HISTORY OF REAL MADRID F.C

Real Madrid Overview

Real Madrid is the club that has won the most European Cups, and one of the most winning football clubs in the entire world.
Real Madrid was founded in 1902, and it is the pride of all Los Madridistas. A Harvard University study on football determined that Madrid is also the most popular team in the world, with more than 228 million supporters. The second most popular team Manchester United with 116 millions fans.
Reaching that number of fans is not so easy, but with the world's best players, a history written with gold letters, and the compromise of the club with social causes, Real Madrid have proven they are a world class team without equal.

Real Madrid History

In 1902 a group of soccer fans officially founded the Madrid Football Club and created the first Directory Committee which Enrique Varela as president and Manuel Mendía as Vice president. They agreed on the team uniform imitating that of the Corinthians from London.
Three years later Madrid won its first Spanish Championship by beating Bilbao’s Athletic team by 1 to 0. The only goal was made by Prast who received a pass from Pedro Parages.
Later, in 1931 Real Madrid won the first League. Having included Ciriaco, Quincoces, Luis Regueiro, Hilario, Bestit, Olivares y Ateca to the team, they didn´t lose a match.
Then in 1943 the first big comeback took place. Madrid defeated Barcelona by 11 to 1 after having lost by 0 to 3 the previous match. Neither team will ever forget that match.
Only 4 years after this, in 1947, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was opened. International press said it was the best stadium in Europe. Barinaga was the first one to score in this stadium.
In 1954, 21 years later, Madrid wins the league again against Valencia. It was Alfredo Di Stefano´s first year in Spain and he was awarded top striker with 27 goals in the League. Merely two years after this, the first European Cup was achieved. 1957 was also a big year for Real Madrid. The conquered their second European Cup. The third one arrived in 1958 with goals scored by Di Stefano, Rial and Gento in Brussels against Milan. Two years passed and the fourth European Cup came along.
Not too far ahead the fifth European Cup was awarded to Real Madrid. But the main attraction was not it being the fifth, but the way it was obtained. An amazing Real Madrid beat Eintracht de Frankfurt by 7 to 3 in what is remembered as the best European final.
The moment when Real Madrid was really crowned the King of the world was when they won their first Intercontinental Cup against Peñarol from Montevideo. The first encounter in Montevideo ended in 0 to 0, but the next time they met was in Santiago Bernabéu with 120.000 fans to impress ad they did winning 5 to 1.
In 1961 Madrid achieved the highest records being the team with the most Leagues. Out of the 30 games that were played Madrid won 24 and got the Cup of the Spanish League.
Throughout the 80s, with Emilio Butrageño won 5 Leagues in a row which is something never done by any team.
Of course Real Madrid’s main opponent is FC Barcelona. In 1995 took place a match no Madrid fan will forget. Real Madrid scored 5 to 0 being led by Johan Cruyff. 3 of the 5 goals were marked by Ivan Zamorano.
The seventh UEFA EURO (European Cup) arrived in 1998 in Amsterdam with an only goal by Pedja Mijatovic against Juventus. Then the second Intercontinental Cup was brought to Madrid from Japan. The victory was due to two scores made by Roberto Carlos and Raul. The third one was gained with goals from Ronaldo and Guti against Olimpia de Asunción a few years later.
The year 2000 was a big year since FIFA named Real Madrid the best team of the XX century. The award was handed to Alfredo Di Stefano and Florentino Perez.
Later on the eighth European Cup was obtained by defeating Valencia in Paris. Later on, in 2002, the ninth one came along with goals from Zidane and Raul against the German club Bayer Leverkusen.
The last league played (2006/2007) was the 30th league for Real Madrid. This incredible event was celebrated with an honor to the history of the best club of the century.

Club Rivalries

The two main rivals are FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid. The rivalry with Barcelona is also influenced by political and cultural aspects. In spite of this, these are the two main teams in Spain which obviously creates natural competition. All this is magnified when a player decides to change sides by going from one team to the other. For example, in the 50s both clubs disputed over Alfredo Di Stefano who finally signed with Real Madrid. This was not the last chapter if this story given that in the year 2000 Luis Figo, Barcelona’s star player, was transferred to Real Madrid.
Atletico de Madrid is Real Madrid’s rival in their city. Their different positions reflect the society’s struggle between the working class and the middle class.

Stars of the Current Real Madrid Squad

Goalkeepers

• 1 Iker Casillas - best goalkeeper in the world. Champions Leagues, Leagues, Supercups and a lot of many trophies were won thanks to Iker´s hands, and he is only 26.
• 25 Jerzy Dudek
• 13 Jordi Codina

Defenders

• 2 Michel Salgado
• 3 Pepe
• 4 Sergio Ramos - The next captain? From Sevilla, Sergio was sold by his first club for 21 millions of Euros. The best buy of Real Madrid in the last five years.

Midfielders

• 6 Mahamadou Diarra
• 8 Fernando Gago
• 7

Cristiano Ronaldo

• 11

Arjen Robben - Dubbed as "the flying wing" Arjen Robben is Real Madrid's current superstar. His pace and dribbling skills are what makes him the most effective winger in La Liga.

• 14 Guti
• 19 Van Der Vaart
• 23 Sneijder
• 24 Drenthe

Strikers

• 7 Raúl - The Captain. All fans are devoted to him. His goals and strength has helped Real Madrid to reach the top of the world. He has scored 307 goals in the White Shirt tying Di Stefano's record and one goal away from becoming the club's all time top-goal-scorer.

• 17- Van Nistelrooy - is one of the best European strikers. Real Madrid bought him from Manchester United.

• 20 Gonzalo Higuain - Higuain dubbed as"EL Pipita" has become a hero at Real Madrid. His crucial goals against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid helped Real Madrid win their first title in four years. He is now the team's top-goal-scorer for the current season.

Club Legends

GASPAR RUBIO
From 1928 to 1932. Striker. 4 caps. He won 1 League and 1 Cup.
RICARDO ZAMORA
From 1930 to 1936. The best Spanish goalkeeper of the history. He won 2 Leagues and 2 Cups.
JACINTO QUINCOCES
From 1931 to 1942. The best WC Italy 1934 player. He won 2 Leagues and 2 Cups.
LUIS MOLOWNY
From 1946 to 1957. Midfielder. 7 caps. He won 3 leagues, 2 copas, 1 European cup.
RAYMOND KOPA
From 1956 to 1959. Striker. He was from France. He won 2 Leagues, 3 European cups and 1 Ballon d'Or.
HÉCTOR RIAL
From 1954 to 1961. Left Winger. 5 caps. He won 4 Leagues, 5 European cups, 1 Intercontinental cup, 1 Pequeña Copa del Mundo and 2 Latin Cups.
ALFREDO DI STEFANO
From 1953 to 1964. Striker. 31 caps. He won 8 leagues, 1 Spanish Cup, 5 European cups, 1 Intercontinental cup, 1 Pequeña Copa del Mundo, 2 Latin Cups, 5 times Pichichi, 2 Ballon D´or.
For a lot of people he was the best football player of all times. For others, he was just the best European player. Di Stéfano was the key to make the Real Madrid one of the biggest clubs in the world. Striker, winger, or midfielder, he was a star. Now he is President of Honor of the Club and an example for young talents.
JOSÉ EMILIO SANTAMARÍA
From 1957 to 1966. Defender. 16 caps. He won 6 leagues, 1 Spanish Cup, 4 European Cups, 1 intercontinental cup.
FERENC PUSKAS
From 1958 to 1967. Striker. 4 caps. He won 5 leagues, 1 Spanish Cup, 3 European Cups, 1 intercontinental cup.
FRANCISCO GENTO
From 1953 to 1972. Striker. 43 caps. He won 12 leagues, 2 Spanish Cups, 6 European Cup, 1 intercontinental cup.
AMANCIO AMARO
From 1962 to 1976. Striker. 42 caps. He won 9 leagues, 3 Spanish Cups, 1 European Cup.
JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ "PIRRI
From 1964 to 1980. Midfielder. 41 caps. He won 10 leagues, 4 Spanish cups, 1 European Cup.
MARIANO GARCÍA REMON
From 1971 to 1984. Goalkeeper. 2 caps. He won 6 leagues and 4 Spanish Cup.
JUAN GÓMEZ "JUANITO
From 1977 to 1987. Striker. 34 caps. He won 4 leagues, 2 Spanish Cups, 2 UEFA Cups and 1 Pichichi.
JOSÉ A. CAMACHO
From 1973 to 1989. Defender. 81 caps. He won 9 leagues, 5 Spanish Cups, 2 UEFA cups, 1 League Cup.
HUGO SÁNCHEZ
From 1985 to 1992. Striker. 76 caps with Mexico. He won 5 leagues, 1 Spanish Cup, 1 UEFA Cup, 2 Supercups, 5 Pichichis and the Golden Foot.
EMILIO BUTRAGUEÑO
From 1984 to 1995. Striker. 69 caps. He won 6 leagues, 2 Spanish Cups, 2 UEFA Cups, 3 Supercups.
FRANCISCO BUYO
From 1986 to 1995. Goalkeeper. 6 caps. He won 6 leagues, 2 Spanish Cups, 3 Supercups.
FERNANDO HIERRO
From 1989 to 2003. Defender. 89 caps. He won 6 Leagues, 1 Copa del Rey, 5 Supercups, 3 Champions Leagues, 2 Intercontinental cups.
LUIS FIGO
Luis Figo was with Madrid from 2000 to 2005. Right Winger. 65 caps with Portugal. He won 2 Leagues, 1 Champions League, 1 European Supercup, 1 intercontinental Cup. Ballon D´Or 2000
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
From 2001 to 2006. Midfielder. 75 caps with France. He won 1 League, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Champions League, 1 Spanish Supercup and 1 European Supercup.
RONALDO
Ronaldo was a striker from 2002 to 2007. He won 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Spanish Supercup, 1 League and 1 Pichichi.