The Casual Sport Club, commonly referred to as Casual SC, was a
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
based in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, which existed from December 1911 until its dissolution in June 1913.
It was founded in late 1911 by a group of dissident players from
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
and Percy). It did not last long, however, as the Comamalas began dedicated themselves to
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, Quirante to
cycling
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
, while the Wallace and Bru joined
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
.
History
Origins
In 1911, FC Barcelona suffered a major crisis due to
professionalism
Professionalism is a set of standards that an individual is expected to adhere to in a workplace, usually in order to appear serious, uniform, or respectful. What constitutes professionalism is hotly debated and varies from workplace to workplac ...
. At a time when footballers were amateurs, some of the club's players, led by José Quirante, wanted to share the profits from the tickets, but the then Barcelona president
Joan Gamper
Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich.
...
, a fervent defender of amateurism, who had always strongly opposed professionalism in Barça, refused. This caused a split within the club, and although Gamper's side was able to weather the storm with Quirante's opposition sector, they could not prevent indiscipline from being fostered among the elements of this group, whose members, seduced by false flatterers, openly stood against the board. Faced with the club's refusal, some of these players attempt to arrange, behind the club's knowledge, a
friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
in
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
for a value of 1500 pesetas, but Gamper opposed it, and in an assembly held on 16 October 1911, it was decreed for these rebel players to be expelled from the club. This group included the likes of Quirante, Paco Bru, the Comamala brothers (Carles and Arsenio), the Wallace brothers (Charles and Percy),
Félix de Pomés
Félix de Pomés (5 February 1892 – 17 July 1969) was a Spanish Association football, footballer, Fencing (sport), fencer and film actor. In football, he represented Catalonia national football team, CataloniaRomà Solà, and Miquel Mensa, among others.
A few weeks later, founded "Casual", the Dissidents, as they were known, created a new club in December 1911 called Casual FC, whose name already revealed the improvised way in which it was founded. The club wore white with a four-leaf clover on the chest. Instead of having a traditional board of directors with presidents and secretaries, the club only admitted the players themselves as members. In February 1912 the club was admitted by the
Catalan Football Federation
The Catalan Football Federation (, ; FCF) is the Association football, football association responsible for administering football in Catalonia. It was formed on 11 November 1900 as the Football Associació de Catalunya (). It was the first footb ...
. In May, Casual reached an agreement with Salut SC to establish itself in the organization's facilities (headquarters), becoming a section of it and adopting the name Team Casual of the Salud Sport Club, or simply Casual SC.
Tournaments
In October 1912, the club was admitted into the first category of the Catalan championship, finishing the 1912–13 edition in fifth position.
In March 1913, Casual SC participated in its most important tournament, the fourth edition of the
Pyrenees Cup
The Pyrenees Cup (), officially Challenge International du Sud de la France, was an international football competition contested by Spanish and French clubs based in the territories of Pyrénées (Catalonia, the Basque Country, Languedoc, Midi-Py ...
, an international competition contested by
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
and
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
clubs based in the territories of
Pyrénées
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto.
F ...
, with Casual being one of the four representatives from Catalonia alongside FC Barcelona, RCD Espanyol, and FC Espanya, with the latter withdrawing before the tournament while Casual faced Barça in the quarterfinals, which ended in a humiliating 0–7 loss, with goals from Alexander Steel (3), Frank Allack (2), and
Apolinario Rodríguez
Alejandro Rodríguez Apolinario (1 October 1892 - 28 October 1972) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona. The highlight of his career was winning the treble with Barcelona in the 1912–13 season ( Catalan championshi ...
(2).
Decline and collapse
Despite some encouraging first steps in the white club, it was possibly the fact of losing the 1903 Cup final that caused a convulsive situation within the entity that led to its end. Three months later, in June 1903, the union with Salut SC was dissolved and the club disappeared. As for its components, Quirante dedicated himself to cycling, in which he was an exceptional figure; the Comamala brothers switched to tennis, which they had begun practicing at Salut; and the Wallace brothers, Paco Bru and Pomés joined RCD Espanyol.
With the disappearance of Irish FC, most of its players joined FC Barcelona at the beginning of the 1903–04 season, such as Comamala, Forns, and Marial, with the latter going on to become the 6th President of FC Barcelona, while the former two became key players in Barça's first golden team of the early 1910s.