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Real Madrid Club de Fútbol of Spain is the world's most successful football club for the 20th century, rank by the governing body of international football FIFA, just ahead of Manchester United. 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 Madrid Club de Fútbol, but were allowed to use the title Real after King Alfonso XIII of Spain gave the club an official blessing in June 1920.
The team play in an all-white uniform, which is the origin of their nickname Los merengues.
Their home stadium is the Santiago Bernabéu in Chamartín, Madrid, which was founded on December 14 1947. It has a capacity of 85,000 spectators and its field measures 106x70 meters.
Since the middle of the 20th century, Real Madrid has consistently been ranked as one of the top football clubs in Europe. It has won the European Cup more times than any other club, winning the first five European Cups. The rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona is legendary, and draws as much from Spanish politics as it does from footballing matters; Real Madrid were the favoured club of Spanish dictator General Franco and it was alleged in some quarters that results were manipulated to their benefit by him.
In recent years, Real Madrid have become famous for signing some of the world's best footballers, giving the club a new nickname of Los galacticos. This trend began shortly after Euro 2000 with the world record £37.5m 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 Zinedine Zidane from the Italian side Juventus, again for a world record fee - this time approximately £47.5m. The following season, they purchased Ronaldo, top scorer in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, for around £28m from Internazionale.
In the summer of 2003, their target was David Beckham, captain of the English national side, who signed from Manchester United for approximately £25m. Cynics argued that this particular development had as much to do with finance as football, with the Beckham brand ensuring increased revenue from merchandising. However, Beckham made a good start with Madrid, despite their relative underachievement in the 2003/2004 season (finishing fourth in the Primera Liga). This poor display led to the sacking of coach Carlos Queiroz, who had also made the trip to Madrid from Manchester United in 2003 after leaving his position as assistant manager at the English club.
Real's main target in the 2004 offseason was Patrick Vieira; the club made an offer of €35 million (£23.1 million) to English Premiership champions Arsenal for his services. Arsenal rejected Real's overtures, and Real instead made two surprise signings, of Liverpool's Michael Owen and Newcastle's Jonathan Woodgate, who hasn´t played a single match since being signed.
The other two main clubs from Madrid are Atlético de Madrid and (less famously) Getafe. A third club, Rayo Vallecano, was recently relegated to the Segunda División B (Spanish third level), after spending most of its history in the first two levels.
Real Madrid in white v. Real Sociedad in black on January 5, 2005 Club Address: Avenida de Concha Espina 1, 28036 - Madrid
Famous players
Awards
- Spanish First Division titles - La Liga: 29
- 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
- Spanish King's Cup - Copa del Rey: 17
- 1904/05; 1905/06; 1906/07; 1907/08; 1916/17; 1933/34; 1935/36; 1945/46; 1946/47; 1961/62; 1969/70; 1973/74; 1974/75; 1979/80; 1981/82; 1988/89; 1992/93
- Regional Championship: 18
- 1903/04; 1904/05; 1905/06; 1906/07; 1907/08; 1912/13; 1915/16; 1916/17; 1917/18; 1919/20; 1921/22; 1922/23; 1923/24; 1925/26; 1926/27; 1928/29; 1929/30; 1930/31
Other trophies
- Santiago Bernabéu Trophy: 15
- 1981; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1987; 1989; 1991; 1994; 1995; 1996; 1997; 1998; 1999; 2000; 2003
- AC Milan Centennial Cup: 1
- Teresa Herrera Trophy: 8
- 1949; 1953; 1966; 1976; 1978; 1979; 1980; 1994
- Ciudad de Barcelona Trophy: 3
- Ramón de Carranza Trophy: 6
- 1958; 1959; 1960; 1966; 1970; 1982
- Benito Villamarín Trophy: 1
- Ciudad de La Línea Trophy: 5
- 1978; 1981; 1982; 1986; 2000
- Ciutat de Palma Trophy: 4
- Euskadi Asegarce Trophy: 3
- Ciudad de Caracas Trophy: 1
- Mancomunado Trophy: 5
- 1931/32; 1932/33; 1933/34; 1934/35; 1935/36
- Año Santo Compostelano Trophy: 1
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