Based in the capital of Spain, Madrid FC was founded in 1902. It was always operated by club members (called socios). The home ground (above) is Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, which currently has a capacity of 85,454 fans (it's being expanded to seat 90k+ ). The stadium is named after Santiago Bernabeu Yestes, who rebuilt the stadium and training facilities as president of Real Madrid after the Spanish civil war. In 1920 under the rule of King Alfonso XIII (an avid football fan), Madrid CF were given the "Real" title (meaning royal) like several other clubs in Spain, symbolizing the King's patronage of the teams and sport. The most famous rivalries are with the Catalan club FC Barcelona and the other club based in Madrid- Club Atletico de Madrid. Over recent years, a European rivalry with German giants FC Bayern Munich has also developed.
The current president is Florentino Perez. He loves to make it rain
In the recent past, Madrid have been known to change managers frequently but our current manager is Carlo Ancelotti, who brought us our 10th Champion's League title, the coveted La Décima, in his first year. Several famous names have taken the hotseat over the last two decades though (Mourinho, Pellegrini, Schuster, Capello, Heynckes, and Del Bosque).Madrid have famously always worn the all white kit, earning them the nickname Los Blancos. Other nicknames include Los Merengues (also for the white color of the jerseys), as well as Los Galacticos and Los Vikingos.
As a club, they have always attracted and recruited the premier talent in football to play for them. Players like Di Stefano, Gento, Kopa, and Puskas, who helped Madrid win the first 5 European Cup tournaments, are often considered the best generation. There was also a generation of strong, homegrown talent in the 80's named La Quinta Del Buitre. These are players that came through the Real Madrid Castilla (reserve team) and helped bring back Madrid's domestic success. People often overlook some of the youth team talent but world class players like Raul and Casillas have recently come through the ranks to the starting XI. Most famous are the Galacticos though- marquee summer signings of the world's best and most marketable footballers. Players like Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Beckham, Roberto Carlos, and Michael Owen made up the first round of Galacticos, while Cristiano, Xabi Alonso, Benzema, Kaka, Gareth Bale, Kroos, and James Rodriguez have (so far) made up the second. This leads to general havoc when trying to figure out who Madrid are going after in the summer, as any player who was dominated in the previous season inevitably gets linked to Madrid in the transfer window. Madrid love throwing around the big bucks to flex their strength as the team that can spend the most every summer.
At $3.44B, Madrid are the highest valued team in all of sports. Thus it comes as no surprise that Madrid have one of the highest revenues of all teams, bringing in approximately $675M in the last calendar year.
Now, a look at the trophy room, starting off with the most important one.
European Cup/UEFA Champions League (10):
1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2013–14
La Liga, the Spanish Domestic League (32):
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, 2011–12
UEFA Cup/Europa League (2):
1984–85, 1985–86
Copa del Rey, the Spanish Domestic Cup (19):
1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1917, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1961–62, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1988–89, 1992–93, 2010–11, 2013–14
Hasta el final, vamos Real! Hala Madrid!
