Centre d'Esports l'Hospitalet is a Catalan semi-professional football club from the municipality of Hospitalet de Llobregat; which is located on the south west border of the city of Barcelona. ‘L'Hospi’ was formed in 1957 through the merger of three clubs.
UD Hospitalet, formed in 1909 and CD Santa Eulalia formed in 1950 joined forces with CF Hércules; who had themselves been formed by the merger of CF Torrasense, CF Recreativo and CF Tecla Sala.
The new club took up a place in the third tier Tercera División, to take over the position of CF Hércules, playing their matches at Torre Melina. A major reason behind the merger was the promise of a new venue. The local council kept their word, with Campo de Deportes Municipal being opened a year later.
Zvonimir Monsider was appointed as head coach, leading the team to a play-off, which was lost 3-2 to CF Amposta at les Corts. The 1959-60 campaign saw L'Hospitalet win the divisional title under former player Julio Remacha.
The team missed out on promotion after defeat to Hércules of Alicante. The following season saw a second place finish arrive at Campo de Deportes Municipal, with the side losing in the play-offs to Manresa.
In 1962-63 L'Hospi finally won promotion under Zambudio Velasco following play-off wins against Atlético Malagueño and Real Jaén, progressing to the Segunda División. Enrique Rabassa and then Dagoberto Moll took over as coach.
After three seasons in the second tier, L'Hospitalet were relegated in 1965-66. Worse to follow twelve months later as the club dropped down to Preferente Regional. In 1969-70 the team slipped down further to the Primera.
L'Hospi won one of the Primera championships in 1971-72 to return to the top level of regional football. A reorganisation of the Spanish league system in the 1977 led to the club being placed in Tercera División; which was now the fourth national tier.
Relegation followed in 1978-79 but the team won the Preferente Regional title by a twenty two point margin under coach Miguel Plegazuelos; to secure a return to the Tercera División. The Grupo V title followed in 1981-82 with a play-off wins over Güímar and Pontevedra CF sealing promotion to Segunda División B.
Further league restructuring saw the club being demoted back to the Tercera División at the completion of the 1985-86 campaign. The team regained their Segunda División B status just twelve months later.
The team continued in the third tier for several seasons; entering into an affiliation with RCD Espanyol, which led to L'Hospitalet hitting financial troubles. The local Ajuntament assisted along with the arrival of new President; Miguel García del Valle.
In 1999 the club benefitted from the Olympic legacy, as the baseball stadium was converted for football, with L'Hospitalet moving into Estadi de la Feixa Llarga. In 2001-02 the team qualified for the play-offs, but missed out on promotion following defeat in the group stage.
However, when the club did leave the third tier, it was downwards to the Tercera División in 2007-08. In 2009-10 L'Hospi won Grupo V before defeating Rayo Vallecano B with coach Julià Garcia at the helm to seal a return to Segunda División B.
Their return was rewarded with participation in the Copa Del Rey. In 2011-12 CE Manacor, CD Leganés and UE Llagostera were defeated, before L'Hospi went out 10-0 on aggregate to giant rivals FC Barcelona in the Round of 32 with Jordi Vinyals in charge of the team.
In 2013-14 the team finished as runners up in Grupo 3 of the Segunda División B thanks in part to the fine goalkeeping of Carlos Craviotto. Cádiz CF and Lorca FC were defeated in the play-offs before CD Leganés ended any dreams of promotion to the second tier.
L'Hospitalet maintained their third tier status in Grupo 3, with a couple of finishes in the bottom third of the table. The team ended the 2016-17 season in seventeenth spot under coach Jordi Gibert.
CE L'Hospitalet will play in Segunda División B Grupo 3 in the 2017-18 season.
My visit
CE L'Hospitalet C 2 Fundacio CE Jupiter E 1 (Saturday 20th January 2018) Cadet Segona Divisio Group 19 (att: c75)
It was my first full day in Barcelona after arriving the previous evening; and all was going well. I’d enjoyed taking in some junior Saturday morning action at CF Can Vidalet, UE Sant Ildefons and UE Cornellà while taking photos of the grounds.
My main match of the weekend saw RCD Espanyol go down 3-0 at home to Sevilla FC. It was time for me to adventure further; and take on a bit more than I was expecting as I set off walking for around thirty minutes.
Google Maps can be a huge aid, and one I rely upon when planning such trips. However, it can also be misleading as it’s impossible to list all full details. I was to be saved my the traffic from the match at RCDE Stadium.
I walked with the crowds along Carrer Tirso de Molina before cutting down towards my intended target along Av. de la Fama past factories and industrial units before coming to Ctra. del Mig; which ran below the raised main Ronda de Dalt before feeding it.
Many vehicles at been parked at the side of the road; including large transporters. The people walking to them had thinned completely and there was no footpath. I carried on walking. Luckily the stream of traffic was slow.
Nevertheless, I still relieved to go under the main thoroughfare and onto another industrial estate; turning into Carrer Arquímedes and then Travessia Industrial before arriving at Carrer de la Feixa Llarga, with Estadi La Feixa Llarga just further along.
I went by a lane that led to the smaller ground where the underage sides of U.D. Unificación Bellvitge and RCD Espanyol would be entertaining me a little later. The main entrance to the stadium was closed, but a gate was open around the corner on Carrer de la Residencia.
An old fella ushered me to a ramp at the far side of the car park. The wall had a mural of baseball and the Olympic rings. The stadium had been used for the games before conversion for football. Another banner hung on the rear of the stand wall.
The ramp led to the back of the open seating, where the lads of CE L'Hospitalet C team were taking on those from Fundacio CE Jupiter. It was good to see a few spectators in attendance, with more watching a smaller side game behind the seating.
It really was an impressive arena, with a continuous bowl of lower tiered open raised seating around the pitch, with an elevated cover section running around the corner flag and behind a goal and down the touchline, which would have been behind the batting plate.
The match seemed to be well contested between the teams, but I had a higher standard game to take in next door. Luck was on my side as it would appear there was a short cut just behind where I was stood!
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