Centre d'Esports l'Hospitalet is a Catalan semi-professional football club from the municipality of Hospitalet de Llobregat, which is located on the southwest 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, which had itself 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 a 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'Hospitalet finally won promotion under Zambudio Velasco following playoff 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 was to follow twelve months later as the club dropped down to Preferente Regional. In 1969-70, the team slipped further down 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 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 playoff 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 with the arrival of the new President, Miguel García del Valle.
In 1999, the club benefited 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'Hospitalet 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, leading to relegation to the Tercera División, where the team finished in the playoffs the following season, with Xavi Molist in charge of the team.
Náxara CD ended any hopes of promotion before Algeciras did the same the following season, after a second-place finish in the league. The league title was won in 2019-20 under Jonathan Risueño to elevate the side to Segunda División B. The league system was restructured for 2021-22, as L'Hospitalet ended with a place in the fifth-tier Tercera División RFEF.
Héctor Simón was given the manager's job, taking the side to the playoffs in 2022-23, which ended in defeat to CP San Cristóbal. The playoffs were reached once again the following season, before the side finished the 2024-25 campaign in seventh place.
CE L'Hospitalet will play in Tercera División RFEF Grupo V in the 2025-26 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 the full details. I was to be saved by 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 was 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 to 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 Fundació 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 shortcut just behind where I was standing!