AE Prat · History

AE Prat (Associació Esportiva Prat) is the football club of El Prat de Llobregat, in the Baix Llobregat area of Barcelona province. Since 2025 it has played in the Lliga Elit, the sixth tier of Spanish football, run by the Catalan Football Federation. The club was founded on 7 February 1945 as Agrupación Deportiva Prat. It has spent most of its existence between the Catalan regional leagues and the Tercera División, with five seasons in Segunda División B and two in the national fourth tier. It has played its home games at the municipal Sagnier ground since October 2003.

Origins and founding

Before the Spanish Civil War the town had two clubs: Club Deportiu Prat, formed in 1934, and CD Internacional, formed in 1935. In May 1939 they merged to form Unió Deportiva Prat, which won the 1939-40 Catalan amateur championship and folded soon afterwards. Its place was taken by Agrupación Deportiva Prat, set up on 7 February 1945. Josep Aleu Torres was its first president, and the club played its first match on 19 March that year. It also had a basketball section, which merged into Club Bàsquet Prat in 1993.

Four decades of regional football

For its first forty years Prat played in the Catalan regional divisions. It won Group III of the Primera Territorial in 1968-69 and again in 1982-83. In 1983-84 it won its first promotion to the Tercera División, and around 2,000 spectators watched the promotion match at the old Fondo d'en Peixo municipal ground. That first spell lasted three seasons: 16th in 1984-85, 9th in 1985-86 and 18th in 1986-87, which sent the club back to regional football.

Between the regional leagues and the Tercera

The way back was slow. In 1994-95 Prat beat CD Masnou in the play-off for promotion to the Primera Catalana, and in 1997-98 it won Group II of the Regional Preferent. It returned to the Tercera in 2002 but went down after one season. The team moved to the Sagnier in October 2003, won the Primera Catalana in 2004-05 and went back up to the national tier, only to drop out again in 2006-07. By 2008-09 it was back in the Tercera, finishing 8th. It then came 4th in 2009-10 and 9th in 2010-11.

Reaching Segunda División B

In 2011-12 Prat won Group V of the Tercera División for the first time. In the play-off between group champions it met Atlético Sanluqueño, drawing 0-0 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and winning 2-0 at the Sagnier. That result gave the club its first ever promotion to Segunda División B. In its debut season in the division, 2012-13, it finished 12th in Group III. The following season, 2013-14, it came 17th and was relegated to the Tercera.

Promotions, relegations and a new structure

After finishing 6th in 2014-15, a season in which it won the Catalan stage of the Copa Federación, Prat won Group V of the Tercera again in 2015-16 and went up to Segunda B for the second time. It lasted one season, finishing 19th in 2016-17. It came 5th in 2017-18 and 4th in 2018-19, a season that ended with its third promotion to Segunda B. In 2019-20 it finished 17th and won the Catalan stage of the Copa Federación again. It also played the 2020-21 season in Segunda B. When Spanish football was restructured in 2021, the club moved into the new Segunda División RFEF, the fourth tier. It finished 12th in 2021-22 and 14th in 2022-23, which meant relegation to the Tercera Federación. There it came 5th in 2023-24 and 18th in 2024-25, and dropped into the Lliga Elit.

Honours

The club has won Group V of the Tercera División twice (2011-12 and 2015-16), plus the Primera Catalana (2004-05), Group II of the Regional Preferent (1997-98), Group III of the Primera Territorial twice (1968-69 and 1982-83) and the Catalan stage of the Copa Federación twice (2014-15 and 2019-20). The 1939-40 Catalan amateur championship is credited to its predecessor, Unió Deportiva Prat.

The 2026 Copa del Rey

In its first Lliga Elit season, 2025-26, Prat finished 4th out of sixteen teams, which earned it a place in the preliminary round of the Copa del Rey. It won the first leg 5-1 away to Sant Rafel in Ibiza on 27 September 2026, with two goals from Gustavo Reinke. The second leg, set for 4 October, was postponed after the Ibiza side's flight was cancelled. It was played on 11 October at the Sagnier, where Prat won 5-0 for a 10-1 aggregate. In the first round the club drew Athletic Club. The tie was played on 29 October 2026 at the Estadi de la Feixa Llarga in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and ended 1-6. Reinke scored Prat's goal in the 33rd minute.