The 1902 Copa de la Coronación was a football competition in honour of the coronation of

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

. The

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

does not recognize it as the first season of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, which began the following year. The competition was thought up after

Carlos Padrós Carlos Padrós Rubió, also known as Carles Padrós Rubió (9 November 1870 – 30 December 1950) was a Spanish politician, businessman and football pioneer who was the 3rd President of Real Madrid. He was a member of the Spanish Liberal Party u ...

, later president of

Madrid FC Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, suggested a football competition to celebrate the coronation of

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...

. Four other teams joined Madrid for the first competition:

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, Club Español de Foot-Ball, Bizcaya (a combination of Athletic Club and

Bilbao Football Club Bilbao Football Club was a football team based in Bilbao, Spain, which existed during the years 1900 and 1903. In 1902 they combined with city rivals Athletic Club to form ''Club Vizcaya'', a team which won the 1902 Copa de la Coronación. The ...

) and

New Foot-Ball Club The New Foot-Ball Club, especially known by its original name of (Society) Foot-ball Sky, was a Spanish association football, football club based in Madrid that was founded in 1897 by University of Cambridge, Cambridge and Oxford University gradua ...

. The competition featured the first recorded game between Barcelona and Madrid FC, with the former emerging as 3–1 winners, courtesy of goals from Udo Steinberg and

Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born Association football, football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably FC ...

. Carlos Padrós was also the referee of the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, held at the Hipódromo in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, in which Bizcaya lifted the trophy after beating Barcelona 2–1.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Note: Some sources list Udo Steinberg as the goalscorer of Barcelona's consolation goal.

Consolation Trophy / Copa de la Gran Peña

Originally, this was to feature the four clubs aside from Copa de la Coronación winners Bizcaya in a knockout tournament. However,

had returned home after their crushing defeat to Bizaya in the Copa de la Coronación, while

were forced to withdraw as their players had to return to their occupations, leaving them unable to field a team. Therefore, the Gran Peña Cup was played as a single match between

and Club Español.

Statistics

Goalscorers

Legacy

The Copa de la Coronación was the first national football tournament played in Spain, being organized as a punctual commemorative celebration. However, its success led to the organization of the first edition of the

the following year, then known as the Spanish Championship. Since then, it has been held on an annual basis. Due to this fact, the Copa de la Coronación is generally considered informally as the first edition of the Copa del Rey, although the

does not recognize it as such.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copa Del Rey 1902

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

1902 domestic association football cups 1901–02 in Spanish football Alfonso XIII of Spain History of football in Spain Defunct football competitions in Spain