Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F. is a Spanish
sports club best known for its
football team which was ranked as 'The
20th Century's Best Club' by
FIFA. The club, which went in place of the Spanish FA, was also one of the founding members of FIFA. They play their home games at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in
Madrid. Real Madrid have been
European Champions a record 9 times and have also won a record 29
La Liga titles. The club also operates a reserve football team,
Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful
basketball team,
Real Madrid Baloncesto. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated solely by its members (socios) since its founding in 1902.
During its history, the club has acquired a number of nicknames. Among the earliest were
los merengues, after the white dessert
meringue, and
los blancos. Both simply referred to the club's legendary all-white strip and are the most common to this day. In the
1970s, the nickname
los vikingos became popular, possibly due to the signings of several northern European players. More recently, the media dubbed the club
los galácticos, referring to club decision to sign star players.
Early years
Football was introduced to
Madrid by the professors and students of the
Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They included several
Oxbridge graduates. In 1895 they founded the club
Football Sky, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. In 1900 this club split into two different clubs
New Foot-Ball de Madrid and
Español de Madrid. The president of the latter club was
Julián Palacios. In 1902 the latter club split again, resulting in the formation of
Madrid FC on March 6 1902. The first president was
Juan Padrós Rubió; the first secretary was
Manuel Mendía; and the first treasurer was
José de Gorostizaga. Juan Padrós Rubió would be later succeeded by his brother,
Carlos. The Padrós brothers belonged to a
Catalan family that had settled in Madrid. The club colours were derived from the
English side
Corinthians. The club's first manager was an Englishman,
Arthur Johnson.
In 1902
Madrid FC members proposed a cup competition to celebrate the coronation of
Alfonso XIII . This competition would evolve into the
Copa del Rey. In 1904 the club merged with two other Madrid teams,
Moderno Amicale and
Moncloa. The club won its first
Copa del Rey in 1905 and then completed a four in row sequence of wins by 1908. In 1920 the club became
Real Madrid FC after receiving the royal patronage of
Alfonso XIII. In 1928 they became founding members of
La Liga and since then they have never been relegated from the
Primera Division. During the
Second Spanish Republic the
Real was dropped from the clubs name. As
Madrid FC, the club won their first
La Liga titles in 1932 and 1933.
Santiago Bernabéu
Before becoming President in 1943,
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste had already carried out the functions of player, first-team captain, club maintanence, first-team manager and director, in an association with the club that lasted nearly 70 years. He was responsible for reconstituting the club after the
Spanish Civil War, and under his presidency, the
Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the
Ciudad Deportiva were built.
He also reorganized the club at all levels, in what would become the normal operating hierarchy of professional clubs in the future, giving every section and level of the club independent technical teams and recruiting staff such as
Raimundo Saporta.
Finally, beginning in 1953 he embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being
Alfredo Di Stéfano, and built the world's first truly multinational side. During Bernabéu's presidency many of Real Madrid's most legendary names played for the club, including the aforementioned
Alfredo Di Stéfano,
Francisco Gento, Luis Molowny,
Miguel Muñoz,
Raymond Kopa, Héctor Rial,
Ferenc Puskas,
Amancio,
Santillana,
Juanito,
Uli Stielike,
Vicente Del Bosque,
José Antonio Camacho and others.
In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the
L'Equipe journalist Gabriel Hanot and building upon the
Copa Latina (a tournament involving clubs from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), Bernabéu met in the Ambassador Hotel in
Paris with Bedrignan and
Gustav Sebes and created what today is known as the
Champions' League. Under the administration of
UEFA, it is the world's premier club tournament.
It was under Bernabéu's guidance that Real Madrid became established as a major force in both Spanish and European football. Before passing away in
1978, Bernabéu had been the club's president for 35 years, during which he won 1
Intercontinental Cup, 6
European Cups, 16
La Liga titles, and 6
Spanish Cups.
Domestic Success
The mid-1950s saw Real Madrid put together a team that included, among others
Alfredo Di Stefano,
Ferenc Puskás,
Francisco Gento,
Hector Rial,
Raymond Kopa, and
José Santamaria. These players formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. They won
La Liga for first time in over 20 years as
Real Madrid in 1954 and retained it in 1955. They were winners again in 1957 and 1958, with only
Athletic Bilbao interrupting their sequence.
CF Barcelona won
La Liga in 1959 and 1960 but between 1961 and 1980 Real Madrid dominated
La Liga with the club winning the competition 14 times. This included a five-in-a-row sequence (1961-1965) and two three-in-a-row sequences (1967-69 and 1978-1980). It was during this era that legendary players such as
Jose Antonio Camacho,
Uli Stielke and
Juan Gomez came into the side.
In the early 1980s Real Madrid lost its grip on
La Liga but by 1986 they had resumed normal service with another five-in-a-row sequence (1986-90). This team included included
Hugo Sánchez and the infamous
'Quinta del Buitre' -
Emilio Butragueño,
Manolo Sanchís,
Martín Vazquéz,
Míchel and
Miguel Pardeza.
Real Madrid has also won the
Copa del Rey on 17 occasions, and are 7-time winners of the
Supercopa de España.
International Success
In addition to their domestic success, Real Madrid's reputation as a major club was established by their outstanding record in the
European Cup. To date have they have been crowned champions of Europe a record nine times.
Alfredo di Stefano,
Ferenc Puskás and other famous players helped the club win the
European Cup five times in a row between 1956 and 1960, which included the memorable 7-3 Hampden Park final against
Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. The club won for a sixth time in 1966, defeating
Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in the final with a team composed entirely of nationally-born players, a first in the competition. They were also runners-up in 1962, 1964 and 1981. Winning the competition five consecutive times saw Real permanently awarded the original cup and earning the right to wear the
UEFA badge of honour. They have also won the
UEFA Cup twice and were twice runners-up in the
European Cup Winners Cup.
In 1996 President
Lorenzo Sanz appointed
Fabio Capello as coach. Although his tenure lasted only one season, in which Real Madrid were proclaimed league champions, the team he built, which included
Raúl,
Predrag Mijatović,
Fernando Redondo,
Fernando Hierro,
Davor Šuker,
Clarence Seedorf, and
Roberto Carlos, ended Real Madrid's 32-year wait for their seventh European Cup in 1998 under manager
Jupp Heynckes, defeating Juventus 1-0 in the final. Real Madrid would go on to win again in 2000 and 2002 under manager
Vicente Del Bosque, with sides including players such as
Fernando Morientes,
Steve McManaman,
Luís Figo and
Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid are also three-time winners of the
Intercontinental Cup, defeating
Peñarol,
Vasco da Gama, and
Olimpia Asunción in 1960, 1998, and 2002 respectively.
The Florentino Pérez Years
In July 2000
Florentino Pérez was elected club president with the promise to sign the world's best players including then-
FC Barcelona star
Luis Figo, end the club's debt, and modernize the club's facilities. After reaching an agreement to re-zone and sell the
Ciudad Deportiva, Pérez went on to sign
Zinedine Zidane,
Ronaldo and
David Beckham, and the media began refering to the team as
Los Galácticos. Initially the strategy, eventually dubbed
Zidanes y Pavones and meant to combine world stars and youth team graduates, was successful and Real Madrid won
La Liga in 2001 and 2003 and the
UEFA Champions League in 2002, their centenary year. They also won the
Intercontinental Cup, the
European Super Cup and the
Supercopa de España in both 2001 and 2003.
Off the field the
Zidanes y Pavones policy resulted in increased financial success based on the exploitation of the club's high marketing potential around the world, especially in
Asia; however, the team's on-field performance declined following several unsuccessful appointments as coach in an effort to replace
Vicente Del Bosque, combined with a questionable transfer policy. Despite signing further high-profile players such as
Walter Samuel,
Sergio Ramos,
Michael Owen,
Robinho, and
Julio Baptista, Real Madrid have failed to win a major trophy since 2003.
The
Galácticos nickname, originally used by the media as means of emphasising the greatness of the team, became instead a term used to mock it, and has fallen into disuse. Although the success of the club's economic model led it to overtake
Manchester United as the world's richest club, the high turnover in non-playing staff (four managers and four directors of football in the four years since the departure of Del Bosque in 2003) and the lack of success on the field caused
Florentino Pérez to resign on February 27 2006.
Recent events
On July 2 2006
Ramón Calderón who was elected as club president and he subsequently appointed
Fabio Capello as the new coach and
Predrag Mijatovic as the new sporting director. Real have recently signed
Fabio Cannavaro,
Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, both from
Juventus F.C. and
Ruud Van Nistelrooy from
Manchester United.
During most home matches the majority of the seats in the stadium are occupied by season ticket holders, of which there are approximately 65,000. In order to become a season ticket holder one must first be a socio, or club member. Not all members are able to get a season ticket. In addition to members, the club has over 1,800
peñas (official, club-affiliated supporters' groups) in Spain and around the world. It also has two hardcore, or
ultra groups,
Ultras Sur which is the larger of the two and known for its far-right affiliations, and
Orgullo Vikingo, an apolitical group.
Rivalry with FC Barcelona
The rivalry between Real Madrid and
FC Barcelona is legendary.From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of the two rival regions of Spain,
Castile and
Catalonia, as well as the two cities themselves. The rivalry reached a new level during the
Franco years when Real Madrid's international success was capitalized upon by Franco and Real Madrid became viewed as the regime team, with FC Barcelona often seen as the opposition team.
However, during the
Spanish Civil War itself, members of Real Madrid also suffered at the hands of
Franco supporters. Real Madrid president
Rafael Sánchez Guerra, a prominent Republican, was imprisoned and tortured. They also arrested and murdered a Real vice-president and club treasurer and an acting president disappeared.
The rivalry was given a significant boost by the
1943 Copa del Generalísimo semi-final between the two clubs. The first leg at
Les Corts ended in a 3-0 loss for Real, but the return leg in Madrid saw them win 11-1. It has been alleged by some that the FC Barcelona players were pressured into losing the game. Controversies such as the dispute over the signing of
Alfredo Di Stéfano in the 1950s intensified the rivalry further.
As the two biggest, wealthiest, and most successful clubs in Spain, the rivalry is renewed on an almost annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The flashpoints of this rivalry are the twice-a-season
superclásicos which draw vast audiences from around the world. Real Madrid's recent record against Barcelona is quite poor in the league, having only won once in the
Camp Nou in the past 20 years; nevertheless Real Madrid eliminated Barcelona from the semifinals of the 2001-2002 Champions' League.
Rivalry with Atlético Madrid
As well as their rivalry with
FC Barcelona Real also enjoy a local rivalry with
Atlético de Madrid. Altough Atlético was originally founded by three
Basque students in 1903, they were joined in 1904 by dissident members of
Madrid FC. Further tensions came because initially Atlético supporters came from the
working class while the Real supporters were drawn from the
middle class. Today these distinctions are largely blurred. The rivalry first gained international attention in 1959 during the
European Cup when the two clubs met in the semi-final. Real won the first leg 2-1 at the
Bernabéu while Atlético won 1-0 at the
Metropolitano. If away goals had counted double Atlético would have progressed to the final. However the tie went to a replay and Real won 2-1. Atlético, however, gained some revenge when, led by former Real coach
José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two successive
Copa del Generalísimo finals in 1960 and 1961.
Between 1961 and 1980 when Real dominated
La Liga, only Atlético offered Real any serious challenge, winning
La Liga titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. In 1965, when they finished as
La Liga runners-up to Real after an intense battle for the title, Atlético became the first team to beat Real at the
Bernabéu in eight years. Real Madrid's record against Atlético in more recent times is very favourable. A high point coming in the 2002/03 season, when Real clinched the
La Liga title after beating Atlético 4-0 at the
Vicente Calderón stadium.
*
Intercontinental Cup: 3:: 1960; 1998; 2002.
*
European Cup/Champions League: 9 (season, score and finalist)*:: 1955/56 4-3 vs.
Stade de Reims-Champagne:: 1956/57 2-0 vs.
A.C. Fiorentina:: 1957/58 3-2 vs.
AC Milan:: 1958/59 2-0 vs.
Stade de Reims-Champagne:: 1959/60 7-3 vs.
Eintracht Frankfurt:: 1965/66 2-1 vs.
Partizan Belgrade:: 1997/98 1-0 vs.
Juventus:: 1999/00 3-0 vs.
Valencia:: 2001/02 2-1 vs.
Bayer Leverkusen |
Real Madrid in white v. Real Sociedad in black on January 5, 2005 |
*
UEFA Cup: 2:: 1984/85; 1985/86.
*
European Super Cup: 1:: 2002.
*
Spanish Championship: 29:: 1931/32 1932/33 1953/54 1954/55 1956/57 1957/58 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1966/67 1967/68 1968/69 1971/72 1974/75 1975/76 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1985/86 1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 1989/90 1994/95 1996/97 2000/01 2002/03
*
Copa del Rey: 17:: 1904/05; 1905/06; 1906/07; 1907/08; 1916/17; 1933/34; 1935/36; 1945/46; 1946/47; 1961/62; 1969/70; 1973/74; 1974/75; 1979/80; 1981/82; 1988/89; 1992/93.
*
Copa de la Liga: 1:: 1984/85.
*
Supercopa de España: 8:: 1947 1988 1989 1990 1993 1997 2001 2003
*
Copa Latina:
2:: 1955 1957
*
Regional Championship: 18:: 1903/04; 1904/05; 1905/06; 1906/07; 1907/08; 1912/13; 1915/16; 1916/17; 1917/18;::1919/20; 1921/22; 1922/23; 1923/24; 1925/26; 1926/27; 1928/29; 1929/30; 1930/31.
The numbers are established according to the official websites of Real Madrid, the Spanish league and UEFA. Spanish teams are limited to three players without EU citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. For example, the Brazilian Roberto Carlos also holds a Spanish passport.As of February 1 2006 |
| The 4-2-2-2 Lineup. Real Madrid's Most likely Lineup for the 06/07 Season. |
Squad Changes During Summer 2006
In: *
Fabio Cannavaro -Signed
From Juventus F.C. *
Emerson - Signed
From Juventus F.C. *
Ruud van Nistelrooy - Signed
From Manchester United
* Borja - Loan return From RCD Mallorca
Out:
* Zinedine Zidane - Retired
* Roberto Soldado - On Loan To CA Osasuna
* Alvaro Arbeloa - Transferred To Deportivo de La Coruña
* Jurado - Transferred To Atletico Madrid €3m
* Javier Portillo Transferred To Gimnàstic de Tarragona
* Carlos Diogo Transferred To Real Zaragoza''
See also: Real Madrid Castilla
