The ecstasy of Sant Andreu, the most loyal Catalan club in the four bars

BarcelonaIt was half past nine in the evening at the historic Helmántico in Salamanca when Sant Andreu finally sealed the long-awaited promotion to 2nd RFEF. He did so after a difficult season, with his greatest rival, Europe, rising as first in the group, thus being forced to reach the new category from play-off. After more than ten years in the Third Division, the quadribarrats reached the milestone they had set at the beginning of the season, and they did it more than 800 km from home, in a historic match that is almost considered the most longest in football history (202 minutes).

It is not surprising, then, that the dose of epic with which the confrontation had been endowed exploded with the final whistle, when the Sant Andreu players began to celebrate. They hugged each other, ran towards the north goal, where were the 430 fans of the team who had traveled to Salamanca in one of the largest trips in the history of the club. 430 “tarats”, as Xavi Molist, the team’s coach, said, representing the dream of an entire neighborhood—or town, as the people of Sant Andreu consider themselves—. Let’s remember, however, that it is a team that now plays in the fourth division of state football. How does it gather so many fans?

Everything starts, or ends, with the four bars. Already from its beginnings, the Andreuen entity adopted the colors of the flag, only replaced in the Franco period. The club, however, got them back later and has always made a point of wearing them. “The organization wanted to join the commemoration of the Tercentenary of the Catalan defeat of 1714, and in this sense our shirts will pay tribute to it. It is a symbolism that reminds us that effort, sacrifice and perseverance are the path to sporting success and that today, as yesterday, we always want to be four-barred”, they explained in 2014. This identification has made many people, despite not being supporters of the team, sympathize with the values ​​it conveys .

A hobby that goes beyond football

In relation to this, Sant Andreu is a social club that supports various initiatives against gender violence, racism or the preservation of the Catalan language. Their main sponsor is Open Arms, who wore it for the first time in one of the most important matches in the club’s recent history, the second leg of the 2019 Copa del Rey match at the Wanda Metropolitano against Atlético de Madrid. “The generosity of UE Sant Andreu wearing our logo in its most important match is priceless,” said Oscar Camps, founder of the organization. A side that connects a lot with a fan base that has been rejuvenated in recent years and overcame the barrier of 1,000 members last season, a figure that places them among the 10 teams with the most members in all of Catalan football.

This social mass has increased this season, with large crowds at the Narcís Sala stadium. With a capacity of 6,500 spectators, it swept the sold out in matches such as the derby against Europe (6,000 spectators), and went beyond half-time in the matches of play-off, figures that have stabilized at the end of the season and that are not normal for a team in such a low category. To give a close example, Sabadell, a team that plays in the 1st RFEF, this year reached a maximum capacity of 5,100 people in the match that faced them against Barça B. Although the average capacity at the Nova Creu Alta is superior, the influx of fans to the important matches of the Narcís Sala approaches figures of a higher category, data that have been confirmed after the team’s promotion to 2nd RFEF. On the day of the celebration, thousands of people from Andreu paraded through the streets of Sant Andreu del Palomar and painted the streets yellow and red. The club also confirms this presence on the networks: the publication of the promotion had an impact of almost 1 million impressions on Twitter, while some video of the celebration exceeded half a million.

With these conditions, the club is having one of its best moments in the last 30 years. Popular prices in the stadium (the cheapest tickets for each game are 5 euros) and a young fan who prefers to support the team at home, where they find players who identify with the shield. It’s no surprise, then, that when they heard the final whistle they all knew exactly what they had to do. When they arrived where the 430 fans from Andreuen were, the players launched themselves into a puddle that was right in front of the four-barred stand. They went down into the mud. And they did it in front of their own. Because they knew that Sant Andreu’s triumph was not only due to their game, or the success of their coach, but to much more. The ecstasy of a team loyal to an identity that will never forget.