Barcelona Universitari Club
Barcelona Universitari Club is a Catalan Spanish rugby union team based in Barcelona established in 1929. Between 2002 and 2009, the club signed a collaboration convenium with USA Perpignan.
History
The beginning
In 1929, a group of players from different clubs founded Rugby Club Universitario, with Ramón Eiximeno as chairman of the entity. Its first match was played on 25 December of the same year against another historic Catalan rugby club team, UE Santboiana. The following year, the club was incorporated to the Catalan ChampionshipIn 1930 many of the Unión Deportiva de Estudiantes Católicos players were incorporated and the club changed name to Barcelona Universitari Club. The club became a multi-discipline sports club, where are practiced Track and field, boxing, tennis, equestrianism, etc. With the creation of Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, in 1933, the club starts to depend from its Patronage, with August Pi i Sunyer, who was then the chairman of the Spanish Olympic Committee, as chairman. In this period were organised several tours abroad which gave prestige to the club.
In 1934 started the golden age of the club, which lasted until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. BUC became the Official Sports Organ of Universidad Autónoma. The following year, the club became the only representative organ of the university sports in Barcelona, and by extension, in Catalonia.
Post-war
After the war years, The reorganisation of BUC was planned. However, the opposition from the Francoist authorities, represented by the Youth Front and the University Students' Union made that this was not possible. These entities absorbed all the club's sections, as well as all its merits and documentation. In the late 1950s,the former founding players led by Zarraluqui and Ciscar, started the difficult task of raising the club. Several significant changes characterized this period: BUC changed its denomination to Barcelona Unión Club. The traditional club playing strip was changed from white to completely black uniforms. At this stage, the club limited its actions to the rugby section, with rugby union being the only sport currently practiced by the club.In the period between the 1950s and the 1960s, BUC, with Julio Zarraluqui as chairman, consolidated itself both in at institutional and sports level. The club ended two times runner-up of 2 ª División Nacional and achieved a championship title in the same category. The tours to Catalonia by foreign clubs were consolidated, as well as the participation of the club in tours was higher than the tours of any other team at the time, playing all over Europe, including the Eastern European countries. In this period the senior team was created.
In the late 1960s, a social location was inaugurated near the Port of Barcelona, whose function was to give the club a physical location. In 1971, a new stage in the club's life started, based on the grassroots work with the intention to create a roster which fed the senior teams in a near future, creating the youth team. In these years, after the death of Julio Zarraluqui, the chairman seat was passed to Kepa Uriarte.