Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. It is the football club with most honours in the world, it holds several records. The club also has a similarly successful basketball section. The team original colors, white shorts and t-shirt, blue socks and cap were inspired in the London Corinthians, and the purple band in the badge represents the kingdom of Castille.
The club, which went in place of the Spanish FA, was also one of the founding members of FIFA. They play their home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid have been European Champions a record 9 times and have also won a record 29 La Liga titles. The club also operates a reserve football team, Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful basketball team, Real Madrid Baloncesto and are in talks to sponsor a rugby team, CRC Madrid Noroeste and a Formula One team. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated solely by its members (socios) since 1902. The Club was nominated by FIFA Best Club in History the 12th of January, 1998; and also nominated it as the Best Club of the XX Century the 23rd of December, 2000.
During its history, the club has acquired a number of nicknames. Among the earliest were los merengues, after the white dessert meringue and los blancos. Both simply referred to the club's legendary all-white strip and are the most common to this day. In the 1970s, the nickname los vikingos became popular, possibly due to the signings of several northern European players. More recently, the media dubbed the club los galácticos, referring to club's tendency to sign the most famous players in the world.
Contents
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* 1 History
o 1.1 Santiago Bernabéu
o 1.2 Domestic success
o 1.3 International success
o 1.4 Quinta del Buitre years
o 1.5 Florentino Pérez years
o 1.6 Post Pérez-Galácticos Era
+ 1.6.1 Ramón Calderón period
* 2 Supporters & rivals
o 2.1 Rivalry with FC Barcelona
o 2.2 Rivalry with Atlético Madrid
* 3 Major trophies
* 4 Recent seasons
* 5 Current squad 2006/07
o 5.1 Selected reserve team players
o 5.2 Out on loan
* 6 Foreign Players 2006/2007
* 7 Notable former players
* 8 Selected former managers
* 9 Presidents
* 10 Formula One sponsorship
* 11 Real Madrid Foundation
* 12 See also
* 13 External links
[edit] History
Football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They included several Oxbridge graduates. In 1895 they founded the club Football Sky, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. In 1900 this club split into two different clubs New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The president of the latter club was Julián Palacios. In 1902 the latter club split again, resulting in the formation of Sociedad Madrid FC on March 6, 1902. The first president was Juan Padrós Rubió; the first secretary was Manuel Mendía; and the first treasurer was José de Gorostizaga. Juan Padrós Rubió would be later succeeded by his brother, Carlos Padrós from Spain. In 1905, only three years after its foundation, Madrid FC already won its first major title. The team won the first of four consecutive Copa del Rey - titles (at that time the only statewide competition). In 1920 the club's name was changed into Real Madrid after the King grants the title of Real (Royal) to the club.
