About the Club

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (commonly known as Real Madrid or Madrid) is a Spanish sports club best known for its football team. It is the most successful team in the world and has even been named "The Best Club of the 20th Century" by FIFA in 2000, having won a record 31 La Liga titles, 17 Spanish Cups, a record 9 European Cups and 2 UEFA Cups. Founded in 1902, Real Madrid has since spent all of its history in the top flight of Spanish football. The club's home colours are their legendary all white and they play their home games at the 80,354-capacity Santiago Bernabéu football stadium. Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception.

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The Crest



The first crest of Real Madrid had a simple design consisting of a decorative interlacing of the three initials of the club, "MCF" for Madrid Club de Fútbol, in dark blue on a white shirt. The first change in the crest occurred in 1908 when the letters adopted a more streamlined form and appeared inside a circle. The next change in the configuration of the crest did not occur until the presidency of Pedro Parages in 1920. At that time, King Alfonso XIII granted the club his royal patronage which came in the form of the title "Real", roughly translated as "Royal". Thus, the crown was added to the crest and the club styled itself Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. With the dissolution of the monarchy in 1931, all the royal symbols (the crown on the crest and the title of Real) were eliminated. The crown was replaced by the dark mulberry band of the Region of Castile. In 1941, two years after the end of the Civil War, the "Real Corona", or "Royal Crown", was restored while the mulberry stripe of Castile was retained as well. In addition, the whole crest was made full color, with gold being the most prominent, and the club was again called Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. The most recent modification to the crest occurred in 2001 when the club wanted to better situate itself for the twenty-first century and further standardize its crest. One of the modifications made was changing the mulberry stripe to a more bluish shade.

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The Stadium



After moving between grounds the team moved to the "Campo de O'Donnell" in 1912, which remained its home ground for eleven years. The club then moved for one year to the Campo de Ciudad Lineal, a small ground with a capacity of 8,000 spectators. After that, Real Madrid moved its home matches to Estadio Chamartín which was inaugurated on 17 May 1923 with a match against Newcastle United. In this stadium, which hosted 22,500 spectators, Real Madrid celebrated its first Spanish league title.

After some successes, the 1943 elected president Santiago Bernabéu decided that the Estadio Chamartín was not big enough for the ambitions of the club. Work on the grounds started on October 27, 1944. Originally called Estadio Chamartín as well after Madrid's previous stadium, it was inaugurated in December 1947. Real Madrid officially adopted the present name, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, on January 4, 1955 in honor of the club president Santiago Bernabéu. The first match held on the Bernabéu was played between Real Madrid and the Portuguese club Belenenses and won by The Whites with 3–1, the first goal being scored by Sabino Barinaga.

The capacity has changed frequently, peaking at 120,000 after a 1953 expansion. Since then, there have been a number of reductions due to modernizations (the last standing places went away in 1998–99 in response to UEFA regulations which forbids standing at matches in the UEFA competition), countered to some extent by expansions. The last change was an increase of about five thousand to a capacity of 80,354, effected in 2003.

The Santiago Bernabéu has recently been upgraded to Elite Football Stadium status by UEFA and even has its own Madrid Metro station along the 10 line. The stadium has hosted the 1964 European Championship final, the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, the 1957, 1969 and 1980 European Cup finals and is due to host the 2010 Champions League Final.

Capacity: 80,354
Length: 107 m
Width: 72 m
Surface: Grass
First match: Real Madrid vs. Os Belenenses (Portugal)
Address: Avenida de Concha Espina 1, E28036

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The Kit



Real Madrid's traditional home colours are all white. The clubs' nicknames "Los Blancos" ("The Whites") and "Los Merengues" (after the dessert meringue) were influenced by it. The kit initially adopted a blue oblique stripe on the shirt; but unlike today, dark blue socks were worn. The striped shirt was replaced by an all-white version, modeled after the shirt worn by Corinthian F.C. in 1902. In the same year, the blue socks were replaced by black ones. By the early 1940s the manager changed the kit again by adding the club's crest on the left breast (which have remained ever since). On 23 November 1947, in a game against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium, Real Madrid became the first Spanish team to wear numbered shirts.

Madrid's traditional away colours are all black or all purple. The club's kit is currently manufactured by Adidas and their current shirt sponsor is bwin.com.

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Real Madrid Hymn



Lyrics:


This post has been edited by verx: Aug 25 2009, 05:57 AM

Squad List 2009/10

1 Iker Casillas
2
3 Pepe
4 Sergio Ramos
5 Fernando Gago
6 Lassana Diarra
7 Raul Gonzalez
8 Kaka
9 Cristiano Ronaldo
10 Wesley Sneijder
11 Arjen Robben
12 Marcelo
13
14 Jose Maria Gutierrez
15 Royston Drenthe
16
17 Ruud Van Nistelrooy
18 Raul Albiol
19
20 Gonzalo Higuain
21 Christoph Metzelder
22 Miguel Torres
23 Rafael Van der Vaart
24
25 Jerzy Dudek

No Numbers:
Mahamadou Diarra
Ezequiel Garay
Karim Benzema
Esteban Granero
Alvaro Arbeloa
Xabi Alonso


Fixtures 2009/10

July 2009
20/07 Pre-season Friendly - Shamrock Rovers (A) [1 - 0] (Benzema)
26/07 Peace Cup 2009 - Al-Ittihad (H) [1 - 1] (Raul)
28/07 Peace Cup 2009 - Liga Universitaria de Quito (H) [4 - 2] (Ronaldo, Granero, Metzelder, Negredo)
31/07 Peace Cup 2009 - Juventus F.C. (N) [1 - 2] (Ronaldo)

August 2009
07/08 Pre-season Friendly - Toronto F.C. (A) [5 - 1] (Raul x2, Ronaldo, Benzema, Robben)
09/08 Pre-season Friendly - D.C. United (A) [3 - 0] (Higuain x2, Robben)
15/08 Real Sociedad Centenary - Real Sociedad (A) [2 - 0] (Benzema, Sneijder)
19/08 Borussia Dortmund Centenary - Borussia Dortmund (A) [5 - 0] (Granero, Robben, Higuain, Kaka, Raul)
24/08 Santiago Bernabeu Trophy - Rosenborg B.K. (H) [4 - 0] (Benzema x2, Lass, Raul)
30/08 Spanish Primera Liga - Deportivo La Coruna (H)

September 2009
13/09 Spanish Primera Liga - R.C.D. Espanyol (A)
20/09 Spanish Primera Liga - Xerez C.D. (H)
23/09 Spanish Primera Liga - Villarreal C.F. (A)
27/09 Spanish Primera Liga - C.D. Tenerife (H)

October 2009
04/10 Spanish Primera Liga - Sevilla F.C. (A)
18/10 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Valladolid C.F. (H)
25/10 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Sporting de Gijon (A)

November 2009
01/11 Spanish Primera Liga - Getafe C.F. (H)
08/11 Spanish Primera Liga - Atletico Madrid (A)
22/11 Spanish Primera Liga - Racing Santander (H)
29/11 Spanish Primera Liga - F.C. Barcelona (A)

December 2009
06/12 Spanish Primera Liga - U.D. Almería SAD (H)
13/12 Spanish Primera Liga - Valencia C.F. (A)
20/12 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Zaragoza (H)

January 2010
03/01 Spanish Primera Liga - Osasuna (A)
10/01 Spanish Primera Liga - R.C.D. Mallorca (H)
17/01 Spanish Primera Liga - Athletic Bilbao (A)
24/01 Spanish Primera Liga - Malaga C.F. (H)
31/01 Spanish Primera Liga - Deportivo La Coruna (A)

February 2010
07/02 Spanish Primera Liga - R.C.D. Espanyol (H)
14/02 Spanish Primera Liga - Xerez C.D. (A)
21/02 Spanish Primera Liga - Villarreal C.F. (H)
28/02 Spanish Primera Liga - C.D. Tenerife (A)

March 2010
07/03 Spanish Primera Liga - Sevilla F.C. (H)
14/03 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Valladolid C.F. (A)
21/03 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Sporting de Gijon (H)
24/03 Spanish Primera Liga - Getafe C.F. (A)
28/03 Spanish Primera Liga - Atletico Madrid (H)

April 2010
04/04 Spanish Primera Liga - Racing Santander (A)
11/04 Spanish Primera Liga - F.C. Barcelona (H)
14/04 Spanish Primera Liga - U.D. Almería SAD (A)
18/04 Spanish Primera Liga - Valencia C.F. (H)
25/04 Spanish Primera Liga - Real Zaragoza (A)

May 2010
02/05 Spanish Primera Liga - Osasuna (H)
05/05 Spanish Primera Liga - R.C.D. Mallorca (A)
09/05 Spanish Primera Liga - Athletic Bilbao (H)
16/05 Spanish Primera Liga - Malaga C.F. (A)

This post has been edited by verx: Aug 25 2009, 05:59 AM

Honours:

Spanish La Liga (31):
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

Copa del Rey/Generalísmo (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

Copa de la Liga (1):
1984/85

Supercopa de España (8):
1947, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003

Intercontinental Cup/FIFA World Club Championships (3):
1960, 1998, 2002

European Cup/UEFA Champions League (9):
1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1965/66, 1997/98, 1999/00, 2001/02

UEFA Cup (2):
1984/85, 1985/86

European Super Cup (1):
2002

Club Records:

Most consecutive wins: 15 (1960/61)
Most goals in a season: 107 (1989/90)
Most home goals in a season: 78 (1989/90)
Most points in a league season: 80 (2000/01)
Most appearances for the club: Sanchís (710)
Longest serving manager: Miguel Muñoz (1959-1974)
Player with most league titles won: Paco Gento (12)
Player with most European Cups: Paco Gento (6)
Highest scorer in a season: Hugo Sanchez, 38 (1989/90)
Most home wins in a season: 18 (1987/88)
Most consecutive away wins: 7 (1960/61)
Only team to play entire season undefeated: 1931/32
President with most league titles: Santiago Bernabéu (16)
Manager with most league titles: Miguel Muñoz (9)
Longest time undefeated at home: 8 years (121 games, from 1957 to 1965)

History

1902-1920
To be continued

This post has been edited by verx: Jun 21 2008, 09:25 PM

******Reserved*******

God for the last time I seriously dunno where u get this shit from. The Sun? Yeah. Great source
Sneijder is not for sale and he doesn't want to leave the club. If there's anyone we would sell to get some cash it would be Robinho.

Robinho performed well in the 1st half of the season before his injury. The reason why we're considering selling him is because he has a high market value compared to our other players. It wouldn't make much financial sense to sell Sneijder just one year into his Madrid career when we spent 27 mil on him already.

We don't have to sell to United. We can easily sell him to another club and pay full for Ronaldo. It doesn't make a diff to me. Ramos and Casillas? Haha. Good luck with that

Those are ridiculous figures. Zidane's world record fee was only 46 million GBP. The figure I think would be ard 90 million euros which is roughly 71 million GBP. Only Man Utd fans have this fantasy idea that he is worth 100 million GBP

It was a failed project imo. The only thing it succeeded was to put us on another level in terms of global recognition. Although we did win trophies for the first few years, as Fiorentino continued on with his project, the more the club deviated from its ideals and you could see the team lose its way so to speak.

We've since then returned to our traditional ways while still maintaining our global appeal so it was like a growing stage that the club had to go through. But if this Ronaldo transfer occurs it would be a very different situation compared to the galactico days. We aren't sacrificing our squad depth this time around and the team is more united than at any time during those days.

I don't see why Ronaldo's ego would destroy the team as a unit. He is very professional as a player and he trains as hard as the best of them. Raul will definitely approve of his work ethic for instance. Besides all great players have big egos. There's no exception to the rule.

I know where you're coming from but the fact is even with everybody in top form we don't have many options on the right. Robinho and Robben prefer to play on the left. And Robben is injured half the time. Robinho has a more disruptive ego imo and seeing that Robben got some playing time off of him, he had a chance there to show his dissatisfaction but chose not to; although now he's saying that he wouldn't mind leaving. That's also another reason why I wouldn't mind selling Robinho and if he really was sold then I don't really see a problem with Ronaldo coming in. If Ronaldo comes and starts performing nobody is going to complain.

I thought our lack of options on the right flank were quite evident this season which was why Schuster opted a asymmetrical 4-4-2/4-3-3 style. We played with only one winger most of the time and we left Ramos with alot of work to do on the right flank. Replacing Robinho with Ronaldo would be a good way to balance the squad. And even if Robinho doesn't leave we can just modify the formation by giving Raul less minutes. It's this flexibility that would be key to our next season. Competition for places are never a bad thing imo. The players know they are playing for the biggest club in the world after all.

And you're wrong when u assumed the cantera players we brought back would compete for those places. All 3 of them are central midfield players which would mean they would be competing with the likes of Gago, Sneijder, Guti and Diarra.

As for Saviola, Soldado, and Drenthe, do u really think they are good enough to be starting for us? As I said they know who they are playing for. It's up to them whether they want to stay and accept getting minimal minutes or they can easily request for a transfer. That's how football is. Don't get me wrong; I like Drenthe for instance. But the most important thing is for the club to succeed. You just have to take a look at Man Utd's squad and see the depth they have especially in midfield. That's what it takes for a big club to be successful.

This is just a case of ppl seeing what they want to see. If u ask me every club is pretty much the same. Some players will succeed, some will not and u won't know which will so u got to cast your net as wide as possible so to speak.

I won't lose respect for a player who thinks about his future. He has every right to. No big deal imo.

I don't see how Ronaldo thinks he's bigger than Man Utd. If anything it's that he feels he's achieved all he can at Manchester and sees this as an opportunity to join his dream club; the club he supported as a boy. I think MU have played their cards pretty cleverly and have managed to portray Ronaldo in a bad light to their fans in order to prepare them for a sale that might happen. That's just my opinion.

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Added on June 26, 2008, 10:47 amLatest transfer news:
We have sold Balboa to Benfica for 6ME. Good price

This post has been edited by verx: Jun 26 2008, 10:47 AM

The way I see it is that we currently have 3 players who are more comfortable on the left flank: Robinho, Robben and Drenthe. Schuster has normally opted to play Raul and RVN upfront with just 1 winger leaving the right flank almost empty. He has tried Higuain on the right at times but it was clear it wasn't his best position. Balboa have got a few mins playing there as well but he's not good enough to start. With Ronaldo coming in we suddenly have a natural right footer who is comfortable playing on the right. He won't be just stuck on the right of course but the fact that he can play there brings alot more balance to the side. We can play 1 upfront with 2 players on the flanks for instance. We will be able to stretch defences better that way.

I don't think we'll play a flat 4 in midfield. Schuster normally played with 3 in the centre (with 1 being the anchor). So there would be 3 positions for them to compete but I have a feeling 1 of them might be sold by the end of the transfer window. Let's just wait and see what happens

Well to be fair he hasn't said anything concrete as of yet. And the length of contract means nothing. That's why there is a TRANSFER FEE. And I'm curious as to what would constitute as proceeding properly? It was going to be ugly either way with SAF adamant he doesn't want to sell him and Ronaldo hoping to fulfil his dream.

That's a ridiculous notion. With his talent he wouldn't have stayed at Lisbon very long anyway. And Man Utd doesn't have some secret training method to make Ronaldo who he is today. He is what he is because of his dedication and determination to be the best. That's his biggest quality imo not the fancy dribbles and all that stuff.

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Added on June 26, 2008, 9:54 pmFat Ronaldo, Cassano; they had attitude problems. I personally don't think C Ronaldo would be a problem.

This post has been edited by verx: Jun 26 2008, 09:54 PM

It's been a great Euro 2008 for Madrid players

This post has been edited by verx: Jun 30 2008, 05:01 AM

For all the bullshit I have read over the past few days regarding Madrid showing little respect to Robinho (when it shd be the other way ard...go figure), the latest AS report says that we are going to offer Robinho a contract extension and pay rise if he stays of course.

The next time someone talks shit about Madrid again based on just hearsay without any facts I'm going to flame him till kingdom come.

The link here if you know how to read Spanish or just use Google to translate
AS.com

That's a too simplistic way of looking at things. How many strikers/goal scoring midfielders can u play at one time anyway?? If Ronaldo scores 20-30 goals and helps us win another trophy or better yet the CL it would be worth it. And this without mentioning his age and his marketing potential.

Marca says we have signed Van der Vaart. There's a good possibility this might be true. Another Dutch to add to our contigent? Watch this space

I was equally surprised when I first heard it. But a socio over in soccerpulse says that a Madrid board member confirmed it to be true. I don't really know what to make of it; I don't expect anything as of now either. Let's just wait and see what happens.

We have sold Granero to Getafe with a buy back clause
Someone get me an anti depressant