A 122-year-old legend: The history and cultural impact of Real Madrid

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March 6 witnessed one of the most significant events in world sports history.

This date is known as the founding anniversary of Real Madrid, one of the world's greatest sports clubs.

Here is the history of Real Madrid...

Named the best football team of the 20th century by FIFA, Real Madrid has won 35 La Liga titles, 20 Copa del Rey trophies, 12 Spanish Super Cups, 14 UEFA Champions League titles, 2 UEFA Cups, 5 UEFA Super Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups, and 5 FIFA Club World Cup championships throughout its history.

The word "Real" in the club's name means "royal" in Spanish, and this title, along with the royal crown in its logo, was granted to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920.

Thus, Real Madrid became one of the four teams to have the term "Real" in their name.

CIVIL WAR: THE FRANCO ERA

The origins of Real Madrid date back to the Sky Football Club, founded in 1897 by academics, students, and Oxbridge graduates of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza.

In 1900, this club split into two: Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. Club Español de Madrid also split in two in 1902, and the Madrid Football Club was founded on March 6, 1902. Three years after its founding, it won its first league championship by defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup final.

The club's president at the time, Adolfo Meléndez, was one of the signatories of the agreement that decided the establishment of the Spanish Football Federation, making Madrid Football Club one of the founding parties of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which was established on January 4, 1909. In 1912, the team moved to Campo de O'Donnell. In 1920, King Alfonso XIII granted the club the title "Real" and permission to carry the royal crown on its crest, thus changing the name of Madrid Football Club to Real Madrid CF.

''SANTIAGO BERNABEU YESTE''

When the calendar turned to 1945, Santiago Bernabeu Yeste became the president of Real Madrid. During his presidency, he first renovated the Ciudad Deportiva, which had been damaged during the Spanish Civil War, and moved the club to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Starting in 1953, he began making transfers that would provide worldwide prestige.

For example, Real Madrid managed to draw all attention to itself during this period by completing the transfer of Alfredo Di Stéfano.

THE EARLY 80S: A PERIOD OF STAGNATION

In the early 1980s, Real Madrid's influence on La Liga was not felt as strongly as before. The club failed to win a championship between 1980 and 1985, finishing as league runners-up only three times.

However, starting in the second half of the 1980s, Real Madrid officially placed an embargo on trophies. During this period, they won two UEFA Cups, five La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey, and one Spanish Super Cup.

THE 2000S: LOS GALÁCTICOS

Real Madrid experienced a major turning point at the beginning of the 2000s. Florentino Pérez, who became the club's president in July 2000, became a very important figure who changed the recent history of the Madrid team. In his election campaign, in addition to his promises to clear the club's debts and modernize its facilities, his first act was to fulfill another promise: bringing Luís Figo to the club. In the following years, in line with his star player policy, he created "Los Galácticos" by transferring world-famous footballers such as Zinédine Zidane, Ronaldo, and David Beckham. However, this squad, described as a collection of stars, only won the UEFA Champions League in 2002. Apart from the 2002 Champions League title, this squad did not achieve significant success.

With the election of Ramón Calderón as president on July 2, 2006, Fabio Capello was brought in as the team's head coach, and Predrag Mijatovic became part of the club again as the new sporting director. Although he led Real Madrid to a La Liga title after four seasons, Capello was fired from the team on the grounds that he played defensive football. In the 2007-08 season, Real Madrid tasted La Liga success again, winning the 31st Spanish championship in club history with this title.

On June 1, 2009, Florentino Pérez sat in the presidential chair of Real Madrid once again. During his second term, he launched the second Los Galácticos project with the transfers of Kaká from Milan and Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a transfer fee of 80 million euros.

REAL MADRID IN THE 2010S

The white-and-purple team managed to continue its success in the 2010s. During this 10-year period, the Madrid team won 3 La Liga titles, 3 Spanish Super Cups, 2 Spanish King's Cups, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 4 FIFA Club World Cup titles, and 4 Champions League titles.

Real Madrid also set another record by winning the Champions League 3 times in a row in the 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 seasons under the management of Zinédine Zidane.

REAL MADRID AND POPULAR CULTURE

Real Madrid is one of the rare sports clubs that has managed to be the subject of popular culture many times.

The Spanish giant was the subject of Goal! 2: Living the Dream, the second film in the Goal! trilogy. The Goal! series, filmed with the full support of UEFA, focuses on real footballers. The film series featured Real Madrid players Iker Casillas, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl González, Sergio Ramos, Robinho, Thomas Gravesen, Michael Owen, Míchel Salgado, Júlio Baptista, Guti, Steve McManaman, Jonathan Woodgate, and Iván Helguera.

The semi-documentary film titled Real, The Movie is entirely about Real Madrid. Produced by the club and directed by Borja Manso, the film explores the fans' love for Real Madrid. In addition to the artistic aspect of the film, footage of Ciudad Real Madrid, matches, and interviews are also included. The film focuses on the Los Galácticos generation, primarily David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Raúl González, Luís Figo, Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, and Roberto Carlos.

The book titled White Storm: 100 years of Real Madrid, written by Phil Ball, was the first English publication to cover the history of Real Madrid. Published in 2002, the book covers the achievements Real Madrid has packed into 100 years. Translated into many languages, the book is the most comprehensive written publication on the history of Real Madrid.