The Original Galacticos - Part 1
Real Madrid 1956-1960
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(Real Madrid’s European Cup winning team 1956; the first ever in the competition)
In the modern era, Real Madrid are arguably the best club in the world. They win trophies for fun, the best players want to play in the famous white jersey, they have supporters all over the world, and no club is so associated with the European Cup/Champions League as much as Los Blancos (The Whites).
For some it might be hard to fathom, but there was a time Real were arguably not even the best side in Spain in the era before the Spanish Civil War and World War 2. Though never relegated from La Liga, only victory over Real Oviedo on the final day of the 1948/49 season prevented them from dropping out of the division
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, Real (Spanish for royal) was added to their name in 1920 after it was bestowed upon them by King Alfonso XIII. From the beginning white has been the chosen kit colour, modelled on the famous English club Corinthians.
Madrid broke the dominance of Basque club Athletic Bilbao to win their first piece of silverware- the Copa del Rey in 1905. Remarkably and potentially an omen to things to come, they would win the trophy 4 years running, for some unknown reason the club did not enter the 1909 competition thus missing the chance to win 5 in a row.
The first ever league competition in Spain was set up in 1929 with 10 teams entering in the first season. The early dominant force in La Liga was Athletic Bilbao, winning 4 titles in 1930, 1931, 1934 and the last season before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936.
Real Madrid - or know as Madrid Football Club once again, having lost the use of the title royal after Spain became a Republic in 1932 - won their first league titles in 1932 and 1933, pipping Bilbao both times. In between their would be further successes in the cup, defeating Valencia and Barcelona in 1934 and 1936 respectively.
As war raged internally in Spain from July 1936 - April 1939, bar on the republican side, football was halted in the country. The first league campaign after was the 1939/40 season that was won by Madrid’s rivals Atletico Aviacion (Atletico Madrid’s name after they merged with Aviacion Nacional in 1939). They had been relegated in the last year before the conflict, however they were given a reprieve and reinstated due to Real Oviedo’s stadium suffering long-term damage.
Real by contrast would suffer a barren period, winning just 2 cups in 1946 and 1947; hardly the level of success president Santiago Bernabeu had envisaged. It would get worse before it got better, in 1949 only a win on the final day against Real Oviedo prevented them from dropping out of the top division.
For Bernabeu he would need a talisman on the field to transform his club’s fortunes and quick!
(The victorious Copa del Rey team in 1934)
Santiago Bernabeu the coming of Don Alfredo
There are 2 figures who loom large in the history of Real Madrid; Santiago Bernabeu and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Bernabeu throughout his life has performed every role imaginable at the club, ranging from player, adminstrator through to being president - holding that position until his death in 1978, which had seen him involved with the club for 69 years.
He was elected as club president in 1943 and had high ambitions to not only make Real the best club in Spain, but in world football. He had inherited a crumbling Chamartin Stadium that had been open for under 20 years that none the less was no longer fit for purpose. Holding only 16,000 spectators, a new ground was needed to match his ambitions.
The new ground - which would go on to bear his name and is still in use today - took 3 years to build and officially opened on the 14th December 1947, Portuguse side Belenenses the 1st ever opponents at the new ground.
With General Franco now in power after his Nationalist forces defeated the Republicans in the Civil War, Bernabeu having fought alongside his forces, felt that having links with the regime would benefit Real going forward. With right wing lenings and having fought on the side of the general it was a marriage made in heaven.
How much impact the relationship between Franco and the club really benefitted the club will always be one of speculation and evoke conspiracy theories from their rivals. One arguably benefitted from the other, Real’s succcess in Europe projected a strong vision of Spain out into the World and Madrid recieved some favourable refereeing decisions and sway in the Spanish FA.
Though the new Chamartin Stadium was impressive, their was not as of yet a team to match the surroundings. With Barcelona and Atletico Madrid winning all around them, something needed to be done to bridge the gap; Madrid had not won the league since 1933.
A hero was needed, enter the ‘Blonde Arrow.'
(Real Madrid President Santiago Bernabeu, pictured with his trademark cigar)
Welcome Don Alfredo
In Phil Ball’s excellent book, White Storm: 101 years of Real Madrid (2002), one of the chapters is headlined ‘Life before Alfredo.’ Essentially it is about everything that happened before the Argentine arrived in Madrid. Quite simply Real’s modern history begins with his debut against Racing Santander on the 27th September 1953.
How it came to be that he ended up in the Spanish capital has become the stuff of myth and legend.
Di Stefano began his career with River Plate in his native Argentina, making his bow for the club in 1945. He would replace legendary striker and one of River Plates famous La Macquina (the machine) players Adolfo Pedernera to become a main stay in the team, winning 2 Argentine championships in 1945 and 1947.
In 1948, a players striker was called for in April, headed by the likes Pedernera and Di Stefano. Their demands were that Argentine FA introduce a minimum wage and allow the freedom of contract, this was instantly rejected by the authorities. The pirate league of Colombia stepped into the breach, falling outside FIFA’S jurisdiction, they were able to offer large contracts to entice players to sign from around the world.
Offered life changing sums of money, Di Stefano signed for Bogota based club Millionarios on the 9th August 1948. Not only would he be leaving River Plate - who technically still held his official signature - but he would never play for Argentina again. He spent 4 years El Ballet Azul (The Blue Ballet), scoring 90 goals in 101 appearences.
It was while togging out for Millionarios that Bernabeu discocovered the man who would inspire and lead his Real Madrid team to greatness. A tournament to mark Madrid’s 50th anniversary was won by the Colombians with of course Di Stefano stealing the show.
After Millonarios' return to Colombia, the directors of rivals Barcelona made their way to Buenos Aires and engaged in negotiations with River Plate, the last FIFA-affiliated team to possess the rights of Di Stéfano. Eventually, they reached a consensus on a transfer fee, which could be either 150 million Italian lira or $200,000.
Real reached an agreement with his current club Millionarios - who did not actually have his signature - for the forward. At an impass over who actually had signed the player, the Spanish FA ruled that Barca had wrongly not involved the Colombian club, therefore refusing to sanction the transfer.
After FIFA sided with the Catalans, the Spanish FA rushed through legislation banning the further importation of foreign players - which would prevent Di Stefano playing for Barca.
Bizarrely the Spanish FA intervened with the decree that the player will play for Barca for 1 season, Real the next. Then each year until 1957, Di Stefano would alternate who between the 2 rivals. The Catalans refused to accept this arrangement and eventually sold their rights to the transfer a month later, meaning he could play for Real despite the new legislation as the negotiations had begun before it was brought in.
Di Stéfano moved to Madrid, signing a four-year contract worth 5.5 million Spanish pesetas. The transfer intensified the rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid, contributing to the historical animosity between the two clubs.
To rub salt into the wounds, Real would go onto win their 1st league title in 21 years, finishing 4 points ahead of Barcelona in Di Stefano’s maiden season at the Bernabeu. Back-to-back league successes in 1954 and 1955 give the club the opportunity to enter the new UEFA competition, the European Cup.
(Di Stefano in a La Liga fixture for Real)
How The European Cup Was Created
From the early days there had been several precursors to what we now know as the Champions League (the former European Cup).
The most notable was the Mitropa Cup, played among clubs hailing from around Central Europe. The first edition was played in 1927 with Sparta Prague defeating Rapid Vienna over 2 legs. It continued until 1992, before the lack of interest led to it being dispanded.
Alleged English superiority and the vision of a Frenchman were instrumental in the creation of the European Cup. As editior of the French sports paper L’Equipe, Gabriel Hanot had long espoused the merits of a club competition for sides in Europe.
As for the superiority; Wolves had played a series of friendlies against various side from around the world, defeating Spartak Moscow, Honved and Racing Club from Argentina in 1954. The Daily Mail - not one of course to sensationalise - declared the Midlands side as ‘champions of the world.’
Of course all the matches had been played at their home ground of Molineux on deliberately flooded pitches, with no return games to provide a fair and accurate representation of how good their team really was.
Enraged by the boastfulness of the neighbours across the channel, Hanot challenged them to prove their claims by travelling to compete abroad as well in England, and pushed ahead with his idea of a cup to find the best club side in Europe. Despite favouring a round-robin format initially, with fears over fixture congestion from clubs, 2 legged knockouts were settled on to be played mid-week under floodlights.
18 clubs including AC Milan, Hibernian, PSV Eindoven, Stade de Reims and of course the rising force in Spain - Real Madrid took part in the first ever edition. The English of course did not enter, champions Chelsea missing out on making history after the FA pressured them into withdrawing.
The 1st ever game played in the brand new competition was on the 4th September 1955, with Sporting Lisbon drawing 3-3 at home to Partizan Belgrade.
(Sporting Lisbon and Partizan Belgrade run out in the first ever match played in the European Cup in September 1955)
The Start Of A Footballing Dynasty
1955/56
Real Madrid’s opening fixture in the competition with which there name would become synonymous was played in Geneva on the 8th September 1955. Defender Miguel Munoz opened the scoring with Hector Rial also getting on the scoresheet in their 2-0 1st leg win over Servette. The Swiss side were crushed 5-0 back in Madrid, Di Stefano bagging a brace for himself.
In the quarter-finals Partizan Belgrade lay in wait in what was to prove to be a very tough encounter. Spain’s leader Franco’s views on communism and welcoming a side from behind the Iron curtain was a potential danger to the fixture even being played. Raimundo Saporta - one of Bernabeu’s closest allies - persuaded the dictator that for the countries international image it would be better to let the match go ahead.
The 1st leg was played on Christmas Day 1955, kicking off at 3pm. Partizan had the ball in the net twice in the first-half but both goals were disallowed. Castano - who didn’t score many - scored 2 along with strikes from Paco Gento and Di Stefano in a 4-0 win. The Argentine scored the fourth which would prove to be a crucial goal come the end of the 2nd leg.
Roughly a month after the quarter-final second leg was played in Belgrade. What met the Madrid players was what you might call ‘charachter building.’ The temperature was -10 and the pitch covered in hard snow. One of the Partizan shots hit the crossbar that dislodged a flurry of snow onto Real’s keeper Juanito Alonso. The Yugoslavs scored 3 times but couldn’t get a fourth to level the tie, the last 4 beckoned.
Awaiting them was Italian Champions Milan. A 4-2 win on home soil gave Jose Villonga’s men the advantage before heading to northern Italy. A 2-1 defeat on the night meant Real Madrid would along with Stade de Reims - they defeated Hibs in the other semi-final - be the first teams to battle it out to take part in the first ever European Cup.
The first final of the competition was played at the Parc des Princes in Paris on the 13th June. Reims raced into a quick 2 goal lead after just 15 minutes. Di Stefano and Rial responded to tie the game, amazingly 4 goals were scored in the opening half-hour. Future France manager Michel Hidalgo put Les rouges et blancs (The Red and Whites) back in the lead.
Marquitos’s goal made the score 3-3 before Hector Rial wrote his name into history as the first player to score a winning European Cup final goal, firing the ball in at the back post; Real Madrid were the inaugural champions.
(The Real Madrid players celebrate after their 4-2 win over Stade de Reims in the first ever European Cup final)
1956-57
In the close season with money flowing into the club, Raymond Kopa was purchased from beaten European finalists Stade de Reims. The forward would be used mainly on the right of the attack to give the side balance, manager Villalonga felt that there play went down the left to Paco Gento too often and would make his side too predictable.
Real would enter the competition as previous winners, which for them was a good thing; Athletic Bilbao took the title, finishing above Barcelona by 1 point. With the final to be held at the Bernabeu, the incentive to get to back-to-back finals was strong.
Recieving a bie to the first round, Austrians Rapid Vienna were their opponents. In the 1950’s Rapid were a team not to take lightly and so it proved over the 2 legs. Winning 4-2 at the Bernabeu meant the return leg at the Prater stadium was anything but a certainty.
Ernest Happel scored a first-half hatrick to totally stun Real, who were in serious dangering of exiting the competition. President Bernabeu stormed into the dressing room at half time - accompanied by a camera man - to deliver a speech to kick the players out of his funk. It has become the stuff of legend, ironically calling on working class vibes for someone so right-wing, bellowing things like ‘we haven’t come here on holiday', ‘you have the shields of Real Madrid on your shirts’ and ‘people work their hearts out in the factories,you can’t let these people down.’
As it was that man again Di Stefano pulled a goal back, the game ending 3-1 to Rapid and 5-5 on aggregate. There was no away goals in those days so a play-off had to be played, with a promise of 50% of the gate receipt, Rapid agreed to play the game in Madrid. Joseito and Kopa scored the goals that secured passage to the quarter-finals.
Nice were easily swatted aside to set up a fascinating tie with Matt Busby’s Manchester United. Known at the ‘Busby Babes’, United had eliminated the other Spanish entrant Athletic Bilbao in the previous round. The Old Trafford side held out until 61 minutes before Rial broke the deadlock, swiftly followed by a Di Stefano goal. Tommy Taylor reduced the deficit, before Mateos restored the 2 goal lead for Madrid to take to England.
The second leg was a 4 goal thriller played under the floodlights, Kopa and Rial once again put Los Blancos 2 up on the night, 5-1 on aggregate. Taylor and Bobby Charlton clawed 2 back to level the game on the night but it was too little too late. United’s young squad lacked the experience to deal with the wily old heads of Real, the final at their Bernabeu stadium against surprise Serie A winners Fiorentina would be there reward.
Fiorentina made Real work for their victory, sitting deep and wasting time for the majority of the contest. Referee Leo Horn awarded Madrid a contentious penalty that Di Stefano dispatched, Gento scored the insurance goal 6 minutes later to win successive European trophies. Franco handed captain Miguel Munoz the cup, further deepening the conspiracy theories that the club and Government were in cahoots.
The 56/57 season was to see the first milestone of its kind; winning the double of league and European Cup. Madrid were undoubtedly the best side at home - securing the championship finishing 5 points ahead of Sevilla - and on the continent.
(Kopa and Di Stefano celebrate after their win over Fiorentina)
To be continued - part 2 will be sent out on Wednesday
With no club action in Europe or South America to review over the weekend, a look back over the international fixtures in both continents will be provided on Monday.
Interesting stuff James