Crest and colours
The progression of Real Madrid's crest since the Club's formation in 1902.
The first crest 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 madrid", roughly translated as "Royal".
Thus, Alfonso's 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 crest's "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 21st 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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| Real Madrid's original kit |
Real Madrid's traditional home colours are all white, although it initially adopted a blue oblique stripe on the shirt (the design was kept in the club crest); 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 buttons to the shirt and 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.
Real's traditional away colours are all black or all purple. The club's kit is currently manufactured by
Adidas whose contract extends from 1998.
Real Madrid's first shirt sponsor,
Zanussi, agreed for the 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons. Following that, the club was sponsored by
Parmalat and Otaysa before a long-term deal was signed with Teka in 1992.
In 2001, Real Madrid ended their contract with Teka and for one season used the Realmadrid.com logo to promote the club's website. Then, in 2002, a deal was signed with
Siemens Mobile and in 2006, the
BenQ Siemens logo appeared on the club's shirt.
Real Madrid's current shirt sponsor is
bwin.com following the economic problems of BenQ Siemens.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
Stadium
After moving between grounds the team moved to the
"Campo de O'Donnell" in 1912, which remained its home ground for eleven years.
After this period, the club 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. A new stadium was built and was inaugurated on 14 December 1947.
This was the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as it is known today, although it did not acquire this name until 1955.
The first match held on 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. A plan to add a retractable roof has been announced.
The Bernabéu has hosted the
1964 European Championship final, the
1982 FIFA World Cup final, the
1957,
1969 and
1980 European Cup finals and the
2010 Champions League Final.
The stadium has its own
Madrid Metro station along the 10 line called
Santiago Bernabéu.
On 14 November 2007, the Bernabéu has been upgraded to
Elite Football Stadium status by UEFA.
On 9 May 2006, the
Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium was inaugurated at the City of Madrid where Real Madrid usually trains. The inaugural match was played between Real Madrid and
Stade Reims, a rematch of the 1956 European Cup final. Real Madrid won the match 6–1 with goals from
Sergio Ramos,
Cassano (2),
Soldado (2), and
Jurado. The venue is now part of the
Ciudad Real Madrid, the club's new training facilities located outside
Madrid in Valdebebas. The stadium holds 5,000 people and is
Real Madrid Castilla's home ground. It is named after former Real footballer Alfredo Di Stéfano
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