Spain's oldest football club
Which is the oldest football club in Spain? No, it’s not Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla or even Athletic Bilbao. In fact, it’s Recreativo de Huelva, formed on December 23, 1889 by Dr. Mackay and his band of British workers, employed by the Rio Tinto Company.
Gimnàstic de Tarragona Sports Club was formed in 1886, but did not form an actual football team until 1914.
The first official football match played here in Spain actually took place in Seville on 8 March, 1890, at the Tablada Hippodrome, with Recreativo de Huelva the visitors. The home side was made up of workers from the nearby Seville Water Works plus a few imported labourers. And, with the exception of just two Spaniards lining up in the Huelva team, the other 20 players on the pitch were British. This is the reason why the team is called Sevilla FC (football club) and not Sevilla CF (club de fútbol - the correct Spanish way). For the record, a crowd of 1,500 saw the Seville team win 2-0.
In the Basque Country during the early1890s, British shipyard workers and miners formed the Bilbao Football Club while Basque students returning from Britain founded the Athletic Club. This early British influence was reflected in the use of English names such as Recreation Club, Athletic Club and Football Club.
We all know that Barcelona and Real Madrid have been and still are the most successful of all Spanish clubs in both La Liga and also in European and continental competitions. Between them they have won a combined total of 34 titles, with Real the most successful in Europe, having won the top prize (the European Cup/Champions League) a record nine times while Barcelona is the only team so far to achieve a sextuple (Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey), doing so in 2009.
In La Liga's 80-year history (apart from the three seasons in the late 1930s when the competition was suspended due to the Spanish Civil War) Barça and Real have won 53 titles between them, 32 by Real. And over the course of time, Spanish clubs have been victorious in seven European Cup-winner’s Cup finals, in six Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup finals, in five European Super Cup showdowns and in three World Club wins. Par excellence I will say.