VPC Andorra XV
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Voluntaris de Protecció Civil Andorra Rugby XV (commonly known as VPC Andorra XV) is a
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
team based in
Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella french: Andorre-la-Vieille is the capital of the Principality of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital. , the city has a popu ...
,
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
. Nowadays the Andorran rugby club plays in the French Championship since 1986 after being participated in the Catalan Rugby Championship.


History


Origins and foundation

Rugby is one of the most traditional sports in Andorra. VPC Andorra XV was founded in 1961 as the rugby union section of
FC Andorra Futbol Club Andorra is a professional football club based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays its home fixtu ...
(''Secció de Rugbi del Futbol Club Andorra''). A group of students who had practiced rugby during their stay in France and Spain, decided to introduce it in the country. Later the club was renamed VPC Andorra Rugby XV. The acronyms "VPC" means Civil Protection Volunteers (''Voluntaris de Protecció Civil'' in Catalan). The original idea was to get the orders of the fire chief and the service of the country, whenever necessary, to collaborate on various tasks of civil protection: fires, finding missing persons, mountain rescue, in collaboration service order (arrival of the Tour, visit the coprinces, etc...). Although the country currently has an effective structure for Civil Protection, the club is still in its determination to cooperate whenever necessary.


Catalan and Spanish stage (1961-1986)

At the beginning, VPC Andorra XV joined the Catalan Rugby Federation, following the
Spanish Rugby Federation The Spanish Rugby Federation ( es, Federación Española de Rugby) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Spain. The Spanish Rugby Federation was founded in 1923, and joined the International Rugby Football Board, later known as th ...
. The first results were quite bright, quickly getting placed among the top of the Catalan and Spanish rugby. Unfortunately, in 1971 the club was agree the federation that his team can not climb the categories of honor never to state. It was said that the team was abroad, comprising by foreign players. The club accepted thinking about they could remove this clause in the future. The Andorran team became overwhelmingly dominated the Rugby Catalan Championship, stringing a series of titles. The Catalan Cup (''Copa Catalunya'') allowed to also play the Spanish Cup (
Copa del Rey de Rugby The Copa del Rey de Rugby (previously known as Campeonato de España de Rugby) is the national rugby cup. The competition was founded in 1926 and, currently is the second most important competition after the División de Honor de Rugby. All champ ...
). The victories in the Spanish Cup was important, defeating top teams of the Catalan and Spanish Rugby Championship (
UE Santboiana Unió Esportiva Santboiana is a Spanish rugby union club. The club was established in 1921 and currently competes in the División de Honor de Rugby competition, the highest level of Spanish club rugby. The club are based in Sant Boi de Llobrega ...
, FC Barcelona Rugby, RC Cornella, etc...). The Andorran club won a Catalan Cup in 1977, with very satisfactory results, demonstrating that the VPC Andorra should fight in top level categories.


French stage (1986-present)

Missing hopes to compete at the highest level of the Spanish rugby system, the club decided to take a decisive step and decided to compete in France in the 1986-87 season on the committee of Roussillon and in the committee
Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus or ; es, Mediodía-Pirineos) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by ar ...
in 1993. Despite some early hard beginning, VPC Andorra XV has been rising steadily and currently live sporting level, a period which is fairly positive having won two promotions and two Honneur Midi-Pyrénées Championship finals, achieving a promotion to
Fédérale 3 Fédérale 3 is the seventh division of rugby union in France. The competition involves 226 clubs in 21 pools of 8, and winners can progress up into higher division of competition. The competition above Fédérale 3 is Fédérale 2 and above that, ...
.


Youth and women teams

VPC Andorra XV have nowadays a school of rugby. Also the youth team, the second team and women's team are the pillars of the Andorran club project based in the future of rugby in the country.


Kit evolution


Honours

Spanish Competition *Campionat de Catalunya ** Winners (4): 1975-76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978-79 ** ''Runners-up (3):'' 1974-75, 1979–80, 1980–81 *
Copa del Rey de Rugby The Copa del Rey de Rugby (previously known as Campeonato de España de Rugby) is the national rugby cup. The competition was founded in 1926 and, currently is the second most important competition after the División de Honor de Rugby. All champ ...
: ** ''Semi-finalist:'' 1965 * Copa Catalunya: ** Winners (1): 1977 ** ''Runners-up (1):'' 1975 * Copa Principat: ** Winners (1): 1972 *Copa President: ** Winners (1): 1984 French Competition * Honneur Midi-Pyrénées ** Winners (1): 2010-11


Current squad


Notable players

* Otar Barkalaia - 37 caps for
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...


References

{{reflist


External links


Official Site
Rugby union in Andorra Sports clubs and teams in Andorra 1961 establishments in Andorra