CE Europa


Club Esportiu Europa is a Spanish football team based in the city of Barcelona, with close links to the Vila de Gràcia, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1907, its first men's team plays in the, the third category of Spanish football and second team is active in the Tercera Federación, the fifth tier. Moreover, the first women's team is active in the Primera Federación, the second category of Spanish women football, and the second team in the fourth one. Besides, the first U-19 team participates in the División de Honor, the highest category in Spain. Europa's home games are played at the Nou Sardenya, with a capacity of 4,000 seats.
Europa lived its glory period in the 1920s. In 1918–19, the club achieved promotion to the highest division of Catalan football, the Campionat de Catalunya. In 1922–23, Europa was crowned champions of Catalonia after beating FC Barcelona in a tiebreaker in Girona. This triumph gave the club the right to participate in the Copa del Rey, where Europa ended as the runner-up after losing to Athletic Club in the final.
The club is best known for its football team who in 1929, along with city neighbours FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol, were among the 10 founder members of La Liga. Europa participated in La Liga in 1929, 1929–30, and 1930–31. The following glory era would be the 1960s, when Europa played five consecutive seasons in the Segunda División. On three occasions, Europa won the Copa Catalunya: in 1997 and 1998 by beating FC Barcelona in the final and in 2015 by doing the same with Girona FC.
Europa's good reputation, especially in the 1920s, made it attractive for many international teams to play against the club. For example, Europa has competed in friendlies with teams like FC Bayern Munich, Birmingham City FC, FC Porto, NAC Breda, Hamburger SV, Estudiantes de La Plata, Montpellier HSC, Udinese Calcio, Legia Warsaw, and AC Sparta Prague.
Currently, Europa's main rival is UE Sant Andreu, with whom it disputes the Pla de Barcelona derby. However, throughout the years, the fanbase of Europa has considered different clubs the main rival of a specific era, like FC Barcelona in the 1920s, UE Sants in the 1940s and 1950s, and FC Martinenc in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2021, Europa became the first club in Catalonia to declare itself formally against racism, fascism, sexism, and homophobia after a voting by the club members to change the statutes. Later, the club started initiatives and actions to realize its ideals.
The club also has one of the oldest basketball teams in Spain, and on 8 December 1922, Europa played Laietà BC in the first-ever organised basketball game played in Spain. During the 1920s, the basketball team of Europa won the Catalan championship on two occasions.
Other sports sections that the club has had are athletics, hockey, rugby, and baseball.

History

Origins

Club Esportiu Europa was founded on 5 June 1907, after the fusion between two modest clubs in the city, Provençal FC and Madrid de Barcelona FC. After the impossibility to register a new club in the Catalan Football Federation due to the high entrance fee, the founding members decided to pay off the debts of a small club named Europa FC, which was a cheaper option, and kept the name. The foundational act occurred in the already disappeared Bar Bodega La Roca, at the Carrer de Sicília, 290, in Barcelona.

1900s and 1910s: The first steps

In 1909, Europa made its first appearance in the second division of the Catalan Championship, drawing 4–4 against UE Sant Andreu. In 1913–14, 1914–15, and 1915–16, the club participated in the promotion playoffs, but without any success. In 1917–18, Europa dropped to the third division after a league restructuring. This situation did not last long, as the club achieved promotion in 1917–18 and 1918–19, reaching the first division of Catalan football.

1920s: The golden decade

During the 1920s, Europa would live its most glorious years, turning de facto into the second strongest club in Catalonia, under FC Barcelona and above RCD Espanyol. In both 1920–21 and 1921–22, the club finished as runner-up in the Catalan Championship before winning the title in 1922–23 under the English coach Ralph Kirby. After finishing level on points with FC Barcelona, they then beat them 1–0 in a tiebreaker in the Camp de Vista Alegre, Girona. At that time, Europa was also the second Catalan football club with the most members: 6,000, and disposed over more sections than just football.
Subsequently, Europa was the representative team of Catalonia in the 1923 Copa del Rey, competing with the champions from other parts of Spain. Until the creation of La Liga in 1928, the Copa del Rey was the most prestigious championship in Spain. Europa defeated Sevilla FC in the quarterfinals and Sporting de Gijón in the semi-finals. In the Copa del Rey final at the Les Corts stadium, the club lost 1–0 to Athletic Bilbao. According to the local press, Europa hit the post twice and was the dominant team.
Europa finished as runners-up in the Campionat de Catalunya again in 1923–24, 1926–27, 1927–28 and 1928–29.
In 1928, Europa was invited as one of the 10 teams participating in the first edition of La Liga as one of the finalists of the Copa del Rey. The club made its debut in Madrid against Real Madrid CF, losing 5–0. One week later, Europa received Arenas Club de Getxo in Barcelona and won 5–2, thanks to the competition's first pure hat-trick by Manuel Cros. During this season, the club beat Real Madrid and Athletic Club at home, finally finishing 8th.
Europa spent three seasons in the Primera División: 1929, 1929–30 and 1930–31. After the last season, they were relegated to the Segunda División.

1930s: A severe crisis

In 1931, Europa merged with Gràcia FC, formerly known as FC Espanya de Barcelona, to survive economically. This crisis was caused by the high costs of participation in La Liga and the rise of professionalism. The fusion club received the name of Catalunya FC. However, the merger was not a success. During the 1931/32 season, Catalunya FC, with three games to go, was unable to complete their fixture list due to an accumulation of debts. Moreover, the club finished last in the Catalan Championship. As a result, the 15 games they had played in the Segunda División were cancelled, and the team was put back to the Tercera División. In the summer of 1932, this team ceased to exist.
During the same 1931–32 season, some members of Europa who did not support the fusion maintained an amateur team under the same identity as the Europa from before. This way, the spirit of the club managed to survive after the disappearance of Catalunya FC. Slowly and carefully, the club was rebuilt in the lowest division of Catalan football. The directors acquired a stadium, were able to compose a team, and, most importantly, secured the continuance of the club.
In 1935–36, Europa almost achieved promotion to the first division of the Catalan Championship. After the outbreak of the Civil War, football in Catalonia continued, despite the difficulties. During this period, the club reached the first division of Catalan football. In 1939, its stadium suffered too much damage and could not be used anymore. After the war, the new authorities cancelled all the results of the competitions played during the war, meaning that Europa returned to the second division.
In 1939–40, the club ended 2nd in the second tier but had no option to compete for promotion to the first tier, as the regional championships were dissolved to create regional divisions within the Spanish football pyramid.
Until 1940, the regional and national championships functioned independently. Between 1939 and 1940, Europa played its home games in the stadiums of other local teams, like FC Martinenc, UE Sant Andreu, and UE Sants.

1940s: Playing in the regional leagues

After the disappearance of the Catalan Championship, Europa was placed in the Primera A for the 1940–41 season, a competition directly inferior to the Tercera División. The team's results were not good enough and led to relegation. However, there were also positive developments, such as the opening of the Sardenya stadium in 1940. After two seasons in the Primera B, Europa returned to the Primera A, maintaining their place in this competition between 1943 and 1951.

1950s: Debut in the Tercera División

In 1950–51, Europa played a marvellous season and achieved promotion to the Tercera División, the third tier of Spanish football at the time. Between 1951 and 1961, the club stayed up without too much trouble, even attempting to achieve promotion to the Segunda División on some occasions.

1960s: Promotion to the Segunda División

After ten seasons in the middle of the table, Europa was crowned champions in 1961–62. However, the club missed out on promotion after losing the playoffs final to UP Langreo. In 1962–63, luck was on Europa's side, and the team went up to the second division after beating UD Mahón and Caudal Deportivo.
Europa participated for five consecutive seasons in the Segunda División, between 1963 and 1968. During these years, considered the second golden era of the club, Europa's best season was 1963–64 when they finished third, very close to promotion to the Primera División.
Another remarkable feat was beating Real Zaragoza with los Cinco Magníficos in the 1966–67 Copa del Rey, even though the Aragonese team was the defending champion. During the same season, Europa ended on a notable 6th place in the Segunda División.
A league restructuring in 1967–68, reducing the number of groups in the Segunda División from two to one, put Europa back in the Tercera División.

1970s and 1980s: Difficult times

After the relegation, Europa played some good seasons in the Tercera División and was close to returning to the second tier. Nevertheless, from 1971–72 onwards, the results worsened significantly, and in 1973–74, the club was even relegated to the Regional Preferent. These were tough times for the club, only returning to the Tercera División in 1977. After the promotion, Europa finished many seasons in the lower part of the classification and could not avoid a second relegation to the highest regional league in 1986. Again, it would take three years to go up to the Tercera División.
During the 1985–86 season, Europa changed its official name from the Spanish Club Deportivo Europa to the Catalan ''Club Esportiu Europa.''