The X Sporting Club, officially founded as Football Club X, was a

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

based in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, which existed during the years 1902 and 1908. They won the Catalan championship three times in a row between 1905 and 1908. X Sporting Club is best remembered for its role in the founding of

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

in 1909.

History

Established in March 1902 under the name of Football Club X, and in 1903 it occupied the football field of the newly defunct Irish FC at the Nou Velòdrom de Barcelona in Carrer Aragó. As one of the oldest clubs in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, X Sporting Club was a member of the second inter-club competition held in the territory (after the

Copa Macaya The Hispania Athletic Club Tournament–Alfonso Macaya Cup, popularly known as the Copa Macaya, was a football competition contested by clubs from Catalonia which ran from 1900 until 1903, disappearing at the same time of its organizers, Hispania ...

), the Barcelona Football Club Cup, although they withdrew from it presumably due to its still amateur preparation compared to other more established clubs. which came to win three times before disappearing in 1908 to form, together with the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club, the current Real Club Deportivo Espanyol.

X dominace

In 1906 ''Club Español de Football'' (now

) had to suspend its activities due to a lack of players, since most of them were university students who enrolled to study at universities outside

. X Sporting Club took advantage of this as most of the remaining Español players joined them, which meant a big leap in quality for the club, and as a result, the X won the Catalan championship three times in a row between 1905 and 1908, beating the likes of

FC Internacional The Futbol Club Internacional, commonly referred to a was as FC Internacional, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain. Founded in 1901, FC Internacional had an "impasse" in its activities after the 1905-06 academic year, resuming them in 19 ...

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 ...

and

FC Català FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

. This historic side had the likes of Pedro Gibert,

José Irízar José Marcelino Yrízar Urbizu (5 October 1882 - 23 March 1935), better known as José Irízar was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for Athletic Club and FC Barcelona. Although he always appeared as Irizar in the sports press, on h ...

and

Santiago Massana Santiago Massana Urgellés (5 June 1889 – Unknown), nicknamed Tiago, was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. He was best known for his height, which he imposed on his opponents. His brother, Alfredo Massana, was also a footballer. ...

. Some victories were controversial, especially the last season, where the Catalan Federation, led by X director Isidre Lloret, was accused of favoritism towards his team. As regional champion, the X earned the opportunity to participate in 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 ...

, but declined its participation for three consecutive years. In 1908 they settled on a new ground, the Campo de la Marina. The team's kit was a white shirt with an X on the chest and sometimes a black one as well.

Decline and collapse

It was not until 1909 that X and Español were restructured again. This period, from 1906 to 1909, when Español ceased its activities, is now considered an "impasse", and "the incognitos", as they were known, were nothing but a continuation. In 1909 when several of the former university students returned to

with the idea of refounding ''Club Español de Football'', they contacted former members, most of which was at X the and others in the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club. On 27 December 1908, after a meeting between all those involved, the merger of both entities took place, which led to the founding of ''Club Deportiu Espanyol'', which adopted the corporate and structural base of the X Sporting Club (which ceased to exist) as well as the colors blue and white in his uniform. This club was granted patronage by King

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 ...

and the club subsequently became known as the ''Real Club Deportivo Español'', or

Honours

Catalan championship *Champions (3): 1905–06, 1906–07 and 1907–08

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:X Sporting Club Defunct football clubs in Catalonia Association football clubs established in 1902 Association football clubs disestablished in 1908 1902 establishments in Spain 1908 disestablishments in Spain Football clubs in Barcelona