My first encounter with football was WC 94 but I wasn't a big fan then. It was only till 1998 that i started catching a few regular games here and there but i didn't support any team. At that time no team had actually caught my eye or my heart so to speak. Of course 1998 was the year Real Madrid ended their 32 year wait for a European triumph. But i didn't really pay much attention then.

It was in Euro 2000 that a certain Luis Figo bedazzled me with his dribbling and playmaking skills...he quickly became my favourite player. And after that summer he made one of the most shocking transfers in European football: joining Real Madrid from Barcelona. I didn't really understand the rivalry back then but it got me interested in the club named as the "Best of the 20th Century". I wanted to know why. From there i researched about the club's history and it got me hooked. Barca with all their Catalan pride and fancy football never cut it with me. Real Madrid was about passion first and foremost; countless stories of players like Di Stefano, Puskas, Butragueno, Juanito, and in more recent times Hierro, Raul which embodied the Real Madrid spirit of sweating tears and blood for the white shirt.

It's been 7 years now....obviously I haven't supported the club as long as some ppl like Duke Red (but I'm not as old as him; 87/88 i wasn't even in kindergarten yet! ) but I know in my heart that i will support the legendary Whites till the day I leave this world.

Not really. The Galactico tag came with Zidane not with Figo. Either way even in Figo was my fav player back then i wouldn't have supported Barca. I still believe i would have found my way to Real Madrid.
The player that really sealed my heart to the club was Di Stefano after all. And that was just based on what i've read of him. Sometimes i wish i could have seen him play live in action...but i don't want to be so old as well haha...Guess you can't have everything in life

LOL then don't u fall under one of those categories that Grengo described

And your reason for hating Real Madrid is laughable. Yeah we buy big but so do alot of clubs. And our money is obtained through legitimate means; we are not sponsored by anyone despite what some quarters say. As for not bringing players through: well Casillas, Guti and Raul are all first-teamers and we have the likes of Torres who recently broke into the first team as well from our youth setup. Come to think of it i think youth wise we are more successful than most clubs including Man Utd. But of course that's just my opinion.

No we've always bought throughout our history. Real Madrid have always attracted the big names. The same goes with Barca of course. But we've also developed youth at the same time as well and we try to complement both. You just spew your facts but they have no foundation. And your first team is mostly formed by buys as well but i don't see you slamming your policy. Teams buy to complement the squad and all the names u listed there as your examples all had an impact on our first team. Personally i don't mind if someone hates us for a valid reason but yours is pretty pathetic and your attempts to keep spewing nonsense as facts...well let's say that i think you can do much better than that.

Ignorance sums up your post. 20 players?! Where did u come up with the number haha...and we have bought players as we needed them too but of course there are a few that we didn't urgently need but i'm pretty sure all clubs have those too...Forlan, Djemba-Djemba anyone?

As for elections...well Real Madrid just happens to be a club that's actually legally owned by its fans so elections are necessary. I do agree that recent elections had become more political in a way but Real Madrid have held elections throughout its history and nobody complained about anything before. It's just a recent trend started by Perez and with the constant media spotlight nowadays...well u get the idea. But personally i do hope the trend doesn't continue.

And not targetting players top of their game? Owen Hargreaves? Didn't Man Utd unsettle him enough that he wants out of Bayern now? It all works both ways friend. And don't say he's not a galactico...cause if Real Madrid went and bought him..the media as sure as hell would label him just that

The money spent on Rooney and Carrick was ridiculous as well considering that they aren't the finished article. I've read some of your posts where u state many times that u think Liverpool spend average money on average players whereas Man Utd spend big money on good players. I agree with that. And Real Madrid buy the likes of Zidane and Figo who are the best of the best with really big money that is legitimately earned. What's wrong with that? You will be hard pressed to find any RM fan who thinks that we wasted our money on Zidane and Figo. If Man Utd brought Ronaldinho now for a record sum why should anyone complain?

I'm not here to change your hatred for RM. I just wanna make u realise that your hatred stems from pure sour grapes and all that principle stuff is just excuses. Barca brought in Deco, Giuly, Ronaldinho, Larsson, Eto'o, Beletti, Edmilson all in one season. For big money no less. I don't see you accusing them of anything

We bought Diarra, Emerson, Cannavaro, Marcelo, Gago and Higuain this season. And all of them have played in the first team and they were all purchases to make the team better. Your point? You need a squad for a league season mind you and Man Utd have their benchwarmers as well or do u need me to remind you? The likes of Park Ji Sung, Smith, Solsjkaer, Richardson don't ring a bell? Comparing Cassano and Carrick?? HAH. He was bought cheap and he was a problem at Roma as well. Go ask Chrisky. We took a risk when we bought him. You would have been better off comparing Diarra to Carrick but then it would make you look stupid because Diarra has been playing regularly for the first team.

Before Perez took over we didn't actually splash that much as we also had heavy debts at that time. Perez despite his obvious flaws was a very good businessman. The sale of our training ground helped to clear off the debts but i would like to make it clear here that the money DID NOT come from the government (I have details on the deal and i think i'll post them later in the RM thread). Real Madrid is a non-profit organisation and they have to be very transparent especially when u have almost 85000 owners and have to provide a financial report to them every year. We then went on a marketing rampage taking the Real Madrid brand to new heights especially in South America, Japan, China, US making us the highest revenue generators for a football club. This in turn secures the club's future for a very long time.

I instigated the debate so I'll apologise for bringing it way off topic. I hope that ppl here don't take it too personally as it's just a good banter between football fans. Cheers.

I think you're confused