ALCÁZAR
Antonio Alcázar Alonso was born on the 10th of May 1902 in Torreagüera (Region of Murcia) and is considered the first great Murcian footballer, even though he and his family moved to Barcelona when he was one year old. Formed in Europa’s lower categories, he was one of the most outstanding players during the successful 1920s. Playing as a left-winger, Alcázar almost completed his whole career in Europa’s shirt and was called twice for Spain’s national team. At the age of 20, he scored the winning goal against FC Barcelona during the decisive tiebreaker for the Catalan title, played in Girona in 1923. Moreover, he is one of the players with the most goals for Europa ever (61) and never missed a game between January 1919 and September 1928, a statewide record that still has not been broken. In short, Antonio Alcázar is one of the heroes of the glory era of the club.
BASKETBALL
On the 8th of December 1922, the first official basketball game in history in Spain was played. The match was between CE Europa and Laietà Sport Club, with the graciencs winning 8 - 2. The players representing Europa's basketball team were: Pérez, Julià, Barquens, Xavier, Palom, Brunet and García. Not much longer, the Catalan Basketball Championship was organized, which proclaimed Europa Champions of Spain in 1924 and 1926.
CROS
Manuel Cros Grau is considered the greatest player in the club’s long history. A legend in Gràcia, he was considered one of the best players in the league during the 1920s, alongside Pep Samitier (FC Barcelona) or Ricardo Zamora (RCD Espanyol). The tall and hefty striker signed for Europa in 1922 and stayed at the club for nine years. During his stay, he was the key player during the Catalan Championship of 1922-23 and ended as runner-up in the King’s Cup, also known as the ‘Copa del Rey’. Finally, he is the club’s all-time top scorer with 114 goals and was the first footballer to score a ‘true’ hat trick in the Primera División. Cros’ face still appears on flags waiven in our stadium’s stands, while his name is remembered thanks to the renaming of one of the streets that mark the limits of the Nou Sardenya in 2023.
DEPORTIU
The word ‘deportiu’ is a Catalanized version of the Spanish word ‘deportivo’ (English: ‘sportive’), whereas the correct translation would be ‘esportiu’. Still, the founding members of Europa named the club ‘Club Deportiu Europa’ in 1907 and did not use the word that one might expect. They committed this apparent grammatical error because, in the first years of the 20th century, Catalan linguïstic rules were clearly defined yet. Pompeu Fabra, the best-known Catalan grammarian, was still taking some time to propose Catalan language developments and limitations. Decades later, when the Spanish Civil War ended and when the dictator Franco took power, the fascist regime forced Europa to change its name to Spanish, the new name being ‘Club Deportivo Europa’. It might have been a change of just two letters, but that does not mean that the forced change did not affect the club. When democracy was restored in the 1970s, Europa restored its first name, and since 1985, the official name is the one that everybody already knows: ‘Club Esportiu Europa’.
ESCAPULARI
Originally, Europa’s shirt consisted of blue and white stripes, while its shorts were blue. This uniform was used from its foundation in 1907 to the 1917-18 season. Next, the players would dress in a white shirt with a blue collar for some years. Finally, in 1926, the board decided that the shirt was going to be white but with a blue chevron. This kit design is still used in the present, and it has only been changed once during the centenary season. Without a doubt, the ‘escapulari’ is one of our most ingrained and distinctive signs of the identity of Europa.
FUTBOL BASE
With the growing globalization of football, where stronger clubs are getting stronger and smaller clubs have it more difficult, the ‘futbol base’ (‘youth academy’) is the primary tool in this unequal struggle. Europa has a potent academy, which we could divide into two major areas: the football school with 850 children enrolled between the infant and pre-youngest categories, and the proper CE Europa Academy with 29 boys’ teams and nine girls’ teams.
GRÀCIA
Ten years before the club’s foundation, the Vila de Gràcia -an independent town with a distinct identity- was annexed by Barcelona along with other towns surrounding the capital. Although it has been more than a century since this aggregation, many cultural and sports institutions underline the culture, history, and values of this current neighbourhood. CE Europa is considered a vital part of Gràcia identity, and since its foundation, it has always been connected to ‘La Vila’. Europa cannot be understood without Gràcia and vice-versa.
HOSPITALET
On the 17th of June 1997, the main stadium in l’Hospitalet hosted the Copa Catalunya final: CE Europa - FC Barcelona. The match ended 3-1, an overwhelming victory against a strong FC Barcelona with international players on their starting 11. Many europeistes (supporters of Europa) were ecstatically celebrating their first Catalan Cup. The city of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat still reminds our fanbase of this beautiful day.
IDOLS
Apart from big idols that have played in Europa’s long history and that most escapulats know, such as charismatic striker Cros, there are also some other footballers in our club who our supporters have regarded as idols. Think of players such as Bonaventura Pelaó (first years), Cándido Mauricio and Joan Deprius (in the complicated 1930s), Carles Serracant (1940s), Pepe Mauri (1950s), Josep Duró and Llibert Tomàs (1960s), Carles Capella and Ventura Gómez (1980s and 1990s) or Àlex Delmàs and Xavi Lucas (2000s). The two players from the 2020s carrying this escapulat spirit are, without any doubt, Àlex Cano and Alberto González.
JOSEP ROVIRA
Josep Maria Rovira Torres, known by all as Pep Rovira, has been an example of sports professionalism and responsibility during his long football career, always staying loyal to the ‘amateur’ spirit of our sport. Rovira was Europa’s goalie for 10 seasons (1970-1980). He played 375 games in the Sardenya: 307 league matches, 11 Cup matches, and 57 friendly and tournament games. During 1993-1994, he was the trainer that brought Europa promotion to Segunda División B. Pep Rovira is, summarizing, an ‘europeista’ from head to toes.
KIRBY
Just before the start of the 1922-23 season, CE Europa’s president, Joan Matas, had already defined most of the team structure, which would later end up as the best one in Catalonia. However, an essential piece was still missing at the club: the manager’s figure, someone who could bring all the players together. That’s why English manager Ralph Kirby was appointed as the trainer of our team. He introduced modern and revolutionary game styles and tactics, something the team was lacking. A man of little words and without the slightest knowledge of Spanish or Catalan, Mr. Kirby guided the team to win a Catalan Championship and to become a runner-up at the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao. Perhaps Kirby was the last element that Europa needed to flourish.
LEAGUE
In the 1928-29 season, the first Spanish league was created, a competition that would also be known as the Primera División or, simply, ‘La Liga’. Europa had the honor of being one of the ten founding clubs of this new Primera División. The escapulats participated in this major league for three years in a row and also played five seasons in the Segunda División (1963-1968). Moreover, CE Europa has been one season in Segunda División B (1994-95), two seasons in the Segunda Federación (2021-22 and 2023-24), and dozens of years in the Tercera División. Looking at these statistics, Europa is the sixth-most important team in Catalonia, behind FC Barcelona, RCD Espanyol, CE Sabadell FC, Girona FC, and Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Also, Europa is one of the few football clubs in Catalonia that has played in all the national categories.
MATAS
When we talk about Joan Matas Ramis, we are talking about a legendary name in Europa’s history. Logically, that brings us back to the first decades of the club’s existence. Matas started off as a player, ended up being Europa’s president, and was responsible for building the structure of a team that would bring CE Europa to the best years in its history. Without his dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm, the club would not have arrived at the heights where it did during the 1920s. Matas constructed several stadiums, signed great players, and was the face of the entity for more than a decade. Unfortunately, a financial crisis and sociopolitical conflicts in Catalonia in 1931 left him broke and the club in the lowest tier possible. It was the end of an era, the end of the career of the most successful president in Europa’s history.
NOU SARDENYA
Before moving to the current Nou Sardenya stadium, Europa has called many different fields ‘home’. It started with a very modest field in the Camp de l’Arpa del Clot neighborhood, far away from Gràcia. Later, Europa moved to two stadiums in front of the Sagrada Família, where the famous architect Antoni Gaudí could not avoid seeing our club’s training sessions and matches. The fourth stadium would be located somewhere else in El Poblet -the neighborhood around the Sagrada Família-. In the 1920s, Europa played in fields between El Poblet and the Vila de Gràcia, while the club moved to the remote area of Vilapicina after the 1931 crisis because it was the cheapest option in the city. In 1935, Europa opened a stadium next to where the Nou Sardenya is now located. Some years later, the directors and supporters started cutting down the forest that used to occupy our current field and opened the old Sardenya in 1940. After a remodelation in the 1990s, the Nou Sardenya was festively inaugurated in 1995, which has become the home of many generations of europeistes. This brief stadium history illustrates how Europa’s origins lie in El Poblet and surrounding zones.
OLIVÉ
On the 5th of June 1907, a group of football-passionate youngsters reunited at the bar bodega La Roca -which could be found on Carrer de Sicília, 290- to create a new football club. Many people put much hope and effort into this project. Unfortunately, the costs of registering a new club seemed too high. However, they heard about a football team called Europa FC, which was about to disappear because it could not bear up with the payments to the FCF. The enthusiasts quickly made an approximate calculation and concluded that paying those debts would be cheaper than starting a team from zero. That same day, CE Europa was born: a new club that only kept the name and registration number. From that first team, we have the names of some players: Virgili, Moyano, Ansió, Alfaro, Santacreu, Alonso, Miñana, Amadeo, Vicenç Martínez, Bonaventura Pelaó, Soler, A. Oriols, B. Oriols, and Jacint Olivé. The latter player designed the club’s crest in 1915, a symbol that still shines on our shirts.
PENYES
The meaning of the Catalan term ‘penya’ -plural: ‘penyes’- would be ‘fan clubs’. CE Europa counts nowadays with 11 official penyes in the club: the old Agrupació Europeista, Grup Europeista Pep Rovira (named after the mythic man), Caliu Gracienc, Torcida Escapulada, Penya Cava, PyonYang Escapulat, The Elements, Penya Xupitos, The Old Bastards, Comelinier, and, of course, the Eskapulats.
QUATRE CANTONADES
If anyone stands in the central circle of the Nou Sardenya and looks at the four corners of the stadium, they will observe that in one of them (the corner of C/Sardenya - C/Camèlies), the stands do not make an exact angle of 90 degrees. This minor ‘mutilation’ is a consequence of the Ronda del Mig, designed by the renowned Barcelona mayor José Maria Porcioles in 1972. These were dictatorial times; complaints and protests were strictly forbidden, and the citizens had to obey orders. The club was unhappy about the construction of this roundabout as it ‘ate’ a big part of the old Sardenya. That is one of the reasons why the stadium was rebuilt between 1992 and 1995. Now, we dispose of a beautiful home ground, one with unequal ‘quatre cantonades’ (‘four corners’).
RAMALLETS
Antoni Ramallets was born on the 4th of June 1924 in Gràcia, very close to Europa’s stadium, and started playing for youth teams around the neighborhood. It was not until 1942 when, thanks to Josep Vieta, he signed for CE Europa. His début with the ‘escapulada’ shirt was on the 8th of November 1942, in a friendly match against Sants. Since that moment and during the rest of that season, he only played unofficial games. It was not until the next season, 1943-44, when he would become a regular starter. At only 19 years old, Ramallets showed excellent positioning, agility, and vision. Ramallets only defended our crest for two years, as his undeniable talent got him a contract at Barcelona, where he stayed for 15 years and became a legendary goalkeeper. Antoni Ramallets is considered one of the best Spanish goalkeepers of all time.
SECOND DIVISION
In 1963, after many years of trying, Europa achieved promotion to Segunda División after defeating Mahó and Caudal de Mieres in the promotion playoffs. The graciencs stayed for five seasons in the silver division, sometimes in the northern group and sometimes in the southern group. During the first season, Europa finished third, very close to returning to the Primera División. The rest of the seasons were often characterized by fighting relegation, including the last one (1967-68), in which a competition restructuring set Europa back to the Tercera División. Nevertheless, at the Sardenya stadium, we received well-known sides like Real Sociedad, Real Betis, Deportivo de la Coruña, Málaga, Celta de Vigo, Racing de Santander, Sporting de Gijón, and Osasuna.
TRAVIESO
On the 23rd of May 1923, Manuel López Llamosas, known as ‘Travieso’, scored the winner for Athletic in the Spanish Cup final against Europa. The escapulats had beaten Real Sporting de Gijón and Sevilla to reach the final of the most prestigious Spanish tournament. According to newspaper articles from the time, Europa dominated the whole match. Still, the Basques’ experience -Athletic was more often present than absent in cup finals- was the key for them to win the game. It should be noted that Travieso was also the most aggressive player of the opponents and injured our goalkeeper, Joan Bordoy.
UP LANGREO
In 1961-62, Europa was champion of the Catalan group of the Tercera División. During those times, in order to get promoted to the Segunda, the teams had to prevail in a playoff match against another Third Division champion. On this occasion, it was against Unión Popular de Langreo, who topped the Asturian group after scoring more than 100 goals. In the first leg, the Catalans won just 2-1 and left the apparently stronger Langreo as the favorites for promotion. Nevertheless, in the away game, Europa only lost by a tight 1-0. Therefore, they had to play a tiebreaker in a neutral stadium. The RFEF surprisingly decided that this game was going to take place in Burgos, not that far from Langreo (293km) compared to Barcelona (607km). Many circumstances led the Catalans to believe that the match in Burgos could be a trap. Apart from a very controversial conduct from the referee (Gómez Platas), Europa suffered many obstacles, such as the pitch, which was abundantly watered to make Langreo’s game. It is believed that behind all of this, there were political interests. The miners in Asturias organized chaotic revolts, and Franco’s dictatorship believed that promoting UP Langreo would defuse tensions.
VIETA
Josep Vieta was a true europeista in the broadest sense of the word. His participation in the crucial intervention in 1931, for example, saved the club from extinction. Vieta was entirely against the merger with Gràcia FC; he would not allow the disappearance of all the glorious history that CE Europa had achieved up until then. With the help of some players, such as Cándido Mauricio and Joan Deprius, they managed to return to Catalan’s major football category. Those were very tough years, as the club had to start from scratch. Although they ended up getting back on track, the Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship’s decision to abolish all the competitions that were played during the warlike conflict broke all the progression that the ‘escapulats’ did. Concretely, the escapulats had achieved promotion in 1937, which was canceled by the regime after the Civil War. Nevertheless, because of the unconditional love that Vieta felt for Europa, he stayed at the club. Not only did he occupy the club’s presidency for some years or sign Antoni Ramallets, but Vieta did everything, from painting the stadium seats and mowing the grass to changing the scoreboard and checking up on the lives of the players.
WEBPAGE
Our official webpage was born during a members’ assembly in 2001 when someone pointed out the lack of such a medium. Years before, a website existed thanks to a free webpage service with general information about the club, created by members of the penya Caliu Gracienc. The first official club website saw the light on the 11th of November 2001, with a Tercera match played in the Nou Sardenya: CE Europa – Palamós CF. Since then, the webpage has grown way beyond the initial expectations, becoming a referential webpage of Catalan football with daily updates while expanding its multimedia contents, such as Europa TV and Europa Ràdio (not active anymore due to social media). In over a century of the club’s existence, this website has been one of the most prestigious media. Comparing it to sportive successes, milestones, and acknowledgments, this website is truly like playing in the Primera División. However, it’s not the only famous club medium, as there is also L’Escapvlat, Europa’s official monthly newspaper, freely available both virtually and in paper form.
XERRAC
‘Xerrac’ is Catalan for ‘handsaw’ and relates to a story from 1939. The Civil War had left Europa’s stadium destroyed, and the directors had to look for a new one. As a practical solution, the piece of land next to the previous stadium was chosen. Unfortunately, this recently acquired plot had many slopes, pines, and other trees, as well as a farm. There was a lot of work necessary to convert these woods into a football field. After handsawing many trees and balancing the whole land, on the 1st of December 1940, the Sardenya stadium -named after the street where the main entrance used to be- was inaugurated in a match against Granollers. Europa’s Carles Serracant scored the first-ever goal on this field. Europa played in FC Martinenc’s stadium between 1939 and 1940. Curiously enough, this was the same place where our club played in its initial matches (1907-1909). Moreover, Europa hoped only to play away games during the first half of the 1940-41 season and receive all opponents in the new Sardenya stadium in the second half, and the RFEF agreed. How different football is nowadays.
YOKOHAMA MARINOS
On the 20th of November 1997, Europa played a friendly match against the Japanese team Yokohama Marinos. This match was played in the CAR (High-Performance Center) in Sant Cugat del Vallès and was a trivial match from a footballing point of view. Nevertheless, approaching it from a different perspective, Europa played its first match against an Asian team. Therefore, through their long history, they have played games against four out of five continents in the world. In the European continent, the escapulats have competed with Sparta Prague, Bayern Munich, HSV, Stuttgart, Birmingham City, NAC Breda, Red Star Paris, Udinese, Hertha Berlin, and Porto, for example. Against American teams: Nacional de Montevideo, Gimnasia y Esgrima de la Plata, and the Mexican national team under-21. Europa played once against an African opponent, Said Olympique, and against three Asian teams, Yokohama Marinos, Nejmeh, and Qingdao Huanghai. The most famous name has to be Bayern Munich, which played Europa in 1927. Europa’s pennant is still visible in the German club’s museum.
ZARAGOZA
During the 1966-67 season, Real Zaragoza had a famous team with an attacking line known as ‘Los Cinco Magníficos’ (‘The Magnificient Five’), formed by Canario, Santos, Marcelino, Villa, and Lapetra. In the second round of the Copa, Europa had the luck of being paired with the Aragonese team, who won the tournament last year and usually competed for the title of the Primera División. The first leg, broadcasted by TVE, ended in a 0-1 victory for Real Zaragoza, so everybody thought Europa’s adventure in the Copa was about to finish. However, in the away match at La Romareda, a fantastic game ended in an unexpected triumph by the escapulats, also 0-1. A tiebreaker had to decide who advanced to the next round and would be played in the next 48 hours in a neutral stadium: in this case, Mestalla (València). And, on the 9th of May 1967, a miracle happened. Europa defeated Zaragoza in a historic match where they won 0-2, eliminating the defending champion. This significant achievement was much celebrated in Gràcia and gave Europa unprecedented media attention all across Spain. Still, when asking an europeista what some of the most prestigious achievements of the club are, they will probably come up with this anecdote.
