Real Madrid

About Real Madrid


Real Madrid is a Spanish football club ranked as 'The XXth Century's Best Club' by FIFA. Formed on March 6 , 1902 , it competes in the Spanish first division or Primera División , from which it has never been relegated since the formation of Spain's national league in 1928.

The club was originally named Sociedad Madrid Foot Ball Club , but was allowed to use the title Real (royal) after King Alfonso XIII of Spain gave the club an official blessing in June 1920.


The team plays in an all-white kit, which is the origin of their nickname Los merengues (the whites). The kit was derived from the English side Corinthians F.C. . Their home stadium is the Santiago Bernabéu in Chamartín, Madrid, which was founded on December 14 , 1947 . It has a capacity of 80,354 spectators and its pitch measures 106x72 meters.


In its history, Real Madrid has won 9 European Cups, 31 Spanish League titles, and 17 Spanish Cups.
History

The team has won the European Cup more times (nine) than any other club, winning the first five of them with the legendary team of Alfredo di Stefano , Gento and (later) Ferenc Puskas. Real Madrid has also dominated the Spanish League competition, winning a record number of 29 editions. The rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona is legendary.
This rivalry started during the government of Francisco Franco, when FC Barcelona supporters claimed that Real Madrid was the Government's team, although, the Real Madrid supporters have always said that the Club that won more General Franco Cups (nowadays King's Cup) was FC Barcelona and Real Madrid itself has always tried to be apolitical during its history. Real Madrid was awarded by FIFA the title of "World's best football club of the XXth century History" in 2001.


Recent history

In recent years, Real Madrid have become known for signing some of the world's most expensive and marketable footballers, giving the club a new nickname of Los galácticos(the galactics) because of all the stars it has.
Although the club had a fine tradition of producing local star footballers including Pirri (José Martínez), Francisco Gento , Raúl , Fernando Hierro , and even importing stars from all over the globe including Roberto Carlos, Davor Suker, Clarence Seedorf and Steve McManaman, this trend of signing the biggest, and arguably the most marketable stars available became club policy shortly after Euro 2000 with the world record €60m acquisition of Portuguese playmaker Luis Figo from FC Barcelona, who had risen to prominence with some influential displays in the tournament. He was joined the following year by then two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinédine Zidane from the Italian side Juventus, again for a world record fee-this time approximately €71m. The following season, they purchased Ronaldo, top scorer in the 2002 World Cup, for around €39m from Internazionale.

David Beckham : Captain of England

In the summer of 2003, their target was David Beckham, captain of the English national side, who signed from Manchester United for approximately €36m. Cynics argued that this particular development had as much to do with finance as football, with theBeckham brand ensuring increased revenue from merchandising (Club president Florentino Perez has admitted that Beckham "pays us his own salary, and that of Zidane" [1] ) However, Beckham made a good start with Madrid, despite their relative underachievement in the 2003 / 2004 season (winning the Spanish Super Cup and finishing fourth in La Liga ). This poor display led to the sacking of coach Carlos Queiróz , who had also made the trip to Madrid from Manchester United in 2003 after leaving his position as assistant manager at the English club. The pressure to win trophies means that managers who fail to deliver are sacked, resulting in a high turnover of managers. John Toshack was twice manager of the club. Recent seasons have also seen the arrival and departure of several other managerial appointments including: Vicente Del Bosque, José Antonio Camacho and Mariano García Remón. Real Madrid have recently turned to the services of successful Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo in a bid to restore stability and discipline within the locker room.

Real's main target in the 2004 offseason was Patrick Vieira; the club made an offer of €35 million (£23.1 million) to FA Premier League champions Arsenal for his services. Arsenal rejected Real's overtures, and Real instead made two surprise signings, of Liverpool 's Michael Owen (€12m) and Newcastle 's Jonathan Woodgate (€20m), who did not play for the club until the 2005-2006 season due to a left thigh injury. For 2005 , Real reportedly tabled a bid of €70m for Sweden and Juventus star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which Juve rejected; however, the "bid" proved to be a publicity stunt instigated by his agent instead of Real.

Later in the 2005 close season, Real acquired young Brazilian superstar Robinho for a fee of $30m. In August 2005, Real Madrid signed Julio Baptista , a Brazilian midfield player from Sevilla who, with the signing of Carlos Diogo (from River Plate) and Pablo Garcia (from Osasuna ) strengthens the squad for 2005/06 season. On the last summer day available for signing new players for 2005-2006 season, Real Madrid signed Sevilla's defender Sergio Ramos for about €25m, paying the penalty contract clause he had with Sevilla.