Record: Most European Cup Final Appearances

Lore & Background

Real Madrid's origins go back to when football was introduced to Madrid by the academics and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They founded (Sociedad) Sky Football in December 1897, commonly known as La Sociedad (The Society) as it was the only club 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, called Nueva Sociedad de Foot-ball (New Society of Football), to distinguish themselves from Sky Football.

Nueva Sociedad was founded in October 1900 in a tavern on Calle de la Cruz. The dissenters were led by Julián Palacios, recognized as the first Real Madrid president. The other dissenters included brothers and future presidents of Real Madrid, Juan Padrós and Carlos Padrós, as well as Adolfo Meléndez, Antonio Neyra, Manolo Mendía, Varela, and the Giralt brothers (Armando, José and Mario). In October 1901, Nueva Sociedad de Foot-ball was renamed as Madrid Football Club.

The first field the club used to play matches was a camp in Moncloa, located on the current Vallehermoso street. They utilised the El Solar de Estrada in 1901, which was owned by Claudio Estrada, a member of the club and the father-in-law of president Julián Palacios. The club later played matches at the Tiro del Pichón between 1901 and 1902. 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's fashion 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.

The club had 28 founding socios (members). The club played its first ever match on 9 March 1902. It featured two teams of Madrid FC players and was played between the streets of Alcalá and Goya, next to the old Plaza de Toros. The two teams wore blue and red respectively, with the blue team winning the match 1–0.

Reader's Guide

Real Madrid have been crowned champions of Europe a record fifteen 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 a memorable 7–3 Hampden Park final against German side Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. The club won the trophy for a sixth time in 1966 with a team known as the Ye-Ye that defeated Yugoslavian club Partizan 2–1 in the final while being composed entirely of Spanish-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 a multiple-winner badge since 2000. They have also won the UEFA Cup twice and were twice runners-up in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Real Madrid, with the addition of Fernando Morientes in 1997, finally ended its 32-year wait for the seventh European Cup in 1998 under manager Jupp Heynckes, defeating Juventus 1–0 in the final thanks to a goal from Mijatović.

Real Madrid would go on to win again in 2000, 2002 (under manager Vicente del Bosque), 2014 (under manager Carlo Ancelotti), 2016, 2017, 2018 (under manager Zinedine Zidane), 2022 and 2024 (again under Ancelotti).

Did You Know?

• Real Madrid have won 9 finals since their 1981 loss (1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024).
• Since 1981 they have appeared in 9 finals and won all 9.