| Real Madrid |
 |
| Full name | Real Madrid Club de Fútbol |
| Nickname(s) | Los Blancos
Los Merengues
Los Galácticos |
|---|
| Founded | 6 March 1902
(as Sociedad Madrid Foot-ball Club) |
|---|
| Ground | Santiago Bernabéu
Madrid, Spain |
|---|
| Capacity | 80,400 |
|---|
| Chairman |  Ramón Calderón |
|---|
| Head Coach |  Bernd Schuster |
|---|
| League | La Liga |
|---|
| 2006-07 | La Liga, 1st |
|---|
|
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish sports club most widely known for its professional football team based in Madrid. It is one of the most successful clubs of the 20th century and also holds several records. The club also has a similarly successful basketball section. The original uniform colors are white t-shirt and shorts, and blue socks. The purple band in the badge represents the kingdom of Castile.
The club was one of the founding members of FIFA. They play their home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid have been European Champions a record 9 times and have also won 30 La Liga titles. The club also operates a reserve football team, Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful basketball team, Real Madrid Baloncesto and are trying to sponsor a rugby team, CRC Madrid Noroeste and a Formula One team. Real Madrid is unique in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, FIFA awarded Real Madrid as the Best Club of the twentieth Century. On 17th June 2007, Real Madrid won its 30th La Liga title by beating Mallorca at home 3-1. They finished level on points with fierce rivals Barcelona, but were declared winners on better head-to-head record.
Throughout its history, the club has acquired a lot of nicknames. The first ones were los merengues, because of the white dessert meringue, and los blancos. Both simply referred to the club's legendary all-white strip and remain the most common to this day. In the 1970s, the nickname los vikingos became popular, due to the signings of several northern European players. Most recently, the media called the club los galácticos, referring to club's tendency to sign the most famous players in the world.
Real Madrid is currently the richest club in the world with an estimated revenue of €292.2 million.
