed during the Spanish Civil War. The Periquiotos moved there in 1997 after they were forced by a financial crisis to sell their longtime home the Sarrià. Espanyol are currently working on the construction of a new stadium in the western Barcelona neighborhood of Cornellà.
Previous stadiums: Sarrià (1923-1997).
Major Trophies:Second Tier League Titles:
Cup Titles:
Nicknames:The nickname Periquitos has several plausible origins but the most interesting by far is the following. At the beginning of the 20th century there was a Catalan cartoonist named Valentí Castanys (who also invented the "Avi del Barça"). He used to represent Espanyol with 4 black cats (quatre gats in Catalan). There is an expression in Spain - when there's very few people somewhere, you say that "there are 4 cats". It was an ironic comment on the lack of social support that Espanyol had. In the 1920s, Pat Sullivan's film Felix the cat appeared and had some success and, in Catalonia, it was renamed as the gat perico. This was one of the early talkies and the high-pitched voice of Felix sounded more like a parakeet than a cat. Soon enough Espanyol evolved into being the quatre gats pericos and then the Periquitos.
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| Last Updated on Saturday, 27 August 2011 11:31 |
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