This is the current emblem
of our club. "RCD" stands for Reial Club Deportiu (Royal Sporting
Club). The title "Royal" was awarded at the beginning of the
century by King Alfonso XIII. It includes the blue and white colors, which are the same colors of the emblem belonging to medieval Catalan warrior Roger de Llúria.
The above picture shows one of our first teams, from 1904, just 4 years after the foundation of our team.
During the first year of the XXth Century, a British ship arrived at Barcelona harbour. The foreign sailors wanted to play a football (soccer) game against any team from Barcelona. Finally, those young British sailors arranged a friendly game against the Català F.C.
Watching the game, a young student from Barcelona University, called Angel Rodríguez, became so impressed by this new sport, that he immediately started to think about a name for a team for himself and his friends (Mr. Aballí and Mr. Roca) at the University. So, between September and October of 1900, a new Football Club was founded, and named Sociedad Española de Football (Spanish Football Society), as all of the members were Spanish, unlike all the other teams in Barcelona (like F.C. Barcelona), which were founded by foreigners. This is why our team is called ESPAÑOL, or ESPANYOL, because it was the first team in the whole country founded and consisting only of Spanish people.
The mascot of RCD Espanyol is a PARAKEET: It may sound a little bit weird for an average American, always used to more "aggressive" animals, but the truth is that it is a very likable mascot. It was even awarded the Silver Clio Award a couple of years ago for the club's official advertising campaign! Its origin is unclear, but some people say it's because the former stadium,
Sarrià, was located in an area of plenty of vegetation, where many birds used lo live. But you might hear other stories...
Currently, RCD ESPANYOL has over 30,000 members and enjoys a privileged position in the Spanish national League. It has more than 175 fan clubs all over the world and is well-known and respected throughout Europe. Despite living most of its life at the shadow of the big, ugly guys of
F.C. Barcelona
for nearly a hundred years, our sporting, social and economic future seems more promising than ever before. Our team plays in the famous Estadi
Olímpic de Montjuic (Montjuic Olympic Stadium)... Do you remember
Barcelona '92? Well, yeah, this is OUR
STADIUM!
The team did well in the 1997-1998 season. The long regular season (September through May) usually starts with a three-week training session (called
"stage") outside Barcelona. The next 1998-1999 season looks very promising for us!