Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional footballclub based in Madrid. It is the football club with most honours in the world and it holds several records. The club also has a similarly successful basketball section. The original uniform colors, white t-shirt and shorts, and blue socks were inspired in the London Corinthians, and the purple band in the badge represents the kingdom of Castile.
The club was one of the founding members of FIFA.[1] 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 29 La Liga titles. The club also operates a reserve football team, Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful basketball team, Real Madrid Baloncesto and are trying to sponsor a rugby team, CRC Madrid Noroeste and a Formula One team. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, the FIFA awarded Real Madrid as the Best Club of the twentieth Century.
During its history, the club has acquired a lot of nicknames. The first ones were los merengues, because the white dessert meringue and los blancos. Both simply referred to the club's legendary all-white strip and are the most common until this day. In the 1970s, the nickname los vikingos became popular, due to the signings of several northern European players. More recently, the media called the club los galácticos, referring to club's tendency to sign the most famous players in the world.
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 Club Español de Madrid. The president of the latter club was Julián Palacios. In 1902 the latter club split again, resulting in the formation of Sociedad 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 Padrós from Spain. In 1905, only three years after its foundation, Madrid FC already won its first major title. The team won the first of four consecutive Copa del Rey - titles (at that time the only statewide competition). In 1920 the club's name was changed into Real Madrid after the King grants the title of Real (Royal) to the club.
Before becoming President in 1945, Santiago Bernabéu Yeste had already carried out the functions of player, first-team captain, club maintenance, first-team manager and director, in an association with the club that lasted nearly 70 years. He was responsible for rebuilding the club after the Spanish Civil War, and under his presidency, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva. Real Madrid has a newly named stadium which is the 'Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium'.
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.
In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the 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 UEFA 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.
The signings in the early 1950s formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team, which would dominate the latter half of the decade and beyond. 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 Stielike, Santillana and Juanito came into the side.
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 Stéfano, 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(15-6)agg> 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.
Sanchís and Martín Vázquez were the first to play for the first team of Real Madrid, making their debut at Murcia on December 4, 1983. Coach Alfredo Di Stéfano brought the youngsters in from the start. Both played surprisingly well and Sanchís even scored the winning goal. A few months later, February 5, 1984, saw the debut of Emilio Butragueño in an away game at Cádiz. El Buitre was an instant sensation and scored twice. Pardeza was added to the first team that same season and Míchel followed at the start of the next.
With La Quinta del Buitre (reduced to four members when Pardeza left the club for Zaragoza in 1986) Real Madrid had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe during the second half of the 1980s, winning amongst others two UEFA Cups and 5 Spanish championships in a row. Their record was only blemished by their failure to win the European Cup.
Martín Vázquez went to play for Torino in 1990. He made a return to Real Madrid in 1992, leaving the club again for good in 1995 (to Deportivo La Coruña). Butragueño left the club in 1995 and Michél in 1996. Both went to play for Atlético Celaya in Mexico.
Sanchís was the only member of La Quinta to never play for a club other than Real Madrid. By winning the Champions League twice (in 1998 and 2000), he also managed to accomplish what La Quinta had failed to achieve in its glory days. He retired in 2001 as last active member of the famous cohort at the age of 37.
In July 2000 Florentino Pérez was elected club president vowing to erase the club's debt and modernise the club's facilities, however the primary electoral promise that propelled Pérez to victory was the signing of then-FC Barcelona star Luís Figo. During the campaign, Pérez claimed he had an agreement with the Portuguese winger that would see Figo move to the Bernabeu should Pérez be elected. On the 16th of July, Pérez won the election. Eight days later, Luís Figo was presented with the number 10 shirt of Real Madrid. Days later, surrounded by controversy, Real Madrid idol Fernando Redondo, who had openly supported Pérez's opponent Lorenzo Sanz, was sold to Italian giants AC Milan.
During the summer of 2000, Real Madrid signed Claude Makélélé, Albert Celades, Flávio Conceição, César Sánchez, Pedro Munitis, and Santiago Solari although aside from Makélélé and Conceição the rest had been signed previous to the election of Florentino Pérez. Expectations were high as Real Madrid began the 2000-01 season with the possibility of winning 5 trophies but stumbled at the first test losing the European Super Cup by a score of 1-2 to Galatasaray. An injury to Fernando Morientes left Real Madrid without a centre forward, but manager Vicente Del Bosque improvised by using youth team graduate, Guti, in that role and Real Madrid made a good start to both domestic and European campaigns. But Real Madrid were defeated 2-0 at the Camp Nou against Barcelona and were later eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Toledo as well as losing the Intercontinental Cup final to a Boca Juniors side led by Martin Palermo and Riquelme. But Real Madrid recovered form and went top of the Spanish first division in mid-January, a position they would not relinquish on their way to winning the title. Real Madrid advanced from the second group stage of the Champions League to face Galatasaray in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid lost the first leg in Istanbul 3-2 but recovered to win the tie after a 3-0 victory in the Bernabeu. This would produce a replay of the 1999-2000 Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. Real Madrid would not reach the final however, losing 2-3 on aggregate to the eventual champions. Real Madrid would not be denied the league title however, and on 26 May, the merengues would crown themselves champions of the Spanish first division with an emphatic 5-0 win over Alaves at the Bernabeu. Goals by Raúl (2), Guti, Hierro, and Iván Helguera would ensure victory and Real Madrid's 28th league title with two matches left to play.
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.
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. In the following years the team's on-field performance started to decline. Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz replaced Vicente Del Bosque for the 2003-2004 season. Real Madrid started the season brightly and were 8 points clear in the Spanish 1st division in February but a late season slide saw them struggle to finish fourth. Further disappointment came when AS Monaco, thanks impart to goals from on-loan striker Fernando Morientes, eliminated Real Madrid from the UEFA Champions League at the quarterfinal stage. Real Madrid's poor form continued as Real Zaragoza upset them in the Copa del Rey final. Shortly after the season, Carlos Queiroz was sacked and replaced by ex-Real Madrid player, José Antonio Camacho. Pérez, at the request of Camacho, signed two central defenders to try to correct the team's defensive shortcomings. Real Madrid spent a total of €45 millions on Argentine defender Walter Samuel and English centre back Jonathan Woodgate but missed out on signing Arsenal's midfield general, Patrick Vieira due to the Vieira's boldness of asking a 'Galactico' paycheck (like Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham and unlike Claude Makélélé, who left for exactly that reason - €9 million Euro's per year). The summer of 2005 also saw the sale of Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, who had been loaned out to Real Mallorca, to archrivals F.C. Barcelona. English striker Michael Owen was bought from FC Liverpool but never settled at Real Madrid while Eto'o went on to great success with Barcelona. Camacho only lasted two months before resigning after a disappointing start into the season. He was replaced by interim coach Mariano García Remón and in December 2005 Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo became the permanent replacement. Although Real Madrid did finish a distant second in the Spanish league, Luxemburgo was unable to lead Real Madrid in to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. 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 Bernabeu. 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 also eliminated from the Champions League for a third successive year, this time at the hands of Arsenal. On February 27, 2006, Florentino Pérez resigned. Real Madrid eventually managed to finish second in the league but did not pose a serious threat to defending champions, F.C. Barcelona.
