After moving between several grounds, the team relocated to the Campo de O’Donnell in 1912. In 1920, the club’s name was changed to Real Madrid after King Alfonso XIII granted the title of Real (Royal) to the club. On 6 March 1902, after a new board presided by Juan Padrós had been elected, Madrid Football Club was officially founded. The Padrós brothers summoned other football enthusiasts to a meeting in the back room of Al Capricho, the family business. They viewed football as a mass sport that should be accessible to representatives of all social classes, and thought the new club should embody that idea. The membership fee was also set, two pesetas a month, and the color of the shirt was chosen to be white in honour of a famous English team Corinthian, which Juan Padrós had met on one of his trips.
Finally, on 28 May, Real Madrid’s eleventh Champions League title was won thanks to a 5–3 penalty shoot-out victory over rivals Atlético Madrid after a 1–1 draw in the final, with the achievement being termed “La Undécima”. Real Madrid started the 2012–13 season by winning the Supercopa de España, defeating Barcelona on away goals. However, the super cup turned out to be their only trophy of the season, despite being close to win them all.
Word History and Origins
On 3 June 2015, Rafael Benítez was confirmed as the new Real Madrid manager for the 2015–16 season, signing a three-year contract. Real Madrid remained unbeaten in the league until a 3–2 loss at Sevilla on the matchday 11. Perhaps, his reign is best remembered by multiple lopsided wins achieved both in La Liga and the Champions League (6–0 vs Espanyol, 8–0 vs Malmö, 10–2 vs Rayo Vallecano and others). In the Copa del Rey round of 32, Real accidentally fielded an ineligible player in a 3–1 first leg win at Cádiz and was disqualified from the tournament two days later by the competition judge, despite protests from president Pérez.
Second Florentino Pérez era (2009–present)
Real Madrid was valued at €3.47 billion ($4.1 billion) in 2018, and in the 2016–17 season it was the second highest-earning football club in the world, with an annual revenue of €674.6 million. In November 2018, the average first-team pay at Madrid was £8.1m ($10.6m) per year, making it the second-highest paid sports team in the world after Barcelona. In 2022, Forbes listed Real Madrid as the most valuable football club in the world, at $5.1 billion. The teams met again in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, with Madrid winning 2–1 at home and drawing 2–2 away en route to their tenth title.
The day of the second leg, the Barcelona team were insulted and stones were thrown at their bus as soon as they left their hotel. On 14 April 1931, the arrival of the Second Spanish Republic caused the club to lose the title Real and the royal crown on its emblem, going back to being named Madrid Football Club until the end of the Spanish Civil War. Football continued during the Second World War, and on 13 June 1943, Madrid beat Barcelona 11–1 in the second leg of the Copa del Generalísimo semi-finals, the Spanish Cup having been renamed in honour of General Franco.note 2
After that, Real Madrid started playing its home matches at the 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. Following his election in 1943, president Santiago Bernabéu decided that the Chamartín was not big enough for the ambitions of the club, and thus a new stadium was built and inaugurated on 14 December 1947.
First, Real Madrid lifted the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona 4–1, taking revenge of the previous year’s 3–0 defeat. Then, Real Madrid lifted the La Liga with relative ease, reaching 95 points, the second-best winning campaign by Real Madrid in La Liga history after the 2011– points season. In the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid knocked out RB Leipzig in the Round of 16, then defending champions Manchester City in penalties. Bernabéu had been Real Madrid’s president for almost 35 years, during which his club won one Intercontinental Cup, six European Cups, 16 league titles, six Spanish Cups, two Latin Cups and one Copa Eva Duarte.
Especiales Real Madrid
- Then, Real Madrid lifted the La Liga with relative ease, reaching 95 points, the second-best winning campaign by Real Madrid in La Liga history after the 2011– points season.
- On 12 June 2018, Real Madrid named Julen Lopetegui, the head coach of the Spanish national team, as their new manager.
- Real Madrid’s first shirt sponsor, Zanussi, agreed for the 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons.
- Real Madrid also had the misfortune to become the runners-up with the highest points total in the history of Europe’s top five leagues, until surpassed by Liverpool’s 97 points in 2018–19.
- Under Zidane, Madrid managed to turn the odds in its favour, ultimately winning the Champions League, something no one expected.
Real Madrid became the chicken road app first football club to generate over €1 billion in revenue in the 2023–24 season, according to the Deloitte Football Money League 2025. Along with Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna, Real Madrid is organised as a registered association. The president cannot invest his own money, and the club can only spend what it earns, which is mainly derived through sponsorships, commercial partnerships, merchandise sales, television rights, prize money and ticket sales. Unlike a limited company, it is not possible to purchase shares in the club, but only a membership. The members of Real Madrid, called “socios”, form an assembly of delegates which is the highest governing body of the club. At the end of the 2009–10 season, the club’s board of directors stated that Real Madrid had a net debt of €244.6 million, €82.1 million lower than the previous fiscal year.
Santiago Bernabéu and unprecedented success (1943–
In the meantime, Madrid comfortably topped their UCL group with 16 points and a +16 goal difference. Benítez was relieved of his duties on 4 January 2016 following allegations of unpopularity with supporters, displeasure with players and a failure to produce good results against top teams. Benítez’s departure was announced along with the promotion of Zinedine Zidane to his first head coaching role. Under Zidane, Madrid managed to turn the odds in its favour, ultimately winning the Champions League, something no one expected.
Real Madrid CF
In addition, profit from the sale was spent on a state-of-the-art training complex on the city’s outskirts. Another match that is often played in the European Cup/Champions League is Real Madrid vs Juventus, the most decorated Italian club. They have played each other in 21 matches and have an almost perfectly balanced record (nine wins for Juventus, ten wins for Real Madrid and two draws), as well as nearly the same goal difference (Madrid ahead 26 to 25). Athletic Bilbao, who operate a policy of only using local players, have long since ceased to be a competitive rival to clubs such as Real Madrid who scour the globe for the best talent; the Lions won only two of the 26 matches between the teams from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
- In 2022, Forbes listed Real Madrid as the most valuable football club in the world, at $5.1 billion.
- In reaching 101 goals in 92 games, Ronaldo surpassed Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskás, who scored 100 goals in 105 matches.
- In September 2017, the club equalled the record of the Brazilian club Santos, starring Pelé, by scoring in their 73rd consecutive game, before Bayern Munich breaks the record in 2021.
- Although the Catalans agreed, the decision created various discontent among the Blaugrana members and the president was forced to resign in September 1953.
- In the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid knocked out RB Leipzig in the Round of 16, then defending champions Manchester City in penalties.
Legal Definition
Real Madrid also had the misfortune to become the runners-up with the highest points total in the history of Europe’s top five leagues, until surpassed by Liverpool’s 97 points in 2018–19. Zidane left a second time on 27 May 2021 after going trophyless that season, with Carlo Ancelotti returning to coach the team for the 2021–22 season. On the domestic front, he delivered two trophies out of possible three, winning La Liga and the Supercopa de España.
Official training collection
This record (in pounds sterling) had been broken previously in June 2009, for a few days, when Real Madrid agreed to buy Kaká from Milan for €67 million (£65 million). The transfer of Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale in 2013 was reportedly a new world record signing, with the transfer fee approximated at around €100 million. In January 2016, documents pertaining to Bale’s transfer were leaked which confirmed a world record transfer fee of €100,759,418. Real Madrid equalled their record signing in 2019, when the club signed Eden Hazard from Chelsea for a reported €115 million. The club’s record sale occurred on 10 July 2018, when Juventus signed Cristiano Ronaldo for €117 million. In 2023, Real Madrid signed Jude Bellingham, who was given the number #5 jersey, previously used by Zinedine Zidane.
European rivalries
For the last season of the century, 1999–2000, the squad was still led by the older veterans such as Fernando Hierro, Fernando Redondo, Roberto Carlos and Raúl. Real added the budding young talents of Guti and Iker Casillas, supported by the arrival of Steve McManaman and Nicolas Anelka from the English Premier League, alongside local talents Míchel Salgado and Iván Helguera. In Del Bosque’s first season in charge, Real won the Champions League for the eighth time, following a 3–0 victory over Valencia in the final, with goals from Morientes, McManaman and Raúl. In the early 1980s, Real Madrid had lost its grasp on the La Liga title, until a new cohort of home-grown stars brought domestic success back to the club. Spanish sports journalist Julio César Iglesias gave to this generation the name La Quinta del Buitre (“Vulture’s Cohort”), which was derived from the nickname given to one of its members, Emilio Butragueño.
Real kicked off the 2017–18 campaign by winning its second consecutive and fourth overall UEFA Super Cup in a 2–1 victory against Manchester United. Five days later, Real Madrid beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou 3–1 in the first leg of the 2017 Supercopa de España and then defeated Barça 2–0 in the return leg, ending their 24 consecutive match scoring record in El Clásico matches and winning the second trophy of the season. On 16 December 2017, Real beat Brazilian club Grêmio 1–0 in the FIFA Club World Cup final and became the first team to retain the trophy. The trophy also marked Madrid’s fourth win in five years and their eighth consecutive semi-finals appearance. On 31 May, only five days after winning the final, Zidane announced his resignation as Real Madrid manager, citing the club’s “need for change” as his rationale for departing. Zidane’s and Ronaldo’s departures marked the end of the Second Galáctico Era that yielded four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, two Supercopa de España, three UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cup titles.
Ronaldo set a new club mark for individual goals scored in one year (60) and became the first player ever to score against all 19 opposition teams in a single season. In the 2010–11 season, the rebuilt Madrid successfully fought on all fronts, going toe to toe with a brilliant Barcelona side which some regard as the greatest team in football history. Ultimately, Madrid finished second in the league, with 92 points and four behind their perennial rivals, defeated them in the Copa del Rey final, and lost to Barça in the Champions League semi-finals, where Real progressed to for the first time since 2002–03.