Welcome to…Terrassa

One of the pioneers of Catalan football

Even though Barcelona and Espanyol are Catalonia’s most illustrious and veteran clubs, Terrassa was also important in the past. It belongs to the oldest Spanish football clubs and reached the second tier on numerous occasions. However, Terrassa seems stuck in the lower divisions these days. Welcome to…Terrassa.

A live-action picture of the derby of the Vallès Occidental in 2017. The eternal rival of Terrassa is Sabadell, but in this picture, Terrassa is playing Sabadell B, losing 0-1 at home. © Terrassa FC.

THE ORIGINS

The first football match in Terrassa, a suburb of Barcelona, was played in 1902, and only four years later was Terrassa Futbol Club founded. Terrassa would quickly form a strong squad in the top tier of Catalan football and, when the competitions were centralized, debuted in the Segunda División in 1942, playing against teams like Real Sociedad, Osasuna, and Sabadell.

Terrassa already had many fans since the beginning. © Terrassa FC.

The first stay in the second division only lasted one season, but the following periods of ‘silver’ were more successful. In the next decades, the egarencs would play a total of 11 seasons in this league, with their highest classification being sixth. In these periods, Terrassa was the third-strongest club in Catalonia, only after Barcelona and Espanyol.

In the 90s, Terrassa was very close to disappearing, but managed to avert this horror and was able to start looking up. Fortunately, the vermells achieved promotion to the Segunda División for the fourth time in 2002, a year in which they broke personal records, won the Catalonia Cup against Barcelona, and played an incredible cup match against Real Madrid.

Terrassa’s captain Pedro Riesco lifts the Catalonia Cup, a yearly tournament between all Catalan clubs, in 2002. After an heroic penalty shootout, Terrassa beat a strong Barcelona squad, including Pepe Reina, Carles Puyol, and Xavi Hernández. © Nebridi Aróztegui.

In 2006, Terrassa had the then-rare honor of celebrating its centenary, but things only went downhill afterward. The culmination of Terrassa’s crisis occurred in 2010 when the club disappeared. A new club, called Terrassa Olímpica 2010, was founded as its successor and managed to be officially recognized as a continuation of the old Terrassa.

The Olympic Stadium of Terrassa, one of the biggest stadiums in Spanish modest football, being able to accommodate over 11,000 people. It was built in 1960 and renovated for the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, hosting its field hockey matches. © Barcelona Dragons.

The renewed Terrassa found its way up, slowly but steadily, and returned to the Segunda RFEF in 2021. The promotion was celebrated much in the big city of Terrassa and was regarded as the start of the next glory period of the red club. Indeed, the results have improved each year, and in 2022-23, the egarencs were very close to qualifying for the playoffs for promotion to the Primera Federación.

The striker Sergi Arranz celebrates one of his many goals in 2020-21, in which Terrassa achieved promotion to the Segunda RFEF. © Arnau Alcalà.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CITIES IN THE FOURTH TIER

Terrassa is only separated from Barcelona by 20 kilometers and is a prominent suburb. Actually, more than 200,000 inhabitants make Terrassa the third-largest city in Catalonia. When only counting clubs considered the biggest club of their respective city, Terrassa is also one of the biggest cities in the 2023-24 season of the fourth tier, only topped by Hércules from Alicante.

The panorama of Terrassa. © Terrassa.

Moreover, Terrassa is known for its long history of drama and music schools. Even today, many famous artists come from Terrassa, such as Miki Núñez and Doctor Prats, both having international followers. Finally, Terrassa is known for its co-capital status of the populous zone Vallès Occidental, together with – of course – Sabadell. This forms the basis for a rivalry between the cities and, therefore, between the clubs.

Miki Núñez performing at the Eurovision Song Contest of 2019, representing Spain. He ended 22nd. © Martin Fjellanger.

Bayern, Ferencváros, and Zaragoza

In 1973, one of the most interesting moments in the club’s history took place, as the first edition of the International Football Trophy of the City of Terrassa was organized. This friendly summer tournament was created to promote the city of Terrassa, and for its first edition, three massive clubs were invited: Bayern Munich (Germany), Ferencváros (Hungary), and Real Zaragoza. The German giant ended up winning the competition. Other teams that would participate in later editions of the summer tournament are Peñarol (Uruguay), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Vitoria de Sétubal (Portugal), and Real Betis.

The pre-tournament poster from 1973. © Records de Terrassa.

The future

Terrassa has lived many diverse moments throughout its history, from playing in the Segunda División and hosting Bayern Munich to almost disappearing and actually disappearing. Whatever the case, the story of the egarencs never gets boring, and it will be interesting to see how they will perform in the upcoming years. This was…Terrassa.

The reds achieved promotion to the Segunda RFEF in the last matchday of the 2020-21 season. © Terrassa FC.

Sources

• https://www.terrassafc.com/club/historia
• http://lafutbolteca.com/terrassa-futbol-club-s-a-d/
• Borchers, L. (2021). GOLAZO. Self-published.
• Borchers, L. (2022). CARA O CRUZ. Self-published.