Real Madrid F.C
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional association football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful team in Spanish football and was voted byFIFA as the most successful club of the 20th century, having won a record 31 La Liga titles, 17 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, a record 9 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 UEFA Supercup, and 3 Intercontinental Cups. Real Madrid was a founding member of FIFA and the now-defunct G–14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association. The word "Real" in the club's name is the Spanish term for "royal", and was given by the King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem – several other Spanish football teams also received this royal distinction: Real Sociedad, Real Unión de Irún, Real Betis, and Real Zaragoza.
Founded in 1902, Real Madrid has never been relegated from La Liga, the top league of Spanish football. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s. In the 1980s, the club had one of the best teams (known as La Quinta del Buitre) in Spain and Europe, winning two UEFA Cups, five consecutive Spanish championships, one Spanish Cup and three Spanish Super Cups.
The team's traditional home kit colour is white, although it initially adopted a blue oblique stripe on the shirt. Its crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or re-brand it. The current crest is a modified version of the one first adopted in the 1920s. Real Madrid's home ground is the 80,354-seater Santiago Bernabéu football stadium in downtown Madrid, where it has played since 1947. The Bernabéu was the venue for the European cup (or UEFA Champions League) finals of 1957, 1969, 1980 and 2010.
Real Madrid holds long-standing rivalries with other football clubs, most notably FC Barcelona, with matches between the two teams referred to as "el Clásico". Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. The club is the world's richest football club (€401m) in terms of revenue and the second most valuable worth over €950m in 2008.
History
Early years, Civil War and Franco (1902–1945)
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 Oxbridge 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. The latter club split again in 1902, resulting in the formation of Real Madrid Football Club on 6 March 1902. 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.
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste and European success (1945–1978)
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste became president of Real Madrid in 1945. Under his presidency, the club, its stadium Santiago Bernabéu and its training facilities Ciudad Deportiva were rebuilt after the Spanish Civil War damages. Beginning in 1953, he embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being Alfredo Di Stéfano.
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 FK Partizan 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 "Ye-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.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner 1980–1982 Adidas None 1982–1985 Zanussi 1985–1989 Hummel Parmalat 1989-1991 Reny Picot 1991-1992 Otaysa 1992-1994 Teka 1994-1998 Kelme 1998-2001 Adidas 2001–2002 RealMadrid.com 2002–2006 Siemens Mobile 2006–2007 BenQ Siemens 2007–Present bwin.com
Stadium
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 toUEFA 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 80,354, effected in 2003. A plan to add a retractable roof has been a nnounced.
The Bernabéu has hosted the 1964 European Championship final, the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, the 1957, 1969 and 1980 European Cup finals and the 2010 Champions League Final. The stadium has its own Madrid Metro station along the 10 line called Santiago Bernabéu. On 14 November 2007, the Bernabéu has been upgraded to Elite Football Stadium status by UEFA.
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.
Spanish teams are limited to three players without EU citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. Also, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling. 23 MFMesut Özil Historically, Real Madrid is Spain's most successful team, having won 57 domestic trophies, and one of the most recognized football clubs in the world, having won 15 international trophies, making them the second most successful team in Europe and third in the world for official international competition won, all recognized by UEFA and FIFA; it also has the record in La Liga titles (with 31) and European Cup/UEFA Champions Leaguetitles (with 9). The club was placed first in the FIFA Clubs of the 20th Century's selection on 23 December 2000. It also received the FIFA Order of Merit in 2004. Added to this, Real is allowed to wear a multiple-winner badge on their shirt during UEFA Champions League matches as they have won more than five European Cups.Players
Current squad
14 MFXabi AlonsoHonours
Domestic
European
Worldwide
