Real Madrid

Lore & Background

Real Madrid is one of the most successful football clubs in the world and the most decorated club in Europe. In Spanish domestic football, the club has won 71 trophies; a record 36 La Liga titles, 20 Copa del Rey, 13 Supercopa de España, a Copa Eva Duarte and a Copa de la Liga. In International football, Real Madrid have won a record 35 trophies: a record 15 European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, a record six UEFA Super Cups, two UEFA Cups, a joint-record two Latin Cups, a record one Iberoamerican Cup, and a record nine world championships. Madrid has been ranked joint first a record number of times in the IFFHS Club World Ranking. In UEFA's club ranking, Madrid ranks first in the all-time club ranking. As one of the three founding members of La Liga never relegated from the top division along with Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid has many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with Barcelona and El Derbi Madrileño with Atlético Madrid. The club established itself as a major force in Spanish and European football during the 1950s and 60s, winning five consecutive and six overall European Cups. This success was replicated on the domestic front, with Madrid winning 12 league titles in 16 years. This team, which included Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Paco Gento and Raymond Kopa, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest of all time. Real Madrid is known for its Galácticos policy, which involves signing the world's best players, such as Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham to create a superstar team. In 2009, Madrid signed Cristiano Ronaldo for a record-breaking £80 million (€94 million) from Manchester United; he became the club's and history's all-time top goal-scorer. In addition to signing star players, Real Madrid develops homegrown talent through its academy, La Fábrica, which has produced notable graduates such as Raúl, Iker Casillas, and Dani Carvajal, and has supplied the highest number of players to Europe's top five leagues. Real Madrid was recognized as the greatest football club of the 20th century, receiving the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2004. Real Madrid has the highest number of participations in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (55), a tournament in which they hold the records for most wins, draws and goals scored. Real Madrid is the only club to have won three consecutive titles in th

In Their Own Story

The air in Istanbul hung heavy with humidity and anticipation on May 25th. The floodlights hummed over the Atatürk Olympic Stadium as thousands of Red shirts filled the stands, a sea of defiance against the odds. At halftime, the silence was deafening; three goals down seemed an impossible mountain to climb. Then, a roar erupted from the corner flag. A header struck the net, then another, and finally a third in rapid succession. The stadium shook as the Reds clawed their way back into reality, transforming despair into disbelief before the penalty shootout settled the fate of champions.

Reader's Guide

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 (Sociedad) Sky Football in 1897, commonly known as La Sociedad (The Society) as it was the only one based in Madrid, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. In 1900, conflict between members caused some of them to leave and create a new club, Nueva Sociedad de Football (New Society of Football), to distinguish themselves from Sky Football. Among the dissenters were Julián Palacios, recognized as the first Real Madrid president, Juan Padrós and Carlos Padrós, the latter two being brothers and future presidents of Real Madrid. In 1901, this new club was renamed as Madrid Football Club. Later, following a restructuring in 1902, Sky was renamed as 'New Foot-Ball Club'. On 6 March 1902, after a new board presided by Juan Padrós had been elected, Madrid Football Club was officially founded. The Padrós brothers summoned other football enthusiasts to a meeting in the back room of Al Capricho, the family business. They viewed football as a mass sport that should be accessible to representatives of all social classes, and thought the new club should embody that idea. The brothers proposed the name, Madrid Football Club, which was unanimously accepted. The membership fee was also set, two pesetas a month, and the color of the shirt was chosen to be white in honour of a famous English team Corinthian, which Juan Padrós had met on one of his trips. Three years after its founding, 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 several grounds, the team relocated 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 and retained it the following year. On

Did You Know?

• Real Madrid is the only club to have won three consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles twice (1956-58 and 2016-18).
• The club's anthem is 'Hala Madrid y nada más'.
• Real Madrid's all-time top goal-scorer is Cristiano Ronaldo, signed in 2009 for a record-breaking £80 million.
• The club's white kit was chosen in honour of the English team Corinthian.