FC Andorra
Futbol Club Andorra (FC Andorra) is a football club from the town of Encamp in the Principality of Andorra. Founded in 1942, FC Andorra currently competes in Segunda División B of Spain (third tier).
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History of FC Andorra
FC Andorra is the oldest football club in Andorra. The team was founded on October 15, 1942, within the framework of the Escola Nostra Senyora de Meritxell. Since the beginning, FC Andorra has been affiliated with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, as there was no Andorran Football Federation at the time of its foundation. That is why, exceptionally, at the request of the club, and with the prior consent of the Spanish Federation and FIFA, FC Andorra is allowed to compete in the Spanish League and the King’s Cup.
From 1948 to 1976 FC Andorra competed in regional categories. In 1977 club was promoted for the first time to the Third Division (fourth tier). After three years, in 1980 FC Andorra was proclaimed champion of the category and promoted to Second Division B. FC Andorra football team remained in the third tier of the Spanish League for 17 years, with a break in the 1986/87 season, when played in the Third Division. In the 1988/89 season, FC Andorra were runners-up in their group, being five points away from promotion to the Second Division. The following season they again fought for promotion, although they finished fourth.
FC Andorra greatest success came in 1994 when they were champions of Catalonia by winning the Catalonia Cup. Andorra beat FC Barcelona in the semifinals and defeated RCD Español on penalties in the final. The champion’s line-up consisted of: Iñaki, Manolo, Jonás, Espigulé, Raúl, Carrillo, Patri (Eugenio), Lucendo, Roberto (Molinero), Donosti (J. Martínez) and Leo.
Club’s best performance to date in the Copa del Rey would come in the 1995/96 season, reaching the round of 1/32 after eliminating Palamós CF and Getafe CF, being finally eliminated by Celta de Vigo.
At the end of the 1997/98 season, FC Andorra lost the category and was relegated to the Third Division. In the three seasons between 2002 and 2005, the club was relegated three times in a row and ended up playing in the First Catalan Territorial Division (seventh level within the Spanish football leagues).
In the 2007/08 season, the club was weighed down by debts and an institutional crisis was on the verge of disappearance. Finally, in July 2008, Rubén Ponce took over the presidency from Carles Mora, although he could not prevent the departure of three main players, internationals Juli Sánchez, Manolo Jiménez and Óscar Sonejee, as well as coach Eugeni Fernández.
In December 2018, the company Kosmos Sports, whose president is F.C. Barcelona player Gerard Piqué, finalized the purchase of FC Andorra to move the team up to the professional categories of Spanish football. Five months later, a ten-year agreement was forged under which MoraBanc became the team’s main sponsor. In Piqué’s statements, he acknowledges the ambition of the project and that he would like to move with FC Andorra to the Champions League. At the end of the 2018/2019 season, the team won the championship of Group 2 of the Catalan First Division, achieving promotion to the Tercera Division after a streak of 22 matches unbeaten and qualification to play in the Copa del Rey. Thanks to Piqué’s investment in 2019, FC Andorra after paying a €452,022 fee to replace CF Reus Deportiu arrived in the Segunda División B.
FC Andorra football team kit
- First kit: Shirt with blue, yellow, red horizontal stripes and blue sleeves, blue shorts, and blue socks (national colors of Andorra).
- Second kit: Yellow-green jersey, yellow-green shorts, and yellow-green socks.
- Main sponsor: MoraBanc
- Supplier: Nike
FC Andorra stadium
The Estadi Prada de Moles is where Futbol Club Andorra plays home games. Stadium’s capacity is about 1100 spectators, with the location in Encamp, one of seven parishes in Andorra. Estadi Prada de Moles hosts also matches of the First Division and Second Division of Andorra.