Real Madrid: A History

As Real Madrid host Athletic de Bilbao this Sunday at 8 pm at the Santiago Bernabeu we look at a brief history of how the best club in Spain and the World came to be.

Football in Spain was first introduced to Spain at the turn of the 20th century by the  Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They were mainly English graduates. FC Barcelona being founded in 1901 by two Englishmen – shows how much England influenced Spanish football. They founded the first Spanish club called football goal playing every Sunday morning. In 1900 this club split into two clubs, creating Ball de Madrid and Club Espanol de Madrid.

A subsequent split occured in 1902 and the club Sociedad de Madrid were formed. The first form of what would become known as Real Madrid was in 1905, when Madrid FC won their first major prize at their stadium Estadio Chamartin. They won four consecutive Copa del Rey titles, the only statewide competition in these years.
In 1920, King Alfonso 13th changed Madrid FC’s name to Real Madrid, he was a reported football fan and granted the word Real (Royal) to the club. It was the first time they were known as Real (Royal) Madrid.
But, sadly for Madrid, after the introduction of the Second Spanish Republic, Real Madrid C.F. dropped the Real and the crown from their emblem until the end of the Spanish Civil War.

 

Because of the Civil War and the fact that any footballing activity ceased during this time, Madrid C.F. almost stopped.