![]() These two colonies were fundamental in the history of Catalan football as they would go on to create Team Anglès and Escocès FC respectively, two teams who played a pivotal role in the amateur beginnings of football in Catalonia, most notably in FC Barcelona's beginnings. Steegmann rented the central warehouses of a factory in Sant Martí, and then sent a group of around 40 young Scottish workers to work in the company's newly opened factory, known in Catalonia as La Escocesa. The Scottish colony's history began in 1893, when John Shields and Edward B. Notable figures in the first years of this football Society include the Morris brothers ( Samuel, Enrique and Miguel), captain Reeves and the Catalan Alberto Serra.ĭuring the winter of 1893–94, the so-called English colony from Barcelona faced the Scottish colony from Sant Martí in a series of matches that local historians claim to have been the first ever 'unofficial' rivalry in Spanish football. Very little is known about that Christmas Day, only that it was the work of members of the Royal Regatta Club and members of the British Club located on Rambla dels Capuchins. This club became simply known as British Club or British Club de Barcelona.Īfter months of recruiting, they organized and played the first known football match in the city (actually in the neighboring municipality of Sants), which was held on the grounds near the Hippodrome of Can Tunis on 25 December 1892. However, they were a strictly British club, so Reeves, an enthusiastic and passionate lover of the game, decided to create a football club that would include British and Catalans alike, and indeed, he convinced a number of Catalan (and French) members of Club Regatas de Barcelona (a club of rowing and sailing) to practice football. The Barcelona Cricket Club of Ronda de Sant Pere, founded by Britons a year earlier (debuted on 28 August 1891), was the only sign of football in Catalonia, as they played cricket in the summer and then football in the winter (which was common at the time). He arrived in Barcelona at some point in 1892, a time when football was a sport practically unknown in the city. Football first entered Catalonia thanks to the British colony that worked and lived there (and later through the Catalans returning from studying abroad), among whom a certain James Reeves stood out. In the late 19th century, Catalonia enjoyed the most developed industry in the country, mainly thanks to its cotton industry, and for this reason, Barcelona became one of the best places for foreigners to disembark in and do business, and being the British one of the most enterprising nation at the time, Barcelona soon became the home to a British colony, who like in the rest of the world, brought football with them. Today football in Catalonia is organized by the Catalan Football Federation and the RFEF and teams from Catalonia compete in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Copa Catalunya and several European competitions. Catalonia led the way in the development of football in Spain, organizing both the first association and the first championship. Football is the most important sport in Catalonia and was introduced in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers and visiting sailors, and students returning from Britain.
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