RCD Espanyol Juvenil
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| Ground |
Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Catalonia, Spain |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 1,520 |
| President | Chen Yansheng |
| Coach | Xavi Morón |
| League | División de Honor |
| 201516 | División de Honor, Gr. 3, 1st |
| Website | Club home page |
The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club RCD Espanyol is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
The final category within the youth structure is the Juvenil A under-18/19 team team which represents the club in national competition. The successful graduates then usually move to the club's reserve team, Espanyol B, which is also considered part of the cantera due to being a stage in progression towards the senior team, albeit competing in the adult league system.
The academy is based at the club training complex, Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque.
The top football clubs in the Spanish leagues generally place great importance in developing their cantera to promote the players from within or sell to other clubs as a source of revenue, and Espanyol is no exception. Their youth recruitment network is focused primarily around their home region of Catalonia and there are collaboration agreements in place with small clubs in the region.
A significant challenge for Espanyol in their pursuit of local talent is the presence of city rivals FC Barcelona whose global profile, local support base and financial resources far exceed those of Espanyol. However, the Pericos are easily the second biggest club in Catalonia (population 7.5 million) and they have still been able to produce some players for their first team, even if the very best youngsters in the region tend to end up at Barça.
Espanyol made significant upgrades to their facilities with the 2001 opening of their Ciutat Esportiva ('sports city') and since then their results at youth level have improved significantly compared to the 20th century, with eight regional titles, five Copa de Campeones Juvenil finals and five Copa del Rey Juvenil finals between 2001-2016, compared to just one Copa del Rey final appearance in the previous 50 years, one regional title (1976-85 era) and a best finish of 4th in the nationwide Superliga (1986-94).
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