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Welcome to the very first RCD ESPANYOL Supporters Club in Australia...
Our main aim is to put this Catalonian football Club firmly on the World map and to gather supporters of the "Periquitos" or "Pericos" (the 'Parakeets') in Australia and New Zealand.
Song / Canción:  ESPANYOL (Blue and White)
Spain are football's new World Champions...
...and Andres Iniesta pays tribute to Dani Jarque
World cup goal-scoring hero Andrés Iniesta paid a personal tribute to former Spanish U17 and U19 international team-mate Dani Jarque by wearing a vest that said: "Dani Jarque forever with us". Jarque, captain of RCD Espanyol, died of a sudden heart attack whilst on tour in Italy last year. Andrés and Jarque were very close, like brothers. During a post match interview a very emotional Iniesta explained "I wanted to carry Dani Jarque with me and with my other team-mates. We wanted to feel his strength. We wanted to pay tribute to him in the world of football, and this was the best opportunity to do so".
Congratulations Spain on your first World Cup and may you Rest In Peace Jarque.
Pre-Season Friendlies:
The word is out !! Here are the teams RCD Espanyol will be facing in their preparation for the 2010/11 season:
July 24th: Palamós C.F. -vs- RCD Espanyol @ 19:00 hrs (local) TV3
(Estadio Municipal de Palamós, Palamós, Girona province)
July 28th: C.F. Peralada -vs- RCD Espanyol @ (time t.b.c.)
(Municipal de Peralada, Peralada, Girona province)
July 31st: RCD Espanyol -vs- U.C. Sampdoria @ 21:45 hrs (local)
[Ciutat de Barcelona tournament]
(Estadi RCDE, Cornella-El Prat, Barcelona)
August 7th: RCD Espanyol vs Sevilla FC
@ 22:00 hrs (local)
(The 'Ramón de Carranza' is one of Spain's top pre-season tournaments, held in Cádiz, Andalusia)
August 8th: RCD Espanyol vs ???
Final @ 22:15 hrs (local) - OR - 3rd/4th Place match @ 20:00 hrs (local)
(The 'Ramón de Carranza' is one of Spain's top pre-season tournaments, held in Cádiz, Andalusia)
August 11th: Real Oviedo C.F. -vs- RCD Espanyol @ time t.b.c.).
(Luarca?, Asturias, Spain)
August 12th: Sporting Gijón -vs- RCD Espanyol @ time t.b.c.).
(Luarca?, Asturias, Spain)
August 21st: Gimnàstic de Tarragona - vs - RCD Espanyol @ 19:00 hrs (local) TV3
[Ciutat de Tarragona tournament]
(Nou Estadi, Tarragona)
All Hamburg SV and Espanyol fans, please note:
The August 8th friendly against Hamburg SV in the German town of Flensburg has now been cancelled !!
RCD Espanyol (brief history):
RCD Espanyol is one of the eight founder member clubs of the Spanish Football League (otherwise known as "La Liga").
It was founded in October 1900 by Catalonian and Spanish University engineering students (from Barcelona) at a time when the game in Spain was dominated by both foreign players and foreign club owners.
The Club has consistently played in the top flight, with the only exception being four individual years of second-tier football in the 'Segunda Division', the last time was during the 93/94 season.
RCD Espanyol has won four national domestic cups - "Copa" / "Copa del Rey" - in 1929, 1940, 2000 (the year of its Centenary) and 2006. The team has played twice in the UEFA Cup Final - 1988 and 2007 - and lost on both occasions to the dreaded penalty shootouts.
Recent events:
On August 2nd 2009 and after almost 12 years 'in exile', RCD Espanyol finally moved from the Olympic Stadium into their brand new 42,000 seater stadium and a friendly was played against Liverpool FC, the final result being a 3-0 victory to the Pericos. The celebrations were to surely last for weeks, if not months.
But a few days later, Dani Jarque, who had only been appointed captain a few days before the Liverpool game suddenly passed away whilst the team was on tour in Italy. The tour was cancelled and tens of thousands of Pericos gathered at Gate # 21 (Jarque's shirt number) to mourn and pay their respects to their 26 year old captian, a player who had progressed through Espanyol's youth ranks since the age of 14.
Current form:
The team assured their Primera División status with a few games to spare. The Champions or Europa League will have to wait until next year as survival was unfortunately the main objective after a mediocre first half of the season.
What all Perico fans will no doubt be hoping for next season is a much improved away record!! With only two away wins, one at Depor and the other at Almería, Pochettino's men should be aiming to instill confidence in the squad and the fans alike by attempting to win their first handful of away fixtures come September/October.
...Do you like football and music? We have our own official theme song!!:
"ESPANYOL (Blue and White)" (check it out by clicking on the iTunes logo and selecting track # 8, the instrumental version is track # 14)
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