The Catalan football championship ''(Campionat de Catalunya)'' was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in Catalonia and the first football league in Spain before

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

was established in 1929. In December 1900, Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, offered a trophy (the Copa Macaya) to be contested by several football teams from Spain. The league was played between 1901 and 1940 and was cancelled in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

History

Early history

In 1901, Hispania AC became the first Catalan champions after winning the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

Copa Macaya The Hispania Athletic Club Tournament–Alfonso Macaya Cup, popularly known as the Copa Macaya, was a Association football, football competition contested by clubs from Catalonia which ran from 1900 until 1903, disappearing at the same time of its ...

'', the first football championship played on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. The following season, 1901–02, saw

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 ...

win the title, the club's very first piece of silverware. During the 1902–03 season, two rival competitions were organized with

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 ...

winning the ''Copa Macaya'' after beating Hispania 3–1 in a title-deciding play-off (as they had finished level on points), while FC Barcelona won the ''Copa Barcelona''. After 1903 the championship was organized by the Football Associació de Catalunya and it became known as the ''Campionat de Catalunya'', and they recognized the Macaya Cup as the first edition of the Campionat de Catalunya. The stand-out players of this Copa Macaya period were

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. ...

, who was proclaimed the top scorer of the first two tournaments with 31 and 19 goals respectively, and

Gustavo Green Gustavo Gren Córdoba (10 May 1880 – 9 November 1965), better known as Gustavo Green, was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. After spending his ...

, who is considered to have been the first great star of Catalan football, winning all the three editions of the Copa Macaya with three different clubs (Hispania, Barça and Español). The winners of the Campionat de Catalunya also began to represent

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. By 1917 the league had turned professional and included a second division.

First dynasty

The first edition of the ''Campionat de Catalunya'' in 1903–04 was won by Club Espanyol (now

), which at the time had Gustavo Green, and also with

Ángel Ponz Ángel Ponz Junyent (1883 – 20 August 1936) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Club Español (now known as RCD Espanyol). Although little has been recorded of his life, he was one of the most important footballers in the ama ...

and

José Maria Soler José Maria Soler may refer to: * José Maria Soler (mountaineer) (1893–1971), Spanish agronomist and mountaineer * José María Soler García (1905–1996), Spanish archaeologist, historian, researcher, and folklorist *José María Soler (1929� ...

. The first dynasty of the Catalan championship came shortly after, when

X Sporting Club The X Sporting Club, officially founded as Football Club X, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed during the years 1902 and 1908. They won the Catalan championship three times in a row between 1905 and 1908. X Sporting Club ...

won it three times in a row between 1906 and 1908. This historic X side had great national figures of that time such as Pedro Gibert,

Emilio Sampere Emilio Sampere Oliveras (8 January 1885 – 4 December 1966) was a Spanish Association football, footballer, Referee (association football), referee and Manager (association football), manager. He was one of the most important figures in the amat ...

, the Massana brothers (

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

and

Alfredo Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. Given name Artists a ...

José Irízar José Marcelino Yrízar Urbizu (5 October 1882 - 23 March 1935), better known as José Irízar was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for Athletic Club and FC Barcelona. Although he always appeared as Irizar in the sports press, on h ...

and

José Berdié José Berdié Places (1887 – 31 January 1931), sometimes written as Verdié, was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Espanyol and FC Barcelona. With the latter side, he won one Catalan championship (1913), and two titles in b ...

, with the latter four going on to play for Barcelona. On the other hand,

FC Internacional The Futbol Club Internacional, commonly referred to a was as FC Internacional, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain. Founded in 1901, FC Internacional had an "impasse" in its activities after the 1905–06 academic year, resuming them in ...

achieved three successive runner-up finishes between 1904 and 1906, and interestingly, they lost the title to a different opponent each time: Club Español,

and

respectively. This FCI team had the likes of Paco Bru, Charles Wallace and

Enrique Peris Enrique Peris de Vargas (27 February 1887 - 17 February 1953) was a Spanish footballer who played as a left winger. He spent most of his career at Barcelona, with whom he played over 300 matches, and won three Copa del Reys and five Catalan Champ ...

, all of which went on to join Barcelona. Naturally, all of these great players joining Barcelona meant a big leap in quality for the club, and as a result, at the turn of the first decade, Barcelona was enjoying its first great team. As well as the aforementioned players, Barça also had the likes of Amechazurra,

Romà Forns Romà Forns Saldaña (died 26 April 1942) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He made his debut as a footballer in late 1902 playing one season for Irish FC but spent the rest of his career with FC Barcelona and the Catalan XI, always as a ...

Pepe Rodríguez José Rodríguez Vázquez (20 August 1889 - 1972), also known as Pepe Rodríguez, was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona. In his first season at Barcelona (1909–10), Pepe won all the titles at stake: The Catalan cham ...

and

Carles Comamala Carles Comamala López-Del Pan (17 April 1889 – 4 August 1983) was an orthopedic surgeon by profession and a football player for Barcelona between 1903 and 1911. He was a director of Barcelona in 1909–1911. Early life and career Born in M ...

, and this team managed to repeat X's feat of winning three championships in a row, doing it so between 1909 and 1911. Their streak came to an end when

won their second championship in 1911–12, largely thanks to the goalscoring feats of their foreign players such as

Frank Allack Frank Albert Allack (25 September 1888 – 1967) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Spanish clubs RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona. The highlight of his career was winning the treble with Barcelona in the 1912–13 season ( Catalan ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Victor Gibson Arthur Henry Gibson, also known as Victor Raine Gibson (18 July 1888 – 8 April 1958) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for RCD Espanyol, and later a coach active in Spain and France. Early and personal life Art ...

and the Wallace brothers, Charles and Percy.

Barcelona dominance

In the 1910s, FC Espanya, propelled by their infamous back line of

Hermenegild Casellas Hermenegild Casellas Bosch (1890 – 1969) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder and later as defender. Together with Alfredo Massana, he was considered the best Catalan midfielder at the time. Although history seems to have blurr ...

and

Eduardo Reguera Eduardo Reguera Andreu (13 October 1891 – 20 December 1977) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for FC Espanya and FC Barcelona. Reguera was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of FC Espanya, being a ...

, began to disrupt the monopoly of Barcelona and RCD Espanyol, winning the championship three times in 1912–13, 1913–14 and 1916–17. However,

managed to form an even better defense whose solo architect was

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 21 January 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a man ...

, thus claiming the title in 1914–15 and 1917–18, winning the former after beating Barça 4–0 in the title-deciding play-off, with braces from Juan López and

José Maria Tormo José María Tormo Tarrés (22 July 1894 – 4 January 1970) was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for RCD Espanyol, Espanyol. Besides football, he also played tennis. Biography Bo ...

. The Catalan Championship then witnessed their third dynasty, which was with no doubt the greatest. At the turn of the second decade, Barça was enjoying its second golden age, which was the legendary team coached by

Jack Greenwell John Richard Greenwell (2 January 1884 – 20 November 1942) was an English football manager and former player. He is Barcelona's longest serving manager, having coached the club for ten consecutive seasons (initially as player-coach, then as ma ...

, that also included

Paulino Alcántara Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (7 October 1896 – 13 February 1964) was a Filipino and Spanish professional footballer and manager who played as a forward. He spent most of his playing career at FC Barcelona, and also represented Catalonia, the ...

, Sagibarba,

Félix Sesúmaga Félix Sesúmaga Ugarte (12 October 1898 – 24 August 1925) was a Spanish (Basque people, Basque) footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for Arenas Club de Getxo, FC Barcelona, Racing de Sama, Racing de Sama de Langr ...

, Ricardo Zamora and

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI, and Spain. He later ...

, and this side won 9 out of 10 titles between 1919 and 1928. The only team that managed to break their supremacy was

CE Europa Club Esportiu Europa () is a Catalan 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 fourth category ...

in the 1922–23 season, largely thanks to

Estebán Pelaó Estebán Pelaó Gratacós (10 January 1898 – 28 July 1980) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder who played for CE Europa, Espanyol, and the Catalonia national team. Early life Estebán Pelaó was born in Barcelona on 10 January ...

, Manuel Cros and Antonio Alcázar, with the latter netting the only goal of the title-deciding play-off (they had finished tied on points) that gave CE Europa the trophy.

Decline and Collapse

In 1928 three Catalan clubs: FC Barcelona,

and

, became founding members of La Liga and the ''Campionat de Catalunya'' gradually began to decline in importance during the

. In the 1930s, the championship was won by either Barcelona or Espanyol, except in 1933-34 when

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

, surprised everyone by winning it against all odds. The last competition was held on 1939-40, and the ''Campionat de Catalunya'' ended in the same way it began, with an RCD Espanyol triumph.

Historical classification

The historical classification of Catalonia Football Championship is a classification that compiles all the matches, results, points and goals of all the teams that participated in the Championship of Catalonia football since its inception in 1900 until its disappearance in 1940. The classification includes the results of the Copa Macaya, the Barcelona Cup and the championship of the Football Association of Catalonia, also considered official. The 1902–03 and 1912–13 seasons were contested with two clubs claiming championships. This classification has been done with the data collected through the archives of Los Deportes,

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

. Classification may contain errors due to the inaccuracy of the data published in those years,

Champions

Source

Titles by teams

References

External links

List of Champions of Catalonia and Spain at www.rsssf.com

{{Authority control Catalan football competitions Defunct football leagues in Spain Sports leagues established in 1901 1901 establishments in Spain 1940 disestablishments in Spain History of football in Spain