espanyol??...why?

Espanyol (Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona to give it its full tile) is Barcelona's forgotten football team. Founded in 1900, only one year after the infamous Futbol Club Barcelona, Espanyol have no where near the same fanatical support from the catalan population that Futbol Club Barcelona has come to achieve. Well the reasons for this are obvious, Barca is one of the most successful teams in the world. Since being founded in 1899 by a swiss entrepreneur Joan Gamper the club has won 19 league titles, 25 spanish cups and 13 official european cups. Futbol Club Barcelona is Catalonia's national team. So the question is who from Barcelona supports Espanyol? and why would you? People obviously do, but it seems to me odd if you could just as easily support Barca and be very happy all the time win after win league after league trophy after trophy. Espanyol finshed a respectable 10th in the league last season and were runners up in the Uefa cup in the 07 season but it doesn't compare to the Big three that barca pulled off last year: League, cup and champions league. Well apparanly the clue is in the title "espanyol" Not every catalan is a nationalist, and sadly not every catalan is a socialist. Espanyol is a club for catalans that like to stay away from all the politics that comes with following Barca. The tile itself "espanyol" immediatley shows its position as to what is thinks to independance and nationalism. It's not surprising that if you are a Espanyol fan you are inclined to be happy when Real Madrid do well (however, Barca fans also too are notorious Athletico Madrid fans) Some people like to be different and being an Espanyol fan certainly does not mean you're anti-catalan but it does seem to be a strange choice, and it is a choice. I know of families where the father is Espanyol the children are Barca there doesn't seem to be any friction and the followers live in harmony for the most part. I would choose Barca though, every time.
John x

http://www.rcdespanyol.cat/