# X Sporting Club

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The **X Sporting Club**, officially founded as **Football Club X**, was a [football team](/source/Football_team) based in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona), [Catalonia](/source/Catalonia), [Spain](/source/Spain), which existed during the years 1902 and 1908. They won the [Catalan championship](/source/Catalan_football_championship) three times in a row between 1905 and 1908.[1] X Sporting Club is best remembered for its role in the founding of [RCD Espanyol](/source/RCD_Espanyol) in 1909.[2]

## History

Established in March 1902 under the name of **Football Club X**, and in 1903 it occupied the football field of the newly defunct [Irish FC](/source/Irish_FC) at the *[Nuevo Velódromo de Barcelona](/source/Nuevo_Vel%C3%B3dromo_de_Barcelona)* in Carrer Aragó.[3][4]

As one of the oldest clubs in [Catalonia](/source/Catalonia), X Sporting Club was a member of the second inter-club competition held in the territory (after the [Copa Macaya](/source/Copa_Macaya)), the [Copa Barcelona](/source/1902%E2%80%9303_Catalan_Football_Championship#Copa_Barcelona), although they withdrew from it presumably due to its still amateur preparation compared to other more established clubs.[1] which came to win three times before disappearing in 1908 to form, together with the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club, the current Real Club Deportivo Espanyol.

## X dominance

In 1906 *Club Español de Football* (now [RCD Espanyol](/source/RCD_Espanyol)) had to suspend its activities due to a lack of players, since most of them were university students who enrolled to study at universities outside Catalonia.[2] X Sporting Club took advantage of this as most of the remaining Español players joined them, which meant a big leap in quality for the club, and as a result, the X won the [Catalan championship](/source/Catalan_football_championship) three times in a row between 1905 and 1908, beating the likes of [FC Internacional](/source/FC_Internacional), [FC Barcelona](/source/FC_Barcelona) and [Català FC](/source/Catal%C3%A0_FC).[2] This historic side had the likes of [Emilio Sampere](/source/Emilio_Sampere), [Pedro Gibert](/source/Pedro_Gibert_(footballer)), [Ángel Ponz](/source/%C3%81ngel_Ponz), the Massana brothers ([Santiago](/source/Santiago_Massana) and [Alfredo](/source/Alfredo_Massana)), [José Irízar](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Ir%C3%ADzar), and [José Berdié](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Berdi%C3%A9).[2] Some victories were controversial, especially the last season, where the [Catalan Federation](/source/Catalan_Football_Federation), led by X director Isidre Lloret, was accused of favoritism towards his team. As regional champion, the X earned the opportunity to participate in the [Copa del Rey](/source/Copa_del_Rey), but declined its participation for three consecutive years.[2]

In 1908 they settled on a new ground, the Campo de la Marina.[5] The team's kit was a white shirt with an X on the chest and sometimes a black one as well.[6]

## Decline and collapse

It was not until 1909 that X and Español were restructured again. This period, from 1906 to 1909, when Español ceased its activities, is now considered an "impasse"[a], and "The Incognitos", as the team was known, was nothing but a continuation.[2] In 1909 when several of the former university students returned to [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona), with the idea of refounding *Club Español de Football*, they contacted former members, most of whom were at X, and others in the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club. On 27 December 1908, after a meeting among all those involved, the merger of both entities took place, leading to the establishment of *Club Deportiu Espanyol*, which adopted the corporate structure of the X Sporting Club (which ceased to exist) as well as that club's colours of blue and white.[2] This club was granted patronage by King [Alfonso XIII](/source/Alfonso_XIII) and subsequently became known as the *Real Club Deportivo Español*, or [RCD Espanyol](/source/RCD_Espanyol).

## Honours

- **[Catalan championship](/source/Catalan_football_championship)** - **Champions (3):** 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08

## Notes

1. [FC Internacional](/source/FC_Internacional) suffered this same fate, when it had to suspend its activities after the 1905-06 academic year, resuming them in 1910

## References

1. ["Spain - Final Tables Catalonia"](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cathist.html). *[RSSSF](/source/RSSSF)*. 20 May 2020. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220727001641/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cathist.html) 27 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

1. ["Despejando la ecuación: el papel del Club X en la fundación del RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (1902 – 1909)"](https://www.cihefe.es/cuadernosdefutbol/2021/10/despejando-la-ecuacion-el-papel-del-club-x-en-la-fundacion-del-rcd-espanyol-de-barcelona-1902-1909/) [Clearing the equation: the role of Club X in the founding of RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (1902 – 1909)]. [CIHEFE](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_de_Investigaciones_de_Historia_y_Estad%C3%ADstica_del_F%C3%BAtbol_Espa%C3%B1ol). 16 September 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220523013707/https://www.cihefe.es/cuadernosdefutbol/2021/10/despejando-la-ecuacion-el-papel-del-club-x-en-la-fundacion-del-rcd-espanyol-de-barcelona-1902-1909/) 23 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

1. ["El nacimiento de X Sporting Club"](https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198) [The birth of X Sporting Club]. [Los Deportes](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Deportes). 9 March 1902. p. 138. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211119175403/https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198) 19 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

1. ["Nou Velòdrom de Barcelona"](https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198) [New Barcelona Velodrome]. [Los Deportes](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Deportes). 23 June 1901. p. 391. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211119175403/https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198) 19 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

1. ["En la Marina"](http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1908/02/06/pagina-4/608955/pdf.html) [At the Marina]. *MundoDeportivo.com*. Hemeroteca. 6 February 1908. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220727235930/http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1908/02/06/pagina-4/608955/pdf.html) 27 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

1. ["Page 341"](https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198). [Los Deportes](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Deportes). 30 March 1903. p. 341. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211119175403/https://arca.bnc.cat/arcabib_pro/ca/consulta/registro.do?id=2198) 19 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [X Sporting Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Sporting_Club) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Sporting_Club?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.