ENGINYERS Rugby Union Football Club was founded in 1989 by students
who were playing in various teams participating in the university league of the
Polytechnic University of Catalunya (UPC) and also playing, at the
same time, in other Catalonian teams. This nucleus of players, most of
whom were studying engineering in some form at the UPC, decided on the name
ENGINYERS and started planning a project for the future: an open club, where
anybody who wished to start playing rugby could, and with emphasis on
colourful and competitive rugby. From the beginning our club has considered
important the promotion, formation and recruitment of new players from within the
UPC.
Since its foundation the club has won the Catalan 1st Division in 1989/90, 1992/93, 1995/96,
1999/00 and 2003/04, never finishing lower than fourth place, plus the Catalan Cup in 1991.
Every Easter a tour is organized to a foreign country. So far we have visited (in some cases more than once) England, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, France, Holland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Portugal, Italy and the USA. To celebrate our tenth anniversary we toured Argentina
playing in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Córdoba. In 2006 we toured South Africa, playing
games in Cape Town and Durban. If a club wishes to visit us, we
never say no to a game unless it is absolutely unfeasible.
After ten years of trying to consolidate the ENGINYERS as a proper
club with a pitch, a club-house and junior teams, unobtainable within the
university field, we finally realized our project when we combined with CLUB
NATACIÓ POBLENOU in 1998/99. This swimming club was founded in 1931 and
started a rugby section in 1952, which won the Spanish Championship in 1961.
Its members were mainly from the former industrial quarter of Barcelona
(Poble Nou means New Town), which was often called the Catalan Manchester
during the Spanish industrial revolution. The club is known as POBLENOU-ENGINYERS RC and has a pitch and a club-house beside the beach at the Mar
Bella Sports Complex. With the use of these facilities, in 2001 we started the
Barcelona Sevens Tournament (www.barcelonasevens.com), which has now become very
popular.
In the 2006/7 season we were admitted to an English league, the Greene King Super Premiere League, the first time that a foreign club has ever played in an English league (with the approval of the RFU and the Spanish and Catalan Rugby Federations). We played all our away matches in England and
the English clubs came to Barcelona for their away match with us. Much to the surprise of everyone we won it!
 
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