Torneig d'Històrics returns to offer 'visibility' to Catalonia's historic football clubs

Thursday evening highly anticipated group stage of week-long pre-season football tournament

A CE Europa fan watches his team face CE Júpiter in the Torneig d'Històrics
A CE Europa fan watches his team face CE Júpiter in the Torneig d'Històrics / Cillian Shields
Cillian Shields

Cillian Shields | @pile_of_eggs | Barcelona

August 7, 2025 07:38 PM

August 7, 2025 11:59 PM

Thursday evening at the Torneig d’Històrics (‘Tournament of Historic Clubs’) was one of the most anticipated group stage rounds, with all three teams looking forward to exciting seasons ahead with strong momentum at their backs.

In the end, CE L'Hospitalet triumphed over third-tier CE Europa and CE Júpiter, beating the graciencs 1-0, and overcoming Jupi on penalties.

The Torneig d’Històrics is an annual week-long pre-season tournament organized by FC Martinenc, gathering together a selection of Catalonia’s most prominent and historic lower-league clubs.

These are clubs that date back to the early 20th century, for the most part, which have survived through decades of tribulations and challenges and remain standing as local institutions and social pillars of each neighbourhood and city in which they belong.  

Europa and Júpiter both secured promotion to higher divisions last season, while L’Hospitalet are on the cusp of a monumental transformation with the arrival in April of former FC Barcelona players Jordi Alba and Thiago Alcântara backing new president Antoni Garcia. 

L’Hospi finished last season in flying form and have their sights set on reaching as high as the professional divisions, as they first look to convert the club into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, effectively a limited company that operates in the sports realm in Spain, which will open the door to outside investment, but while taking ownership of the club out of the hands of the members. 

Europa fans Ricard were present at the Torneig and Marc told Catalan News of their excitement of catching a glimpse of their side ahead of a historic season in Primera RFEF, the third tier of Spanish football. “It's good to see the team in pre-season like this, how the players are looking, how they're starting to get the rhythm,” Ricard said. 

“It's also good to give visibility to other teams,” Marc added. “We are lucky that Europa is seeing constant social growth, but clubs like Júpiter, which also has a good fanbase, will have the opportunity to gain more visibility and be able to grow at the level of Europa or Sant Andreu, who I guess are the biggest of the lower league clubs right now, but there are many clubs in Barcelona too.”

Four groups of three teams all compete Monday-Thursday in 45-minute matches against each other, for a total of 90 minutes of action for the players, and 135 minutes of entertainment for the fans, while full-length semi-finals and the final take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 9 and 10 this year. 

Already qualified for Saturday’s semi-final are Reus and Badalona, while Sants await L'Hospitalet. The action kicks off at 6 pm on Saturday, with the final played at 6 pm on Sunday. 

 

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