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Real Madrid - Hala Madrid!
The Real Madrid Club de Fútbol Story
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Whether you love or hate Real Madrid, you can't argue with the statistics.
With a total of 70 titles, including 31 Ligas, 17 Copas del Rey and an incredible 9 European Cups, Los Blancos are without doubt the most successful club
in the history of football.
The blatant truth of this was recognised by FIFA in 2000 when Real Madrid were recognised as the most successful club of the twentieth century.
A lot of the club's success is down to the figure of former player, coach and president - Santiago Bernabéu.
The fifties Madrid side led by Alfredo di Stéfano won five consecutive European Cups from 1956 to 1960 and put a struggling Spain on the
footballing map.
Much has been written about the influence of the Franco Regime throughout those years but some of the claims are open to dispute.
Whatever your opinion of the political support the club received, it can't be denied that Real Madrid are the team that represent a centralised Spain.
As the Number One club in the country's capital - Madrid - that's hardly surprising.
The Dictator died more than thirty years ago but Real Madrid is synonymous with success and glamour in the 21st century and with the New Galácticos
about to take the stage, Los Blancos may soon be entering another Golden Age.
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Real Madrid Club de Fútbol
1902
70 Trophies
Liga: 31
1931-1932, 1932-1933, 1953-1954, 1954-1955, 1956-1957, 1957-1958, 1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1963-1964, 1964-1965, 1966-1967, 1967-1968, 1968-1969,
1971-1972, 1974-1975, 1975-1976, 1977-1978, 1978-1979, 1979-1980, 1985-1986, 1986-1987, 1987-1988, 1988-1989, 1989-1990, 1994-1995, 1996-1997, 2000-2001,
2002-2003, 2006-2007, 2007-2008
Copa del Rey: 17
1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1917, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1993
Spanish SuperCup: 8
1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2008
Copa de la Liga: 1
1985
European Cup/Champions League: 9
1992, 2006, 2009
European Cup Winners' Cup: 4
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002
UEFA Cup: 2
1985, 1986
European SuperCup: 1
2002
Intercontinental Cup: 3
1960, 1998, 2002
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The Driving Force Behind Spanish Football
The earliest incarnation of what was to become Real Madrid was Football Club Sky founded in the Spanish capital by professors and students at the
Institución Libre de la Enseñanza.
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By March 1902, FC Sky had evolved into Madrid Football Club.
Given that Barcelona have always been Madrid's arch-rivals in both football and politics, it's ironic that Madrid FC was founded by two
Catalans - Juan and Carlos Padrós.
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Even in the early days, Madrid were the main club in the Spanish capital and so almost immediately became the motor behind the establishment
of football as a major sport in Spain.
In 1903 the Madrid FC organised the very first Campeonato de España - the forerunner of the
modern-day Copa del Rey - to commemorate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII. Athletic Club de Bilbao beat Barcelona in the first final and Madrid FC had to wait until
1905 to win its first trophy.
At international level, the club was one of the founding members of FIFA in 1904 and in 1909 amongst the first signatories of the Spanish FA - the Real
Federación Española de Fútbol.
In 1912, Madrid FC changed its name to the definitive Real Madrid after receiving royal patronage from Alfonso XIII.
The Long Road to Success
Throughout the first half century of the 20th century, Madrid weren't as successful on
the pitch as either Barcelona or Bilbao - only 9 Copas del Rey compared with Barça's 11 and
Athletic Club's 17 and just 2 Ligas in 1931 and 1932.
The fact that this fallow period included the first 14 years of Franco's Dictatorship leaves some doubt as to whether the Regime favoured Los
Blancos or not.
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All that began to change when Santiago Bernabéu - a very wily ex-player and coach - became club president in 1945.
Bernabéu pulled political strings and wined and dined the madrileño elite, so when Argentinian forward Alfredo di Stéfano looked like signing for Barça,
the Regime stepped in and the transfer was blocked.
In 1953, Di Stéfano alongside Gento became the cornerstone of an incredible Real Madrid side that was to revolutionise world football.
That glorious Di Stéfano Real Madrid went on to win eight out of ten Ligas and an unparalleled five consecutive European Cups from 1956 to 1960.
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The Regime's Propaganda Department saw that an invincible football team would work wonders for Spain's international image and also keep a patriotic flame
burning at home.
A victorious Real Madrid was good for the Regime and inevitably the club was allowed certain privileges, but one of the reasons why Madrid have been
called Franco's team is that FC Barcelona and Athletic Club de Bilbao became much less competitive throughout the sixties and early seventies.
Complete Domination
In 1963, Miguel Muñoz took over as head coach just as Spain was entering the Swinging Sixties and that great Madrid side became known as the Ye-Ye Team
after The Beatles' She Loves You yeah, Yeah, Yeah.
Muñoz's tenancy as coach lasted until 1974 and Madrid's main rival during the period wasn't Barcelona or Bilbao but Atlético de Madrid.
Los Blancos definitely had the upper edge over Los Colchoneros and won 8 more Ligas and the sixth European Cup in 1966.
Success continued throughout the Seventies and Eighties but it wasn't until 1985 that the next legend of madridismo appeared on the Bernabéu scene.
La Quinta del Buitre - led by angel-faced Emilio Butragueño, who was aided and abetted by Michel, Sanchís, Martín Vázquez and Miguel Pardeza -
put together some devilish football and bagged five consecutive Ligas from 1986 to 1990, and for many fans, that Butragueño side remains the best Madrid
in recent memory.
However, by the early Nineties Butragueño's star was fading and it was time for another Madrid legend to make his first appearance.
The Raúl Years
Since his debut for the Real Madrid first team as a
seventeen-year-old in 1995, Raúl González Blanco has stood head and shoulders above his teammates
The Raúl Period has bagged three Champions Leagues and six Ligas. These have been turbulent times for Madrid as presidents, coaches and superstar players
have come and gone but Raúl like an an anchor in the stormy sea of Spanish football.
Still a teenager, he celebrated Madrid's first European Cup in 32 years - the long-awaited Septima - alongside Mijatovic and Suker in 1998.
In 2000, Florentino Pérez became president of the club for the first time and after some shady political dealings raised enough money to give birth
to the Galácticos.
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The signing of Luis Figo was followed by Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham and although the Galácticos may have overawed the paparazzi, Raúl continued
turning it on in workmanlike fashion undoubredly aided by the arrival of the sublime Iker Casillas in goals in 1999.
Two Ligas and a Champions League in 2002 were a disappointing trophy haul for such a star-studded project, and by 2006 Floentino and his employees
had left the Bernabéu.
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Raúl and Casillas were left to lead a rather uninspiring side that depended too heavily on goalscorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Nevertheless Madrid won two
consecutive Ligas in 2007 and 2008 and Raúl's influence as the Captain of Captains was crucial.
The New Galácticos
The return of Florentino Pérez and the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Benzema et al is as much a reaction to Barcelona's incredible 2008-09
season as anything.
It's obviously an exciting project but it's impossible to predict whether it will live up to expectations - and that means another Liga and Champions
League at least!
At 32, 2009-10 will probably be Raúl's last season in top flight football. Many fans would like to see him bow out graciously leaving the spirit of
madridismo in the extremely safe hands of his friend and ally Iker Casillas.
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If you're interested in the history of Real Madrid, I highly recommend White Storm: The Story of Real Madrid by Phil Ball.
The book is packed with facts and figures and deals with the history of Real Madrid brilliantly. As he showed in his excellent Morbo, Ball really knows
his stuff when it comes to the socio-political importance of the beautiful game in Spain
Fortunately, Ball also knows and loves his football and gives highly detailed accounts of historic games and great players.
White Storm: The Story of Real Madrid is an excellent book and a must for anyone with more than a passing interest in the greatest club of the twentieth
century.
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