Pla de Barcelona derby

The Pla de Barcelona derby (Catalan: derbi del Pla de Barcelona), also known as the rivalry of La Vila contra El Poble, is the football rivalry between CE Europa and UE Sant Andreu.^[1][2][3] Europa, from the Vila de Gràcia, and Sant Andreu, from Sant Andreu del Palomar, are the main clubs from the former towns of the Pla de Barcelona, which are now neighbourhoods of Barcelona in Catalonia. Throughout history, many matches between these two clubs have been played, even though the supporters of both sides consider 2007 the year when the rivalry was born.^[4][5]

On the one hand, the players and supporters of CE Europa are known by three nicknames: europeistes (because of the name of the club), graciencs (demonym of the Vila de Gràcia), and escapulats. This latter nickname is a reference to the design of the shirt of Europa: a blue chevron (in Catalan: escapulari) over a white basis.^[6]

On the other hand, the persons related to UE Sant Andreu are known by two nicknames: andreuencs (the demonym of Sant Andreu de Palomar) and quadribarrats ("those with four bars"), a reference to the shirt of Sant Andreu: four red bars over a yellow background, inspired on the flag of Catalonia.^[7]

Throughout history, both clubs have played in different stadiums. Europa has played its home matches in the neighbourhoods of el Camp de l'Arpa, la Sagrada Família, el Camp d'en Grassot, el Baix Guinardó, Vilapicina, and the Vila de Gràcia, while all of the stadiums of Sant Andreu have always been located at the same place, concretely in Sant Andreu de Palomar. Currently, the stadium of Europa is the Nou Sardenya, whereas Sant Andreu plays its home matches at the Narcís Sala.^[8][9]

Even though the designs of the shirts of the clubs have varied over the years, Europa and Sant Andreu have maintained the same colours during most of their histories. Europa has always played with a white-blue shirt, while Sant Andreu started playing with a white and red stripe, then changed the white stripes to yellow, after which it had to change the red stripes to blue because of the beginning of the Francoist dictatorship. Since the 1940s, the club has played with red and yellow stripes.^[10][11]

The first matches between Europa and Sant Andreu were played in the last years of the 1900s and the beginning of the 1910s, but due to the lack of clear and consistent documentation, it is not known exactly how many matches were played between the teams.^[12] Moreover, there is no evidence of the existence of a significant rivalry in this era.

During most of the 20th century, there have been isolated moments of tension between the supporters of both teams, but the rivalry was not considered to be more intense than that with other teams from the Pla de Barcelona, such as UE Sants, UA Horta, or FC Martinenc.^[12][13] However, during the 1980s and 1990s, the relationship between the clubs' fanbases worsened, followed by a period of less rivalry.^[2]

Generally, 2007 is considered the year of the start of the rivalry that is still alive.^[3] Since the 2020s, this derby is considered the second-most intense derby of Catalonia after the Derbi Barceloní, both because of incidents between the supporter groups of both clubs and because of the lack of direct confrontations between other Catalan rivals, such as the derby of the Vallès Occidental (CE Sabadell FC versus Terrassa FC) or the Camp derby (Nàstic de Tarragona versus Reus Deportiu).^[3]

Currently, the derby is characterized by the similar social and political profiles of Europa and Sant Andreu. Both clubs are openly antifascist and defend the use of the Catalan language, values that are shared by their fan groups. Moreover, both are sports entities that represent formerly independent towns, currently neighbourhoods of Barcelona, annexed by the Catalan city in 1897. Europa and Sant Andreu are also considered neighbourhood clubs, football clubs with relatively cheap match tickets, close contact between players and supporters, and an active social role in the neighbourhood to which they belong.^[3][14]

• Araguz, Xavier; Esteve, Joan; Domingo, Àngel; Petit, Jordi; Quintana, Eduardo; Martínez, Vicenç; Terrè, Quim (2009). Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu 1909–2009 (in Catalan). Barcelona: Municipality of Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-9850-175-9.
• Borchers, Liam (2024). The Story of Europa: A Unique Football Club from Catalonia. Groningen: Self-published. ISBN 978-9-0903-8388-0.
• Vergés i Soler, Ramon (1982). Història del C. D. Europa (1907-1982) [History of C. D. Europa (1907–1982)] (in Catalan). Barcelona: Club Esportiu Europa.
• Vergés i Soler, Ramon (1994). Sardenya, 50 anys d'europeisme (1940–1990) [Sardenya, 50 years of Europeism (1940–1990)] (in Catalan). Barcelona: Club Esportiu Europa.
• Vergés i Soler, Ramon (2009). Història d'un històric: CE Europa (1907–2007) [History of an historic club: CE Europa (1907-2007)] (in Catalan). Barcelona: Club Esportiu Europa and Municipality of Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-9850-163-6. DL B-21.803.2009.
• Vidal i Buyé, Xavier (2022). Bàsquet, 100 anys [Basketball, 100 years] (PDF) (in Catalan). Club Esportiu Europa.

• CE Europa official website (in Catalan)
• UE Sant Andreu official website (in Catalan)