RCD Espanyol

Facebook /// Instagram /// Map /// Shop /// Tickets /// Twitter /// Website /// YouTube

NICKNAME – Periquitos (The Budgerigars), Mágico (The Magical), Blanquiazules (The White and Blues)
FOUNDED – 1900
LOCATED IN – Barcelona, Catalonia
STADIUM – RCDE Stadium
ON FOOT – 15 minutes from Cornella Centre Metro Station (Line 5)
CAPACITY – 40,500
RELEGATED – 2023
BEST LA LIGA FINISH – 3rd (4 times)
BEST COPA DEL REY RUN – Winners (4 times)
BEST UC/EL FINISH – Runners Up (Twice)
RECORD GOALSCORER – Rául Tamudo (140)
2022/2023 FINISH – 19th

FIVE FACTS ABOUT RCD ESPANYOL
1. The team colours come from the crest of Roger of Lauria, a renowned naval tactician of Aragon in the Middle Ages.
2. Their main rivals are Barcelona, against whom they contest the Barcelona derby. Whereas Barça are strongly associated with the Catalan independence movement, Espanyol are less in favour of a breakaway.
3. The origin of the team nickname, the “Budgies”, is pretty convoluted. In Spanish, “four cats came” is an idiom meaning nobody turned up, so Barça mocked their city rivals as “the four cats” when they were struggling with low attendance. Felix the Cat was called “Perico” (meaning budgie) in Catalan and this cat/budgie connection resulted in the moniker.
4. Espanyol have participated in the most seasons in the top flight without winning it.
5. Barcelona confirmed Espanyol’s fifth relegation to the second tier in the 2019/2020 season, but the Budgies bounced straight back up.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT CORNELLA/EL PRAT
1. The Llobregat, the second longest river in Spain, flows past the RCDE stadium before arriving at the Mediterranean.
2. Cornella has been criticised for being anti-Catalan due to its large number of “settlers” from Madrid and other areas.
3. Just as the capital’s second team stadium is located next to the airport (Barajas), so is Espanyol’s (El Prat).
4. El Prat is famous for its blue-legged “Pota Blava” chickens.
5. Spanish automaker SEAT has a large factory in El Prat, which produces parts for the Volkswagen group.

INTERESTING VIDEO LINKS
Club anthem (Catalan)
“Oh Espanyol”
Espanyol fans on Madrid’s Plaza Mayor
A look around El Prat

OTHER SPANISH CLUBS
Alavés, Almería, Athletic, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Betis, Cádiz, Celta Vigo, Éibar, Elche, Espanyol, Getafe, Girona, Granada, Huesca, Las Palmas, Leganés, Levante, Mallorca, Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Valencia, Valladolid, Villarreal