Club Español de Madrid was a Spanish football club based in Madrid. The club was originally formed in 1901 after a conflict between Sky Football members caused some of them to leave and create a new club. Español de Madrid collapsed in the summer of 1903, but was refounded a few months later by players from a split of Madrid FC. Español de Madrid was subsequently the Campeonato Regional Centro champions in both 1904 and 1909, and reached three Copa del Rey finals in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

and

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

, which all ended in losses. Club Español were one of several football clubs to emerge with a reference to '' Spain'' in their title. Others in Madrid included ''Sociedad Gimnástica Española de Madrid''. Many similar named clubs also emerged in Barcelona—''Hispania AC'', FC Espanya de Barcelona, CD España Industrial, Club Español de Fútbol/''Sociedad Española de Football''. This latter club later became RCD Espanyol. Elsewhere ''CD Español de Valladolid'' later merged into Real Valladolid. There was also an ''España FC'' in Valencia and a ''CD Español de Cádiz''.

Early years

Football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They included several

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

graduates. In 1897 they founded ''Football Sky'', a club that played on Sunday mornings in Moncloa. In 1900 a split within this club saw the emergence of a new club that would later become '' Madrid Foot-Ball Club'' and a new split in 1901 produced Club Español de Madrid. However, the club's lifespan was cut short when it was forced to cancel its activities in the summer of 1903, remaining unknown if due to disagreements, slipt or members leaving to form other clubs. The club was refounded a few months later, in October 1903, by several players who had left Madrid FC to form their own club, among whom were the Giralt brothers ( Mario, José and

Armando Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

) and Antonio Neyra, who become the first team captain of the club after its revival.

1904 Copa del Rey

In 1904 Club Español won the Campeonato Regional Centro, a regional league used as a qualifier for the

1904 Copa del Rey The Copa del Rey 1904 was the second staging of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish football cup competition. The competition was played in 1904 in Madrid. It was notable for its chaotic development and the fact that Athletic Bilbao won the trophy wit ...

. However the subsequent competition, played in Madrid, ended in shambles. In the opening round Español de Madrid held Madrid-Moderno FC to a 5-5 draw. Both teams refused to play extra-time and a replay was arranged for the next day. However, Madrid-Moderno FC did not turn up and Español de Madrid were given a bye. In the semi-final, they played against Moncloa Football Club. With Club Español 1-0 up the game was abandoned following a serious injury to a Español de Madrid player, so they were declared winners and progressed to the final. Having tied one game and not completed the other,

Athletic Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ...

filed a complaint. Faced with this problem and unable to quickly solve the case, coupled with the rush of players from the Basque club to return to their occupations, the Madrid Association decided to award the cup to Athletic as defending champions.

Copa del Rey Runners-Up

Despite a two-year spell in Madrid FC between 1906 and 1908, Antonio Neyra become the team captain again upon his return, and in 1909, under his captaincy, Español de Madrid won the Campeonato Regional Centro for the second and last time in their history and thus qualified for the

1909 Copa del Rey The 1909 Copa del Rey was the 7th staging of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish football cup competition. The competition started on 4 April 1909, and concluded on 8 April 1909, with the final, held at the O'Donnell, in Madrid, in which Club Ciclista d ...

. The team also had the likes of Armando and José Giralt,

José Carruana José Carruana Gálvez (1890 - Unknown) was a Spanish association football, footballer who played as a Association football positions#Defender, defender for RCD Espanyol, Real Madrid CF, Madrid FC and Real Sociedad Gimnástica Española, Sociedad ...

Antonio Morales Antonio Morales Veloso (6 December 1889 – 7 November 1967), sometimes referred to by some sources as Arsenio Morales was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Club Español de Madrid, RS Gimnástica and FC Barcelona. His brother Ra ...

and

Manuel Yarza Manuel Yarza (1884 – Unknown) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder who played for Madrid FC (now known as Real Madrid). Along with his brother Joaquín Yarza, he was a historic member of Madrid FC and won the Copa del Rey four tim ...

. In the semi-final they defeated FC Barcelona 3-2, but then lost 3-1 in the final to

Club Ciclista Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

(which would later become

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

), with José Giralt netting the Español goal. In

two rival Copa competitions were organised and Español de Madrid played in the Copa FEF along with FC Barcelona and Deportivo de La Coruña. It was played as a mini-league and both FC Barcelona and Español de Madrid beat Deportivo, meaning that the title was to be decided in the match between FC Barcelona and Español de Madrid. Neyra's team netted two goals inside the first 15 minutes thanks to a brace from Vicente Buylla, but FC Barcelona pulled off a comeback and won the match 3-2 courtesy of a goal in the last-minute from Pepe Rodríguez.

Decline and Collapse

In 1911, Español de Madrid withdrew from the Centro Regional Federation, and thus from November to the beginning of the new year, there is news that confirms that the club could not play official matches due to its withdrawn, which is probably why the club disappeared.

Honours

* Campeonato Regional Centro: 2 ** ''Winners'': 1904 and 1909 * Copa del Rey: 3 ** ''Runners-up'':

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Club Espanol de Madrid Espanol Espanol Espanol Espanol 1900 establishments in Spain