The Sant Andreu stadium under construction due to the turf change, with the neighborhood blocks behind.Albert Garcia
UE Sant Andreu spokesman Gerard Álvarez sighs with a smile when asked to describe the club. It’s simple and complicated. “We are what our t-shirt says: l’orgull del poble”. More than 100 years of history, with good and bad times, and a stadium – the Narcís Sala – dominating the neighborhood landscape bear witness to the history of Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu, a club that puffs out its chest when it talks about its fans. This season, the first men’s team managed to get promoted to the Second Federation after eight years of struggle in the Third Federation. Rising alongside their eternal rival CE Europa, they now have more than 2,600 members pushing them to continue growing: they’ve broken records thanks to their campaign and now they’re riding a wave of success. The history of Sant Andreu changes, but there is something unshakable in them: their key lies undoubtedly in the essence of their neighborhood.
The rise has shaped this season, even if not everything was easy. In Salamanca they were playing for the Second Federation place and it was raining. In this game, interrupted by rain, nothing was easy, neither for the club, nor for the players, nor for the 500 displaced fans. “It was indescribable. More than three hours of rain. An hour and a little bit in the locker room during the break. People covered with towels, wet, cold. “Everything was uncertain and the desire to play,” says Jordi Méndez (26), player and fourth captain of Sant Andreu. “It seemed like we won the Champions League when we celebrated it,” explains Álvarez. The season was erratic, but he saw the peak of promotion. “The team had a setback in the first half of the season. We didn’t achieve the main goal of staying at the top and going straight up the ranks, but we’re going to the playoffs with the greatest possible certainty,” argues Xavi Molist, the team’s coach since January last year. “We play from behind, we like to play good football, but we have to be competitive, rock in defence,” explains the coach.
Sant Andreu spokesman Gerard Álvarez poses for El País in the stands of the Narcís Sala stadium.Albert Garcia
A “first class” hobby
The fans are the axis of the club. “We have a first-class hobby,” explains Méndez. After joining Sant Andreu as a junior at the age of 11 and leaving to discover other cities such as Córdoba, he returned to the team as part of the youth academy. He fell in love with the club in 2003 at the age of 12 while sitting in the field’s north goal during a game and joined at that precise moment. “For me, Sant Andreu is everything. And for many others too,” explains the announcer, who emphasizes the unconditional support of the entertainment audience. The Narcís Sala stadium, one of the club’s landmarks and with a capacity of 7,000, is not always full, but derbies are full. “We’re the third-division team that’s ousted the most people over the course of the season,” says Álvarez.
This season, the membership campaign has spiraled out of control. The club has broken records with the motto Forjats en l’adversitat, sponsorship of Meyba, the historic Catalan brand that lined FC Barcelona in the early ’90s, and collaboration with Open Arms. “It is madness, and blessed madness. We have processed more than 1,000 renewals and 1,500 registrations. It is important that Sant Andreu grows hand in hand with his fans, otherwise there would be no point in growing,” emphasizes the spokesman.
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A Sant Andreu fan tries on the club’s shirt to buy Albert Garcia
100 years of history protect a shield
The club’s beginnings date back to 1909, when a group from Sant Andreu de Palomar decided to create “Group Z”, the embryo of what months later would be named Andreuenc Club de Fútbol, the team that had the most has survived than 100 years old. Despite divisions, changes and mergers. His shirt and shield proudly display the four bars of the Senyera, abolished during the Franco dictatorship. They later recovered and became a symbol of the club’s Catalan identity. His career moves between good and bad times. But they were undoubtedly shaped by Narcís Sala, who took Sant Andreu to the second division for the first time in 1950.
“This club has been marked by sporting disappointments, especially in recent years, such as the so-called “Robo de Lugo” or many other promotions that could not have happened,” recalls Álvarez. But the club also experienced golden times, around the 60s and 70s. Between economic crises and temporary promotions, instability and a presidency of former FC Barcelona president Joan Gaspart, Sant Andreu became a Sports Limited Company in the summer of 2008. In their history of more than 100 years, they have two among others Won Catalan Cups, various league titles and an RFEF Cup.
Jordi Méndez, footballer of UE Sant Andreu, photographed in front of the stadium.Gianluca Battista
Well, everything is complicated: more shifts, higher economic costs and a group with a higher level. “Next season will be difficult. “You have to settle into the category first and from then on you have to fight to be up there every year,” says Molist. They meet their eternal rivals Europa, who managed promotion as group leaders last season. “The derbies fill the stadiums. This makes it clear that humble football is of interest and that people in the neighborhood feel closer to the First Division. Humble football remains at a high level despite attempts to minimize and destroy it,” emphasizes Álvarez.
The field draws the landscape of the neighborhood. The stands with their characteristic senyera. Even the drums and voices of the cheering stand can be heard from the seats, where you can see the buildings that have grown and changed with the club. There, Gerard Álvarez professes his loyalty to Sant Andreu, and in the bar next door, Jordi Méndez talks about his team with a smile. He doesn’t seem doubtful. “Home. Home”. This is how the captain defines his club, his team, his Sant Andreu and that of everyone else.
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