XIII Catalan

History

In 1888 rugby was introduced to Perpignan by students returning from the Lycee Michelet in Paris. Rugby League arrived in the form of XIII Catalan in 1934 under the guidance of Marcel Laborde so becoming one of the founder members of the first league in France. The clubs first chairman Dr Gaston Banet and Roger Ramis the head coach, found many early difficulties the main one being unable to secure a stadium to use. The local rugby club USAP Perpignan successfully blocked their attempts to hire a stadium and for the first month of the season they had to play all away matches. In October 1934 English side Salford RLFC toured the fledgling rugby nation and one of the matches planned was in Perpignan. The club finally found some land to use and after volunteers had demolished a house and marked out a pitch builders then erected a stand. The first ever Rugby League match was then able to take place. The locals saw their side beaten by Salford 16-41, but one of their own scored the historic first try in Aime Bardes. The teams first league match on 7 October also ended in defeat 25-48 at US Villeneuve they finished 6th that season and in the Lord Derby Cup they reached the final but lost to Lyon Villeurbanne.

XIII Catalan lifted their first French rugby league championship in the second season beating Bordeaux XIII in the final. The following season they reached both league and cup finals but lost both. In 1938-39 season they won the cup for the first time beating Toulouse Olympique at their own ground 7-3. The last season before the war saw them win the league again when they beat Pau XIII 20-16 in front of 10,000 fans in Toulouse. During the war the Vichy Government banned Rugby League in France. XIII Catalan had to change their name to XV Catalan and were forced to play rugby union. Before the war ended they changed their name again to Racing Catalan.

After the war the club went back to Rugby League and on 29 December 1948 they beat the mighty touring Australia national rugby league team 20-5 in front of 12,254 fans. They repeated the feat in 1964 winning 15-11 other honours came their way with a title in each decade 57,69 and 79. The 1980s would prove to be the clubs most successful period. The era didn't start very well when the club was suspended by the league in 1981 for their players misbehaviour in the suspended 1981 final in Toulouse, but they bounced back and they won the title 5 times, including four consecutive seasons from 81-82. The cup was also won in 1985 to complete a league and cup double they were also runner up in the league 3 times and the cup twice. After a lean patch during the 1990s Bernard Guasch had a vision of a super club in the region and in 2000 he was able to bring together XIII Catalan and local rivals AS Saint Esteve as one club Union Treiziste Catalane

Stadium

Notable Players

Matches v Australia

Honours