UDA Gramenet (Spain)

Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet is a football club that was formed in 1923 and who are based in the Barcelona district of Santa Coloma de Gramanet that competes in Catalan regional football after previously enjoyed a relatively illustrious history.

In their early days, the team played their matches on the field in the front of the Santa Coloma church. In 1928 the original club disappeared, with members soon forming a replacement club; UD Colomenca.

Colomenca began playing at a new ground, Campo de Can Baro in 1931. The club began to build until the Spanish Civil War meant football coming to a halt in the late 1930’s. As a consequence UD Colomenca ceased to exist.

D. Pere Casajust came up with the idea of merging three local clubs; FC Gramenet, UD Colomense and CF Baleares to create a new Unión Deportiva Atlética Gramenet. The team competed in the Primera Catalana, before winning promotion to the Tercera División in 1955-56.

The team was involved in a road accident that season, which saw a member killed. It had a marked effect on the team who were relegated back down to regional football. A place in the Tercera was restored following promotion in 1959-60.

For the following quarter of a century, the team was relegated and promoted on four different occasions; before becoming a stable Tercera División outfit from 1985. In 1989 the club reached the final of the Copa Catalunya; where they were defeated by CD Blanes.

In 1991-92 Gramenet won the Grupo V Tercera title but failed to seal progression after defeat in the play-offs. The following campaign saw the team secure a runners-up spot and then win promotion to Segunda División B after topping their play-off group.

The momentum continued as Gramenet won the Grupo III title at the first attempt, with Ángel Dolz and Jordi Romero topping the scoring charts while Juan Manuel López excelled in goal. However, the team finished bottom of their play-off group to end hopes of promotion.

Further progression came with the opening of the new Nou Camp Municipal de Santa Coloma in the summer of 1994.

A runners-up spot in 1994-94 also secured a play-off place; but once again Gramenet were to remain in Segunda División B. Rafa Rodríguez’s goals and the keeping of Antonio Morales led the team to another stab at the play-offs in 1996-97, before the side consolidated at that level.

The goals of Nano García produced another play-off season in 1999-00, before another divisional title followed in 2000-01; when progression from the play-offs proved elusive once again. This was also the case in 2002-03 as Raúl Caballero provided the goals.

The 2004-05 season saw Gramenet struggle for league survival, but it was compensated for with a fantastic Copa Del Rey run. Victory over Benidorm CD was followed up by a huge win after extra time at home to FC Barcelona.

Levante UD and UE Lleida were defeated before ‘Grama’ bowed out in the quarter finals against Real Betis at Estadio Anduva. Gorka Pintado netted regular as Juan Carlos Castilla  kept goal in 2005-06, with Gramenet once again losing out in the promotion play-offs.

League finishes began to dip towards the back end of the decade with the 2009-10 campaign being extremely difficult on and off the pitch as the club became troubled with finances, while Grama were also implicated in the urban corruption that saw the local Mayor put in jail.

Gramenet were relegated in 2010-11 back to Grupo V of the Tercera División. The team recovered during the financial crisis, with a successful women’s side also created at the club. In the summer of 2013 the newly formed Fundació Esportiva Grama became anchor tenants of Nou Camp Municipal.

The 2013-14 campaign ended in relegation to regional football to play in Primera Catalana, as the club played as Gramenet Milán. The summer of 2014 saw the women’s team disperse and leave the club; while Grama were forced out of Nou Camp Municipal.

The team played their home games outside of Barcelona at Municipal de Tiana; before being asked to leave. Refuge was found at Camp De Futbol CEM Besòs-Trajana in Sant Adrià; closer to their home in Santa Coloma. A young and inexperienced team struggled on the pitch and was relegated to Segunda Catalana.

The 2015-16 season saw a further relegation as Gramelet dropped down to Grupo 11 of the Tercera Catalana; where the team finished the season in eighth position.

Gramenet's former Nou Estadi Municipal de Santa Coloma home

UDA Gramenet will play in the Tercera Catalana Grupo 11 in the 2017-18 season.

My visit

Monday 22nd January 2018

It was the final full day of my long weekend in Barcelona and my football adventures were nearly done. While I didn’t expect much from Camp De Futbol CEM Besòs-Trajana, but I wanted to clean up after visiting the clubs former Nou Estadi Municipal de Santa Coloma home.

I’d had a good morning of sightseeing before taking the Metro from Plaça Espanya to Glòries; where I got out and then took my first ride on the Barcelona Trams as the T5 service took me to Besòs.

It was a short walk along Avinguda de Les Corts Catalanes, with the final bend giving me a look at one end. I was happy to see the gate opened, but aware of someone shouting as I entered.

A man had emptied bins and come back from over the road. He told me that it was closed. I did my best with tone and smile and by showing him photos of other grounds that I was no harm while asking him if I could just go in for two minutes.

The bloke seemed a bit angry. Maybe he was having a bad day, but there was no way he was budging. It wasn’t ideal, but there was no point in arguing. I decided to walk round the far side of the adjoining Sports Complex onto Carrer de Carmen Amaya.

Not for the first time, I wasn’t to be beaten. Some open land gave me a view across a disused pitch and into the main ground. It wasn’t the best view, but it was certainly better than Mr Grumpy offered me.

Happy with my resilience I headed off to do some more sightseeing at the magnificent Sagrida Familia and to enjoy the rest of the day in a truly wonderful city.