1902–03 Catalan Football Championship

The 1902–03 Catalan Football Championship was the 3rd staging of the Championship of Catalonia.[1] This season was peculiar because it comprised two different competitions held the same year.

1902–03 Catalan Football Championship
CountryCatalonia
Dates20 November 1902 – 26 April 1903
Teams11
ChampionsClub Español (Copa Macaya)
FC Barcelona (Copa Barcelona) (1st title)
Runners-upHispania AC (Copa Macaya)
Club Español (Copa Barcelona)
Top goal scorer(s)Gustavo Green (7 goals)
Joan Gamper (21 goals)

Due to disagreements between the reigning champion of the tournament, FC Barcelona, and some of the clubs invited, in 1902–03 two parallel competitions were held: an "official", the Copa Macaya organized by Hispania AC and an "unofficial", the Copa Barcelona organized by FC Barcelona. Both are currently recognized as official by the RFEF.[1]

Copa Macaya

Summary

The third and last edition of the Macaya Cup was to be contested by 5 teams: Club Espanyol, Hispania AC, FC Barcelona, Club Universitari and FC Internacional. The early resignations of Barcelona and Universitari were a severe blow to the competition, which turned it into a simple triangular tournament.[1] In the end, Espanyol was the champion after beating Hispania 3–1 in a tiebreaker, with Gustavo Green netting twice. Remarkably, Green won all three editions of the Copa Macaya with three different clubs (Hispania, Barça, and Español).[2]

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Club Español 4 3 0 1 9 2 +7 6 Champion
2 Hispania AC 4 3 0 1 10 3 +7 6
3 FC Internacional 4 0 0 4 1 15 −14 0
4 FC Barcelona (withdrew) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Universitary SC (withdrew) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) fair-play points; 7) playoff match

Results
30 November 1902 Hispania AC'0 – 2
Annulled'		FC BarcelonaBarcelona
Steinberg
Lassaletta 		Stadium: Camp del carrer Muntaner
Referee: Degollada
Note: Barcelona won 2–0, but the result was later disallowed due to Barça fielding an ineligible player.
30 November 1902 Club Español6 – 01FC InternacionalBarcelona
?
7 December 1902 FC Internacional1 – 31Hispania ACBarcelona
? ?
14 December 1902 Club Español1 – 01Hispania ACBarcelona
? [ Report]
4 January 1903 FC Internacional0 – 11Club EspañolBarcelona
?
11 January 1903 Hispania AC6 – 01FC InternacionalBarcelona
?
25 January 1903 Hispania AC2 – 11Club EspañolBarcelona
? ?

Play-off

This championship was extremely competitive, in fact, Club Espanyol and Hispania AC finished level on points at 6, which meant that the title had to be decided in a playoff match that was held a few months later.[1]

Club Espanyol3–1Hispania AC
Green
García 		Report Girvan

Top Scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1Spain Gustavo GreenClub Español7
2Scotland Geordie GirvanHispania AC2
3Spain Sebastian CasanellasClub Español1
Spain Emilio Sampere
Spain Joaquín García

Copa Barcelona

Summary

After their 2–0 win over Hispania AC in the Copa Macaya was declared invalid for fielding an ineligible player, thus losing two points, FC Barcelona withdrew from the tournament as the club considered the decision totally unfounded and unfair.[3] The club then broke its relations with the Gymnastics Federation and decides to organize a tournament of their own: The Copa Barcelona.[4][5] Barça was able to pull this off because the club was clearly the most powerful and best organized club in Catalonia and one of the best in Spain, just like Madrid FC had done in the capital with the 1902 Copa de la Coronación.[3] All the clubs of the city of Barcelona were invited, including the ones who were contesting the Copa Macaya, and the response from the clubs was much greater than expected, registering up to eleven teams, all of them from Barcelona, although three had to withdraw (X Sporting Club, Universitary SC and FC Catalònia) before the end of the tournament.[1][3] The other five participating teams were Català FC, FC Internacional, Irish FC, Iberia FC and Salut FC. The Copa Barcelona is also considered an official tournament nowadays, being later recognized as the fourth edition of the Catalan Championship.[3] So two rival competitions were organized (similar to the 1910 and 1913 editions of the Copa del Rey), and while Club Español won the third and last edition of the Copa Macaya after beating Hispania AC by 3–1 in the title-deciding play-off, Barcelona won the Copa Barcelona after a tough fight with Club Español, with whom he drew 2–2 both home and away, hedging out in the end by just two points.[1]

The tournament's board offers prizes to all participants thanks to the financial collaboration of the members of FC Barcelona, with contributions of at least two pesetas and forty cents each.[3] All participants had a prize: A Cup valued at 250 pesetas for the winner; medals for the first three; a lineman's flag for the fourth; a regulation ball for fifth; goalkeeper gloves for the sixth; a bellows for the seventh and a whistle for the last.[3][6] The prizes may seem ridiculous, in view of today, but at that time it was quite a gesture of greatness for the tournament's board, since these objects were not easy to obtain and were highly valued.[3] Joan Gamper was the star of the tournament and its top goal scorer with 21 goals, netting a 9-goal haul against X Sporting Club on 1 February 1903 and scoring the winner (0–1) against Hispania AC on 19 April 1903.[7]

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 FC Barcelona (C) 14 12 2 0 45 10 +35 26 Champion
2 Club Español 14 11 2 1 34 7 +27 24
3 FC Internacional 14 9 1 4 30 18 +12 19
4 Català FC 14 8 0 6 35 26 +9 16
5 Irish FC 14 4 2 8 25 24 +1 10
6 FC Internacional 14 3 3 8 14 28 −14 9
7 Ibèria SC 14 3 1 10 10 25 −15 7
8 Salut SC 14 0 1 13 6 61 −55 1
9 X Sporting Club 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (Nota)
10 Club Universitari 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Catalònia FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on complet. Source: https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cathist.html
(C) Champions
Notes
  • Day 6: Iberia conceded the points due to the death of Ramon Irla i Serra, father of the president and captain of the club.[8][9]
  • Day 8: Salut and Internacional gave up the points.
  • Day 11: all three games were suspended due to rain. Irish, Iberia and Salut conceded the points.
  • Day 15: Iberia conceded the points due to the death of the mother of the player Castillo.[10][11]
  • Day 16: Salut gave up the points for Espanyol to be playing in the 1902 Copa de la Coronación in Madrid.[12]
  • Day 17: Hispania played with the second team to allow the first to contest the final of the Copa Macaya against Club Espanyol.[13]

Results

The list below only includes the matches played by Barcelona due to a lack of information about the remaining games.

11 January 1903 Round 1FC Barcelona7 – 0Ibèria SCBarcelona
Gamper
Ossó
Lassaletta 		Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Referee: Eduardo Alesson
25 January 1903 Round 3FC Barcelona2 – 1Català FCBarcelona
Gamper Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Referee: Eduardo Alesson
1 February 1903 Round 4FC Barcelona13 – 0 *X Sporting ClubBarcelona
Gamper
Ossó
Lassaletta 		Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Referee: Cusí
8 February 1903 Round 6FC Barcelona6 – 0FC InternacionalBarcelona
Gamper
Ossó
Harris 		Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
22 February 1903 Round 8FC BarcelonaNot playedSalut SCBarcelona
Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
1 March 1903 Round 9FC Barcelona6 – 1Hispania ACBarcelona
Steinberg
Lassaletta
Meyer
Ossó 		Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Referee: Emilio Sampere
8 March 1903 Round 10FC Barcelona2 – 2Club EspañolBarcelona
15:30 Gamper
Steinberg
Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Attendance: 4.000
Referee: John Hamilton
19 March 1903 Round 12Irish FC1 – 4FC BarcelonaBarcelona
Gamper
Meyer
Gass 		Referee: Acha
22 March 1903 Round 13Català FC2 – 4FC BarcelonaBarcelona

 Gamper
Steinberg
Lassaletta		 Stadium: Velódromo de la Bonanova
Referee: Mascaró
29 March 1903 Round 15FC InternacionalNot playedFC BarcelonaBarcelona
5 April 1903 Round 16Ibèria SC0 – 8FC BarcelonaBarcelona
Steinberg
Gamper
Parsons 		Referee: Mascaró
12 April 1903 Round 17Salut SCNot playedFC BarcelonaBarcelona
13 April 1903 Round 2FC Barcelona3 – 1Irish FCBarcelona
Ossó
Almasqué 		Stadium: Camp de la carretera d'Horta
Referee: José Barroso
19 April 1903 Round 18Hispania AC0 – 1FC BarcelonaBarcelona
Gamper Stadium: Camp del carrer Muntaner
Referee: Ricardo Cabot
26 April 1903 Round 19Club Español2 – 2FC BarcelonaBarcelona

García 		Gamper
Harris		 Stadium: Camp de l'Hospital Clínic
Referee: John Hamilton
  • Not counted because X Sporting Club withdrew from the competition.

Top Scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1Switzerland Joan GamperFC Barcelona21
2Germany Udo Steinberg6
Spain Luis de Ossó
4Spain Bernardo Lassaletta5
5England Stanley Harris3
2Switzerland George Meyer2
Spain Julià MoraClub Español
Spain Ángel Ponz

See also

References
  1. "Spain – Final Tables Catalonia". RSSSF. 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. "La identidad de Gustavo Green desvelada después de 120 años" [Gustavo Green's identity revealed after 120 years] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. 17 January 2017. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. "La Copa Macaya, el primer campeonato de fútbol de España" [The Copa Macaya, the first soccer championship in Spain]. elfutbolymasalla.com. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  4. "Copa Football Club Barcelona". hemerotecadigital.bne.es (in Spanish). El cardo. 22 January 1903. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  5. "Bases del concurso Copa del F. C. Barcelona" [Bases of the FC Barcelona Cup contest]. hemerotecadigital.bne.es (in Spanish). El cardo. 22 January 1903. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  6. "Historia del FC Barcelona, Web de los Culés" [History of the FC Barcelona, Web of the Culés]. www.webdelcule.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  7. "Hispània – Barcelona (0-1) – Copa Barcelona – 19/04/1903". www.fcbarcelona.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  8. "Ibèria cedí els punts" [Iberia conceded the points] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 11 February 1903. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  9. "Ramon Irla i Serra" (in Spanish). Los Deportes. 15 February 1903. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  10. "Castillo" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 31 March 1903. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  11. "Ibèria cedí els punts" [Iberia conceded the points] (in Catalan). Los Deportes. 5 April 1903. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  12. "Salut cedí els punts" [Salut gives up the points] (in Spanish). Los Deportes. 12 April 1903. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  13. "Hispania jugó con el segundo equipo" [Hispania played with the second team] (in Spanish). Los Deportes. 19 April 1903. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
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