MADRID, 12 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) presented this Monday to Club Esportiu Laietà, the dean club of national basketball, a reproduction of the Cup champion trophy won by the Catalan team in 1942 and as the finishing touch to its Centenary events.
According to the FEB in a statement, the team thus recovers the symbol of one of the greatest sporting successes in its history, whose original cup was more than likely lost during one of the several changes in the club’s registered office decades ago. .
The 1942 Generalísimo Cup was played in Zaragoza on June 28 and 29, 1942 in a ‘Final Four’ format between CE Laietà, Real Madrid, América de Madrid and FC Barcelona, and with a historic title for the first team that eliminated the Real Madrid team in the semifinals (29-28) and beat the Barcelona player in the final (30-28)
The CE Laietà squad that gave the club the first of its two cup trophies (the second one came in the following year) was made up of Sebastián Pérez Navarrete, Eduardo Kucharski, Emilio Galve, Juan Font, Josep Guix, who was also coach, Joan Areny, Francesc Esteva, Gallén y Carretero.
“We did the first act to celebrate our centenary in Seville, and the last one today, Monday, in Barcelona, and both related to basketball and hand in hand with the FEB. In Seville we became the first club to enter the Hall of the Fame of Spanish basketball, and today we recover this much-loved trophy, the 1942 Cup. The best possible culmination to a wonderful year”, celebrated Jaume Riera, president of CE Laietà.
For his part, Fernando Romay, FEB ambassador, recalled that it was an act “done with the heart”. “Our basketball has a splendid present, an exciting future, but we are also very proud of our past. It is a great satisfaction to restore to CE Laietá this trophy that had been lost, and which is such a dear memory. In this way, we thank all their work and history”, he stressed.
Finally, the vice president of the FEB and president of the Catalan Federation, Ferran Aril, showed his “pride” for recognizing the club as “a very important part of its history, such as the 1942 Cup champion trophy.” “Our congratulations for having it back in your showcases in this centenary year,” he said.