Real Madrid C.F. Info

Real Madrid C.F.


Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (English: Madrid Royal Football Club, also known as Real Madrid, Los Blancos, Los Merengues) is a professional Spanish football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902, it plays in La Liga and is one of the most successful football clubs of the 20th century, having won thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Copa del Rey and a record nine UEFA Champions League titles. The team was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of leading European football clubs.

The club plays its home games in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. 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, FIFA awarded the Spanish team the title of the "Best Club of the 20th Century". Los Blancos is the most successful club in UEFA club football competitions history with nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups; more than any other European club.

Real Madrid is the biggest and most extensive football club in the world according to the case studies at Harvard University in 2007.It is also the richest one in terms of revenue.

History

Football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza who included several Oxbridge graduates. They founded the club Football Sky in 1895, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. This club split in 1900 into two different clubs New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The president of the latter club was Julián Palacios. The latter club split again in 1902, resulting in the formation of Sociedad Madrid FC on March 6, 1902. The first president was Juan Padrós Rubió, the first secretary was Manuel Mendío and the first treasurer was José de Gorostizaga. Juan Padrós Rubió would be later succeeded by his brother, Carlos Padrós from Spain. Only three years after its foundation, in 1905, Madrid FC won its first major title in the Estadio Chamartín stadium. The team won the first of four consecutive Copa del Rey titles (at that time the only statewide competition). In 1912 it moved to its first ground called Campo de Rose after moving between some minor grounds. In 1920 the club's name was changed to Real Madrid after the King granted the title of Real (Royal) to the club.

Santiago Bernabéu Yeste became President in 1945. Under his presidency, the club, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva were rebuilt following the Spanish Civil War. Beginning in 1953 he embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being the signing of Alfredo Di Stéfano and built the world's first multinational side.

In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the French sports journalist and editor of L'Équipe 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 Milan Ceko and created what today is known as the UEFA Champions League. It was under Bernabéu's guidance, that Real Madrid became established 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 memorable 7–3 Hampden Park final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. Winning the competition five consecutive times saw Real 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 FK Partizan 2–1 in the final with a team composed entirely of nationally-born players - a first in the competition. It was also runner-up in 1962, 1964 and 1981. The team have also won the UEFA Cup twice and was twice runner-up in the European Cup Winners Cup.

By the early 1980s, Real Madrid had lost its grasp on the La Liga title until a new batch of home-grown stars, known as La Quinta del Buitre started to dominate Spanish football The name ("Vulture's Cohort") was derived from the nickname given to one of its members, Emilio Butragueño. The other four members were Manolo 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) Real Madrid had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe during the second half of the 1980s, winning two UEFA Cups and five Spanish championships in a row.

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). In 1995 and 1996 Butragueño and Míchel left the club and went to play for Atlético Celaya in Mexico. 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 and Fernando Redondo. As a result, 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 Predrag Mijatović.

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 Luís Figo. On July 16, Pérez won the election. The club controversially got its training ground re-zoned and used the money to begin to assemble the famous Galáctico side including players such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and David Beckham. It is debatable whether the gamble paid off as despite a European Cup win in 2002, followed by the League in 2003, the club then failed to win a major trophy for the next three seasons.

Ramón Calderón was elected as club president in 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. However, despite the achievement of winning La Liga, Capello was sacked one month later, in June 2007, and was replaced by German manager Bernd Schuster. Under Bernd Schuster, the club won its 31 La Liga title in 2007-08 season.

Stadium



he Santiago Bernabéu is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It is the home of Real Madrid. Work on the grounds started on October 27, 1944. Originally called Estadio Chamartín after Madrid's previous stadium, it was inaugurated in December 1947. Real Madrid officially adopted the present name, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, on January 4, 1955 in honor of the club president Santiago Bernabéu. The stadium has been officially sanctioned by UEFA as Elite or 5 Star on its 60th year of its existence.

The capacity has changed frequently, peaking at 120,000 after a 1953 expansion. Since then there have been a number of reductions due to modernisations (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 80,400, effected in 2003. A plan to add a retractable roof has been announced.

The Bernabéu is one of the world's most famous football venues. It has hosted the European Cup final on three separate occasions (in 1957, 1969 and 1980), and is scheduled to host the 2010 final.[1] The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.

The stadium has its own Madrid Metro station along the 10 line called Santiago Bernabéu. Its location, in the heart of Madrid's business district, is quite unusual for a football stadium.

After its foundation in 1902 the club moved in their first years between some minor grounds before moving to the 'Campo de O'Donnell' in 1912.

This ground remained their home ground for eleven years. After these years the club made a move again, this time to the 'Campo de Ciudad Lineal', a small ground with a capacity of 8,000 spectators. This time, it would only be a short stay, because after only twelve months the club moved again. This new ground would make a longer appearance. The 'Estadio Chamartín' was inaugurated on the 17th of May 1923 with a match of Real Madrid against Newcastle United. In this stadium, which hosted 22,500 spectators, Real Madrid celebrated their first Spanish league titles.

After those successes, the in 1943 elected president Don Santiago de Bernabeu decided that the Estadio de Chamartin wasn't big enough for the ambitions of the club. A new stadium had to be built, which was inaugurated on the 14th of December 1947. This was the 'Estadio Santiago Bernabeu' as we know it today, although it didn't acquire this name until 1955. The first match that was being played in the new stadium was between Real Madrid and OS Belenenses (3-1). Sabino Barinaga scored the first goal in the new stadium. The initial capacity was 75,300.

In 1953, a first extension to the stadium was realized with the addition of a third tier. This increased the capacity to an overwhelming 120,000.

At the same time a great team was formed in Madrid that would win many trophies in the next years. One of these trophies was won in their own Santiago Bernabeu; their second European Cup against Fiorentina (2-0). In the next years more European Cup finals would be played in the stadium (1969: AC Milan-Ajax & 1980: Nottingham Forest-HSV). The first official match of the Spanish national team in the Santiago Bernabeu was played in the year 1964 (Spain-USSR).

Due to the upcoming World Cup championships in 1982 the stadium had to be renovated again. This decreased the capacity to a mere 90,000.

The matches in pool B (Germany, Spain & England) and the final between Italy and Germany (3-1) were played in the Bernabeu stadium.

In 1992 the stadium was extended again to a capacity over 100,000 (106,500). At the same the exterior of the stadium was renovated, which resulted in the exterior as we know it today, including the remarkable entrance towers at the corners.

This new increase in capacity led to a harsh competition with rival FC Barcelona about which stadium could host the most spectators. This battle was ultimately lost by Real Madrid in the season 1998/1999 when all standing places had to be converted into seats according to UEFA rules. This led to a capacity decrease to 74,300.

A new renovation has almost been finished at the moment. This renovation of the east stand has increased the capacity to 80,000 and has made the stadium totally covered.

The ex-president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, announced in 2005, before quitting the club, a proposal to construct a retractable roof on the stadium. The construction has not yet started.

Honours

Domestic

La Liga
Winners (31 - record): 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, 2006–07, 2007–08
Runners-up (17): 1928-29, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1941-42, 1944-45, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1965-66, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06

Copa del Rey
Winners (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
Runners-up (19): 1902-03, 1915-16, 1917-18, 1923-24, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1932-33, 1939-40, 1942-43, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1967-68, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1989-90, 1991-92, 2001-02, 2003-04

Supercopa de España
Winners (7): 1988, 1989*, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003
Runners-up (3): 1982, 1995, 2007
Won Copa del Rey and La Liga)

Copa de la Liga
Winners (1): 1984–85
Runners-up (1): 1982-83

European

UEFA Champions League
Winners (9 - record): 1955–56*, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02.
Runners-up (3): 1961-62, 1963-64, 1980-81
(* First ever winners)

Intercontinental Cup
Winners (3): 1960, 1998, 2002
Runners-up (2): 1966, 2000

UEFA Cup
Winners (2): 1984–85, 1985–86

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Runners-up (2): 1970-71, 1982-83

UEFA Supercup
Winners (1): 2002
Runners-up (2): 1998, 2000