Liga Mediterránea

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Liga Mediterránea ('Mediterranean League'), in Catalan Lliga Mediterrània, was a football competition that took place at the beginning of 1937 in republican parts of Spain , which was divided by the civil war . The champions of the league were FC Barcelona .

History of the competition

Due to the Spanish Civil War , the country was largely ruled by General Franco in early 1937 . The cities of Madrid , Barcelona and Valencia as well as the Levante coast remained under the control of the Republicans for the time being. The areas of influence were practically no longer connected with each other and thus a whole Spanish game operation could no longer be maintained in football. Games for a Spanish championship therefore did not take place between 1936 and 1939.

At the regional level, however, there were still some football competitions. The championship of Catalonia , which dates back to 1901, and a championship of the Levant between clubs from Valencia and Murcia, which had its origins in 1918, continued to be held.

The leagues of Catalonia and the Levant decided to host a championship between January and May 1937 as part of the so-called Liga Mediterránea. Originally, six clubs from each league were to participate. Only four clubs from the Levant said they would participate after Hércules FC of Alicante , Murcia FC and Cartagena CF all canceled due to bombing their cities. This also reduced the Catalan contingent to four clubs, with which CE Sabadell and FC Badalona were deprived of their participation.

The field of participants therefore consisted of the four best-placed clubs in the Catalan league - champions CE Espanyol , FC Barcelona , Girona FC and Granollers EC  - and the Levante league of champions Valencia FC and Levante FC , Gimnástico FC and Athletic Castellón .

In connection with this, it is worth noting that in 1936 the top Madrid clubs Madrid CF and Athletic Madrid tried to take part in the Catalan championship, but this failed because of the veto of FC Barcelona, ​​which raised safety concerns.

The first five qualified for the Free Spain Cup , the Copa de España Libre, which was held later in the year . FC Barcelona did not take part in this competition because of a trip to North America. The Mediterranean League was no longer played in 1938 for economic reasons.

The champions of the Mediterranean League in 1937 were FC Barcelona under Irish coach Patrick O'Connell with the following squad: Urquiaga, Iborra; Joan Babot , Rafa, Argemí, García, Franco, Bardina, Martí Ventolrà , Ramon Zabalo , Torredeflot, Josep Escolà , Munlloch, Gual, Domènec Balmanya , Tarré, Esteban Pedrol , Pagés, Munlloch.

In recent years, FC Barcelona has endeavored to officially equate the title with a Spanish championship, referring to a decision by the Spanish Senate that won the Free Spain Cup of 1937 in 2007 by winning a Copa del Rey has equated. This undertaking has so far been unsuccessful.

Closing table

society S G - U - V Gates Points
FC Barcelona 14 7-6-1 27:15 20 - 8
CE Espanyol 14 8-3-3 30: 20 19 - 9
Girona FC 14 6 - 5 - 3 27:18 17 - 11
Valencia FC 14 7-3-4 32:23 17 - 11
Levante FC 14 5 - 6 - 3 30:18 16 - 12
Gimnàstico FC 14 3 - 4 - 7 18:31 10-18
ES Granollers 14 2 - 4 - 8 17:36 8-20
Athletic Castellón 14 0 - 5 - 9 7:27 5 - 23

Web links