Campeonato de Navarra Champions & Record 1928-1939

Season	Champions	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1928-29	Osasuna	6	5	1	0	26	2	11
1930-31	Osasuna	10	9	1	0	44	6	19
1931-34	see Note 1
1934-36	see Note 2
1936-37	No Football League
1937-38	Alaves	12	10	1	1	33	13	21
1938-39	Osasuna	3	3	0	0	9	1	6 *

Note 1: The various Basque Regions (Navarra, Vizcaya) as well as La Rioja and Aragon played in a combined Campeonato Mancomunado from 1931-32 to 1933-34.

Note 2: The Campeonato de Navarra, Campeonato de Vizcaya and Campeonato de Guipuzcoa were merged into one Basque Country Championship – the Copa Vasco from 1934-35 to 1935-36

Note 3: * There were two teams playing a full schedule in the Campeonato de Navarra in 1938-39: Osasuna and Indarra, with a third team, Seleccion Militar playing a half schedule (i.e. one game against each of the other two teams). The onset of the Spanish Civil War and the imminent start of World War 2 severely curtailed Football.

Report

The Era 1913 to 1940 was one in which the top Basque Soccer Clubs: Athletic Club de Bilbao, Real Socieded and Osasuna all played in the Regional Leagues. In the Navarra Championship, inaugurated in 1928-29 and played intermittently between then and 1938-39 when the onset of World War 2 interrupted Football, Osasuna won the most Championships with 3 titles, Alaves winning the fourth played.

The Basque Country in Northern Iberia (Spain) and South West France has a proven genetic link with The Welsh and Irish Celts, with geneticists proving a strong genetic link between the three races/peoples going back to the Neolithic, before farming was introduced from the Near East [References: 3]. The three languages are among the oldest in Europe, with Basque pre-dating Indo-European languages thought to have arrived in Europe with farming, and Celtic languages showing a strong link with North African branch of Afro-Asiatic languages as well as Indo-European languages, uniquely in Europe. [References: 4-5] Athletic Bilbao celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in 2018 by lighting up the famous San Mames stadium in Green on the Eve of the Day itself [Reference: 6]

References / Further Reading

Images

[1] Fruugo.ie (2021) 131555238_max Sticker sticker card flag region spain province navarra navarre Brand: Sarl Acacha [Internet] Available from: https://img.fruugo.com/product/8/23/131555238_max.jpg [Accessed 24 May 2021]

Bibliography

[2] Luis Javier Bravo Mayor & Jose Vicente Olmos Mico (2017) “Campeonatos Regionales Vascos 1913-1940” CIHEFE (Centro de Investigaciones de Historia y Estadistica del Futbol Espanyol). Mantuano, Madrid. Available to buy online at: https://www.soccer-books.co.uk/acatalog/CIHEFE-Spanish-League-Histories-p1.html .

Websites

[3] BBC Wales (2001) Genes link Celts to Basques [Internet] Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1256894.stm [Accessed 24 May 2021]

[4] Encyclopaedia Brittannica (2021) Basque Language [Internet] Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque-language [Accessed 24 May 2021]

[5] Encyclopaedia Brittannica (2021) Celtic Languages [Internet] Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Celtic-languages [Accessed 24 May 2021]

[6] Athletic Bilbao (2018) St. Patrick’s Day [Internet] Available from: https://www.athletic-club.eus/en/news/2018/03/15/saint-patricks-day/ [Accessed 24 May 2021]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dervla Kincaid (nee Mulcahy).

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 24 May 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2021

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