Real Madrid Club de Fútbol commonly known as
Real Madrid, is a professional
football club based in
Madrid, Spain. It was founded in 1902 as
Madrid Football Club and has traditionally worn a white home kit since. The word
Real is Spanish for
royal and was bestowed to the club by
King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s.
Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (
socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. The club is
the richest football club in terms of annual revenue, generating €438.6 million in 2011and the
second most valuable, worth €1.4 billion. Real Madrid holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably
El Clásico with
FC Barcelona. The team has played its home matches in the 85,454-capacity
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in downtown Madrid since 1947.
History
Early years (1897–1945)
Real Madrid's origins go back to when football was introduced to Madrid by the academics and students of the
Institución libre de enseñanza, which included several
Cambridge and
Oxford University graduates. They founded
Football Club Sky in 1897, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. It split into two clubs in 1900:
New Foot-Ball de Madrid and
Club Español de Madrid.
[7] On 6 March 1902, after a new Board presided by
Juan Padrós had been elected, Madrid Football Club was officially founded. Three years after its foundation, in 1905,
Madrid FC won its first title after defeating
Athletic Bilbao in the
Spanish Cup final. The club became one of the founding sides of the
Royal Spanish Football Federation on 4 January 1909, when club president
Adolfo Meléndez signed the foundation agreement of the Spanish FA. After moving between grounds the team moved to the
Campo de O'Donnell in 1912. In 1920, the club's name was changed to Real Madrid after
King Alfonso XIII granted the title of
Real (Royal) to the club.
In 1929, the first
Spanish football league was founded. Real Madrid led the first league season until the last match, a loss to Athletic Bilbao, meant they finished runners-up to Barcelona. Real Madrid won its first League title in the
1931–32 season. Real won the League again the following year, becoming the first side to have won the championship twice.
On 14 April 1931, the arrival of the
Second Spanish Republic caused the club to lose the title Real and went back to being named as Madrid Football Club. Football continued during the Second World War, and on 13 June 1943 Madrid beat
Barcelona 11–1 in the second leg of a semi-final of the
Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa del Rey having been renamed in honour of
General Franco. It has been suggested that players were intimidated by police, including by the director of state security who "allegedly told the team that some of them were only playing because of the regime's generosity in permitting them to remain in the country." The Barcelona chairman, Enric Piñeyro, was assaulted by Madrid fans.
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste and European success (1945–1978)
In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the French sports journalist and editor of
L'Équipe Gabriel Hanot, Bernabéu, Bedrignan and
Gusztáv Sebes created an exhibition tournament of invited teams from around Europe that would eventually become what today is known as the
UEFA Champions League. It was under Bernabéu's guidance that Real Madrid established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football. The club won the European Cup five times in a row between 1956 and 1960, which included the 7–3 Hampden Park
final against
Eintracht Frankfurt in
1960. After these five consecutive successes, Real was permanently awarded the original cup and earning the right to wear the
UEFA badge of honour. The club won the European Cup for a sixth time in
1966 defeating
Partizan Belgrade 2–1 in
the final with a team composed entirely of same nationality players, a first in the competition. This team became known as the
Yé-yé. The name "Ye-yé" came from the "Yeah, yeah, yeah" chorus in
The Beatles' song "
She Loves You" after four members of the team posed for
Diario Marca dressed in Beatles wigs. The Ye-yé generation was also European Cup runner-up in
1962 and
1964.
In the 1970s, Real Madrid won 5 league championships and 3 Spanish Cups. The club played its first UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in 1971 and lost to English side Chelsea 2–1. On 2 July 1978, club president Santiago Bernabéu died while the
World Cup was being played in
Argentina. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decreed three days of mourning to honour him during the tournament. The following year, the club organized the first edition of the
Santiago Bernabéu Trophy in the memory of its former president.
Quinta del Buitre and seventh European Cup (1980–2000)
By the early 1980s, Real Madrid had lost its grasp on the
La Liga title until a new batch of home-grown stars brought
domestic success back to the club. Spanish sport journalist Julio César Iglesias gave to this generation the name
La Quinta del Buitre ("Vulture's Cohort"), which was derived from the nickname given to one of its members,
Emilio Butragueño. The other four members were
Manuel Sanchís,
Martín Vázquez,
Míchel and
Miguel Pardeza. With
La Quinta del Buitre (reduced to four members when Pardeza left the club for
Zaragoza in 1986) and notable players like goalkeeper
Francisco Buyo, right-back Miguel Porlán
Chendo and Mexican striker
Hugo Sánchez, Real Madrid had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe during the second half of the 1980s, winning two UEFA Cups, five
Spanish championships in a row, one Spanish cup and three
Spanish Super Cups. In the early 1990s,
La Quinta del Buitre split up after Martín Vázquez, Emilio Butragueño and Míchel left the club.
In 1996, President
Lorenzo Sanz appointed
Fabio Capello as coach. Although his tenure lasted only one season, Real Madrid was proclaimed league champion and players like
Roberto Carlos,
Predrag Mijatović,
Davor Šuker and
Clarence Seedorf arrived at the club to strengthen a squad that already boasted the likes of
Raúl,
Fernando Hierro,
Iván Zamorano, and
Fernando Redondo. As a result, Real Madrid (with the addition of
Fernando Morientes in 1997) finally ended its 32-year wait for its seventh European Cup. In 1998, under manager
Jupp Heynckes, The Whites defeated Juventus 1–0 in the final thanks to a goal from
Predrag Mijatović.
Los Galácticos (2000–2006)
For more details on this topic, see
Galáctico.
Beckham and Zidane were considered "Galácticos".
In July 2000,
Florentino Pérez was elected club president. He vowed in his campaign to erase the club's 270 million euro debt and modernize the club's facilities. However, the primary electoral promise that propelled Pérez to victory was the signing of
Luís Figo. The following year, the club got its training ground rezoned and used the money to begin assembling the famous
Galáctico side including players such as
Zinédine Zidane,
Ronaldo,
Luís Figo,
Roberto Carlos,
Raúl and
David Beckham. It is debatable whether the gamble paid off, as despite a UEFA Champions League and an
Intercontinental Cup (football) win in 2002, followed by the League in 2003, the club failed to win a major trophy for the next three seasons. In the summer of 2003, just after capturing another La Liga title, Florentino Pérez and the board of directors refused to renew the contract of coach
Vicente del Bosque and after an internal dispute forced captain
Fernando Hierro to leave the club. They also ignored Claude Makélélé's request of a new contract with a better salary, in return, Makélélé asked for a transfer request, and was transferred to Chelsea.
The few days after the capturing of the league title were surrounded with controversy. The first controversial decision came when Perez sacked winning coach Vicente del Bosque, after Real's sporting director claimed that del Bosque was not the right man for the job; they wanted someone young to shake up the team. The bad atmosphere continued when the Real legend and captain Fernando Hierro left the club after a disagreement with the management, as did
Steve McManaman. However, the club toured Asia in pre-season and introduced newly signed
David Beckham. Perez and his directors refused to renew
Claude Makélélé's contract with a better salary, upsetting Makelele who asked for a transfer, eventually moving to Chelsea F.C.. In the final days of the transfer window, Fernando Morientes left the club on loan to Monaco. Real Madrid, with newly appointed coach Carlos Queiroz, started their domestic league slowly after a hard win over Real Betis.
The 2005-06 season began with the promise of several new signings —
Julio Baptista (€20 Million),
Robinho (€30 Million) and
Sergio Ramos (€30 Million - Release Clause) — but the Brazilian coach was not able to find the right formula on the pitch as Real Madrid's poor form continued, with the team hitting rock bottom after a humiliating 0–3 loss at the hands of F.C. Barcelona in the Santiago Bernabéu.Luxemburgo would eventually resign and his replacement was
Juan Ramón López Caro, formally the manager of
Real Madrid Castilla. A brief return to form came to an abrupt halt after losing the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal, 6–1 to Real Zaragoza. Shortly after, Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League for a fourth successive year, this time at the hands of Arsenal. On 27 February 2006, Florentino Pérez resigned.
New president Ramón Calderón (2006–2009)
Ramón Calderón was elected as club president on 2 July 2006 and subsequently appointed Fabio Capello as the new coach and
Predrag Mijatović as the new sporting director. Real Madrid won the
La Liga title in 2007 for the first time in four years but Capello was sacked. On 9 June 2007, Real played against
Zaragoza at
La Romareda. The match got off to a bad start when Real Madrid were forced to change their lineup some minutes before the start of the match when young defender
Miguel Torres tore his hamstring during warm-up.Zaragoza led Real 2-1 near the end of the match while Barcelona were also winning against Espanyol 2-1. Real's title challenge looked to be over. However, a late
Ruud van Nistelrooy equalizer followed by a last minute
Raúl Tamudo goal sprang Real Madrid's title hopes back into their favour. Sevilla were also held 0-0 away against
Mallorca, which meant that a win at home against Mallorca would effectively secure Los Merengues their 30th Spanish league title.
The title was won on 17 June, Real faced Mallorca at the
Bernabéu, while
Barcelona and
Sevilla, the other title challengers, faced
Gimnàstic de Tarragona and
Villarreal respectively. At half time Real were 0-1 down, while Barcelona had surged ahead into a 0-3 lead in
Tarragona; however, three goals in the last half-an-hour secured Real Madrid a 3-1 win and their first league title since 2003. The first goal came from
Reyes who scored after a good work from
Higuaín. An own goal followed by another delightful goal from Reyes allowed Real to begin celebrating the title. Thousands of Real Madrid fans began going to
Plaza de Cibeles to celebrate the title.
Second Pérez and Mourinho era (2009–present)
Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's most expensive player.
On 1 June 2009, Florentino Pérez regained Real Madrid's presidency. Pérez continued with the
Galácticos policy pursued in his first term, buying
Kaká from
Milan,
[34] and then purchasing
Cristiano Ronaldo from
Manchester United for a record breaking £80 million.
José Mourinho took over as manager in May 2010. In April 2011, a strange occurrence happened, for the first time ever, four
Clásicos were to be played in a span of eighteen days. The first fixture was for the Liga campaign on 17 April (which ended 1-1 with penalty goals for both sides), the
Copa del Rey final (which ended 1–0 to Madrid), and the controversial two-legged Champions League semifinal on 27 April and 2 May (3–1 loss on aggregate) to Madrid.
The first Clasico saw
Cristiano Ronaldo get his first goal against Barcelona due to a penalty given to Madrid after a foul to
Marcelo. The Copa del Rey final gave Real Madrid its first title under Mourinho with a header from
Cristiano Ronaldo in extra time. The Champions League semifinal was perhaps the most controversial of the four, with the expulsion of
Pepe in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, after an alleged "dangerous challenge" to Barcelona defender
Daniel Alves. Alves was carried out in a stretcher "unable to walk", but after Pepe was shown red, Alves came running back into the field within seconds. After Pepe's sending off, coach José Mourinho was also sent off, receiving a fine and a five-match ban. This same match was also controversial in that Barcelona midfielder
Sergio Busquets being captured on video saying what seemed like a supposed racial slur to Madrid left-back
Marcelo. The second leg was not as controversial as the first, with perhaps the exception of an annulled goal to
Gonzalo Higuaín, after Cristiano Ronaldo had "fouled"
Javier Mascherano as a result of a foul to Ronaldo by
Gerard Piqué.
In the 2011–12 La Liga season, Real Madrid won the league, a record 32nd time in La Liga history and finished the season with a number of records including 100 points in a single season, a record 121 goals scored & goal difference of +89, and a record 16 away wins and 32 overall wins. In the same season, Cristiano Ronaldo become the fastest player to reach 100 goals in Spanish league history. In reaching 101 goals in 92 games, Ronaldo surpassed Real Madrid legend
Ferenc Puskás, who scored 100 goals in 105 games. Ronaldo set a new club mark for individual goals scored in one year (60), and became the first player ever to score against all 19 opposition teams in a single season.
Crest and shirt
The progression of Real Madrid's crest since the Club's formation in 1902.
The first crest had a simple design consisting of a decorative interlacing of the three initials of the club, "MCF" for Madrid Club de Fútbol, in dark blue on a white shirt. The first change in the crest occurred in 1908 when the letters adopted a more streamlined form and appeared inside a circle. The next change in the configuration of the crest did not occur until the presidency of
Pedro Parages in 1920. At that time,
King Alfonso XIII granted the club his royal patronage which came in the form of the title "Real Madrid", roughly translated as "Royal". Thus, Alfonso's crown was added to the crest and the club styled itself
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. With the dissolution of the monarchy in 1931, all the royal symbols (the crown on the crest and the title of Real) were eliminated. The crown was replaced by the dark mulberry band of the Region of Castile. In 1941, two years after the end of the
Civil War, the crest's "Real Corona", or "Royal Crown", was restored while the mulberry stripe of
Castile was retained as well. In addition, the whole crest was made full color, with gold being the most prominent, and the club was again called Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. The most recent modification to the crest occurred in 2001 when the club wanted to better situate itself for the 21st century and further standardize its crest. One of the modifications made was changing the mulberry stripe to a more bluish shade.
Real's traditional away colours are all black or all purple. The club's kit is currently manufactured by Adidas whose contract extends from 1998. Real Madrid's first shirt sponsor, Zanussi, agreed for the 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons. Following that, the club was sponsored by Parmalat and Otaysa before a long-term deal was signed with Teka in 1992. In 2001, Real Madrid ended their contract with Teka and for one season used the Realmadrid.com logo to promote the club's website. Then, in 2002, a deal was signed with Siemens Mobile and in 2006, the BenQ Siemens logo appeared on the club's shirt. Real Madrid's current shirt sponsor is bwin.com following the economic problems of BenQ Siemens.Real Madrid's traditional home colours are all white, although before its foundation the first kit initially adopted a blue oblique stripe on the shirt (the design was kept in the club crest); but unlike today, dark blue socks were worn. In the same year, the blue socks were replaced by black ones. Real Madrid has maintained the white shirt for its home kit throughout the history of the club. There was however one season that the shirt and shorts were not both white. It was an initiative undertaken by Ecobal and Quesada in 1925, the two were traveling through England when they noticed the kit worn by London-based team
Corinthian F.C., one of the most famous teams at the time known for its elegance and sportsmanship. It was decided that Real Madrid would wear black shorts in an attempt to look like the English team but the initiative lasted only one year. After being eliminated from the cup by Barcelona with a 1-5 defeat in Madrid and a 2-0 defeat in Catalonia, President Parages decided to return to an all-white kit claiming that the other brought bad luck. Years later,
Leeds United switched their blue shirt for a white one after marveling at Real Madrid's 7-3 Victory against
Eintracht Frankfurt in
Glasgow's
Hampden Park. By the early 1940s the manager changed the kit again by adding buttons to the shirt and the club's crest on the left breast (which have remained ever since). On 23 November 1947, in a game against
Atlético Madrid at the
Metropolitano Stadium, Real Madrid became the first Spanish team to wear numbered shirts.
Grounds
| Santiago Bernabéu |
|---|
 |
| Broke ground | 27 October 1944 |
|---|
| Opened | 14 December 1947 |
|---|
| Architect | Manuel Muñoz Monasterio, Luis Alemany Soler, Antonio Lamela |
|---|
| Capacity | 85,454 |
|---|
| Field dimensions | 107 × 72 m (351 × 236 ft) |
|---|
After moving between grounds the team moved to the
"Campo de O'Donnell" in 1912, which remained its home ground for eleven years. After this period, the club moved for one year to the
Campo de Ciudad Lineal, a small ground with a capacity of 8,000 spectators. After that, Real Madrid moved its home matches to
Estadio Chamartín which was inaugurated on 17 May 1923 with a match against
Newcastle United. In this stadium, which hosted 22,500 spectators, Real Madrid celebrated its first Spanish league title.
[10] After some successes, the 1943 elected president
Santiago Bernabéu decided that the
Estadio Chamartín was not big enough for the ambitions of the club. A new stadium was built and was inaugurated on 14 December 1947. This was the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as it is known today, although it did not acquire this name until 1955. The first match held on Bernabéu was played between Real Madrid and the Portuguese club
Belenenses and won by The Whites with 3–1, the first goal being scored by Sabino Barinaga.
The capacity has changed frequently, peaking at 120,000 after a 1953 expansion. Since then, there have been a number of reductions due to modernizations (the last standing places went away in 1998–99 in response to
UEFA regulations which forbids standing at matches in the UEFA competition), countered to some extent by expansions. The last change was an increase of about five thousand to a capacity of 85,454, effected in 2011. A plan to add a retractable roof has been announced. Real Madrid has the fourth highest of the
average attendances of European football clubs only behind
Borussia Dortmund,
FC Barcelona, and
Manchester United.
On 9 May 2006, the
Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium was inaugurated at the City of Madrid where Real Madrid usually trains. The inaugural match was played between Real Madrid and
Stade Reims, a rematch of the 1956 European Cup final. Real Madrid won the match 6–1 with goals from
Sergio Ramos,
Cassano (2),
Soldado (2), and
Jurado. The venue is now part of the
Ciudad Real Madrid, the club's new training facilities located outside
Madrid in Valdebebas. The stadium holds 5,000 people and is
Real Madrid Castilla's home ground. It is named after former Real footballer Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Rivalries
El Clásico
The passage of congratulating Real Madrid as champions of the league by Barcelona.
There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between Real Madrid and Barcelona is known as 'The Classic' (
El Clásico). From the start of national competitions the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain:
Catalonia and
Castile, as well as of the two cities. The rivalry reflects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between
Catalans and the
Castilians, seen by one author as a re-enactment of the
Spanish Civil War.
[81]
During the dictatorships of
Primo de Rivera and especially of
Francisco Franco (1939–1975), all regional cultures were suppressed. All of the languages spoken in Spanish territory, except Spanish (
Castilian) itself, were officially banned.
[82][83] Symbolising the Catalan people's desire for freedom,
Barcelona became 'More than a club' (
Més que un club) for the Catalans. According to
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, the best way for the Catalans to demonstrate their identity was by joining Barcelona. It was less risky than joining a clandestine anti-Franco movement, and allowed them to express their dissidence.
[84]
During the 1950s the rivalry was exacerbated further when there was a
controversy surrounding the transfer of
Alfredo Di Stéfano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key to their subsequent success.
[87] The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the knock-out rounds of the European Cup. In 2002, the European encounter between the clubs was dubbed the "Match of The Century" by Spanish media, and was watched by more than 500 million people.
[89]
El Derbi madrileño
Real Madrid supporters during the 2006 El Derbi madrileño match held at Santiago Bernabéu.
The club's nearest neighbour is
Atlético Madrid, a rivalry being shared between fans of both football teams. Although Atlético was originally founded by three
Basque students in 1903, it was joined in 1904 by dissident members of
Madrid FC. Further tensions came because initially Real supporters came from the
middle class while the Atlético supporters were drawn from the
working class. Today these distinctions are largely blurred. They met for the first time on 21 February 1929 in matchday three of the first
League Championship at the former
Chamartín. It was the first official derby of the new tournament, and Real won 2–1.
[10] 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. The tie went to a replay and The Whites won 2–1. Atlético, however, gained some revenge when, led by former Real Madrid coach
José Villalonga, it defeated The Whites in two successive
Copa del Generalísimo finals in 1960 and 1961.
[90]
Between 1961 and 1989, when Real dominated
La Liga, only Atlético offered it any serious challenge, winning Liga titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. In 1965, 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 favorable.
[91] A high point coming in the
2002–03 season, when The Whites clinched the La Liga title after an impressive victory at Atlético 0–4 at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium.
First-team squad
- As of 19 July 2012.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Personnel
Current technical staff
- See also List of Real Madrid C.F. managers
El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — Is an interactive museum of science that resembles the skeleton of a whale. It occupies around 40,000 m² on three floors. The hotch-potch of exhibits is designed more for 'entertainment value' than for science education. The building is much more impressive outside than inside and its meagre contents show how little thought was put into the whole project. Much of the ground floor is taken up by a basketball court sponsored by a local team and various companies. The building is made up of three floors of which 26,000 square meters is used for exhibitions. The first floor has a beautiful view of the Turia Garden that surrounds it; which is over 13,500 square meters of water. The second floor hosts “The Legacy of Science” exhibition by the researchers; Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa y Jean Dausset. The third floor is known as the “Chromosome Forest” which shows the sequencing of human DNA. Also on this floor is the “Zero Gravity,” the “Space Academy,” and “Marvel Superheroes” exhibitions. The building’s architecture is known for its geometry, structure, use of materials, and its design around nature. The building is about 42,000 square meter and 26,000 square meters of is exhibition space, which is currently the largest in Spain. It has 20,000 square meters of glass, 4,000 panes, 58,000 m³ of concrete, and 14.000 tons of steel. This magnificent building stands 220 meters long, 80 meters wide and 55 meters high.
L'Umbracle — a landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia (such as rockrose, lentisca, romero, lavender, honeysuckle, bougainvillea, palm tree). It harbors in its interior The Walk of the Sculptures, an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists. (Miquel from Navarre, Francesc Abbot, Yoko Ono and others). The Umbracle is a space that is a home to numerous sculptures surrounded by nature. It was designed as a entrance to the City of Arts and Sciences. It is 320 meters long and 60 meters wide, located on the southern side of the complex. It 55 fixed arches and 54 floating arches that stand 18 meters high. The plants in the garden were carefully picked to change color with the seasons. The garden consists of 99 palm trees, 78 small palm trees, 62 bitter orange trees. There are 42 varieties of shrubs from the Region of Valencia including Cistuses, Mastics, Buddleia, Pampas grass, and Plumbagos. In the garden there are 16 plants of Beauty of the Night. Honeysuckle and hanging Bougainvilea are two of the 450 climbing plants in the umbracle. It also has 5,500 carpet plants such as Lotus, Agateas, Spanish Flags, and Fig Marigolds. There are over a hundred aromatic plants including Rosemary and Lavender.
El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia — an opera house and performing arts center. It contains four large rooms: a Main Room, Magisterial Classroom, Amphitheater and Theater of Camera. It is dedicated to music and the scenic arts. It is surrounded by 87,000 square meters of landscape and water, as well as 10,000 square meters of walking area. The Palau de Les Arts has four sections; the main hall, the master hall, the auditorium, and the Martin y Soler theatre. It holds many events such as opera, theatre and music in its auditoriums. Panoramic lifts and stairways connect platforms at different heights on the inside of the metallic frames of the building. The building has an metallic feather outer roof that rests on two supports and is 230 meters long and 70 meters high. One of the supports allows for part of the building to overhang. The building is supported by white concrete. Two laminated steel shells cover the building weighing over 3,000 tons. These shells are 163 meters wide and 163 meters long.
