Club Social, Deportivo y Cultural Español de la República Argentina (commonly referred to as Deportivo Español) is an
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
sports club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
from the
Parque Avellaneda district of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. The club is mostly known for its
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team, which currently plays in the
Primera C, the fourth division of the
Argentine football league system
The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions.
Rules establish a system of promot ...
.
Apart from football, other activities practised at the club are
futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
,
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
,
roller hockey
Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...
,
table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
.
History
The club was founded in 1956 with the name "Club Deportivo Español" on October, 12. The date was chosen as its foundation date to commemorate the arrival of
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
to the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
. Club's first headquarters was in the bar "La Mezquita" of Buenos Aires, and after two years of being founded Deportivo Español had about 2,000 members, mostly of them were Spanish descendant living in Argentina.
In 1957 Español affiliated to the
Argentine Football Association
The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine football league system, Argentine league system (from Argentine Primera División, Pri ...
and the football team began to participate in the fourth division ("Tercera de Ascenso", now
Primera D). Since then, the team ascended the tiers in Argentine football: in 1958 (a year after joining the AFA) Español won the championship promoting to "Segunda de Ascenso" (now
Primera C. Only 3 years after promoting to the upper category, Español won another title promoting to the second division of Argentine football,
Primera B Metropolitana. The squad went on a tour that same year, playing some matches in Spain against teams such as
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
.

In 1967, ten years after its foundation, Español promoted to the
Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...
, the top category of Argentine football. The club not only developed a competitive football squad but also became the most popular Spanish club in Argentina. During those years the Municipality of Buenos Aires gave the club 16 hectares located in the district known as "Bajo Flores", in the south of the city. In those lands Español began to build its sports installations with the help of the members themselves, who worked hard collaborating side-by-side with the club.
During the following years, Español would be successively relegated until the Primera C in 1972, returning to the upper division when the team proclaimed champion in 1979. In 1984 Español promoted to the first division, where the team made its best performance at the top level of Argentine football in the
1985–86 season. Español finished 2nd along with
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
, defeating
Independiente,
San Lorenzo de Almagro
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...
, former champion
River Plate in the
Estadio Monumental and remained unbeaten against
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
. In the next seasons, Español finished 3rd in
1988–89 season and 2nd in the 1992 Clausura.
After 14 years in Primera División, Español was relegated to
Primera B Nacional
Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...
at the end of the 1997/98 season, and then to the lower categories. The team currently plays in the third division of Argentine football, the
Primera B Metropolitana.
Players
Current squad
.
Titles
*
Primera B (1): 1984, 2001–02
*
Primera C (2): 1960, 1979
*
Primera D (1): 1958
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deportivo Espanol
Association football clubs established in 1956
1956 establishments in Argentina
Football clubs in Buenos Aires