Atletico Madrid Info + History

Stadium & Facilities Information

Current Stadium Vicente Calderón (formerly Estadio Manzanares)
Capacity 54.851
Inauguration 1966
Pitch Dimensions 105m x 70m
Other Facilities Ciudad Deportiva de Majadahonda (Sports Academy)
Address po Virgen del Puerto, 67 - 28005, Madrid, Spain




The
Vicente Calderón Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Vicente Calderón) in Madrid,
Spain, is located in the heart of Madrid by the banks of the River
Manzanares. The stadium was originally called Estadio Manzanares, but was later changed to Vicente Calderón after the famous Atlético club president.

The
Vicente Calderón Stadium regularly holds international matches of the
Spanish national team. It has a capacity of 54,851 and was given the
UEFA 5 star stadium rating in 2003.




The
club train ay Majadahonda Training Complex (Ciudad Deportivo de
Majadahonda). The training ground is situated 20km on the outskirts of
Madrid. The centre has many training pitches, both grass and
artificial, and a gym. The facilities are also used by Atletico's youth
teams. Further information:

• 2 Grass Pitches
  
• 2 Artificial Pitches
  
• Ministadium
  

The Playing Kit

------------------------
Home Colours Red & White Stripes------------------------Away Colours Yellow & Blue Stripes


Atlético
currently wears its famous red-and-white stripes at home, while wearing
blue-and-white on the road. The kit has been made by Nike for about 6
years, as Nike wants to provide competition against Real, who have a
deal with Adidas. The current shirt sponsor is Kia Motors. Previously,
the club was sponsored by Columbia Pictures, who would change the shirt
sponsor's logo (and occasionally the shirt itself, as they did with the
away shirt when Spider-Man 2 was in cinemas) to a current film that
Columbia had released. Because shirts would have to be introduced and
removed from shops at a very fast pace to keep up with film releases,
Nike decided to not include a sponsor's logo on replica shirts made
from 2002 to 2005.

Previous shirt makers:

• 1985-1998 Puma
  
• 1998-2001 Reebok
  

Previous shirt sponsors:

• 1989-1990 Mita
  
• 1991-1993 Antena 3
  
• 1994-1996 SEAT/Marbella
  
• 1996-1997 Bandai/Tamagotchi
  
• 1997-1999 SEAT/Marbella
  
• 1999-2000 no sponsor
  
• 2000-2003 Idea
  
• 2003-2005
  Columbia Pictures (Movies advertised on the shirt included: S.W.A.T.,
  Big Fish, Hellboy, Spanglish, Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse and
  Spider-Man 2)
  

The Honours List

Trophies
Spanish Primera División 9
1939-40, 1940-41, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1965-66, 1969-70, 1972-73, 1976-77, 1995-96

Copa del Rey 9
1960, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1996

Intercontinental Cup 1
1974

European Cup Winners' Cup 1
1962

Spanish Segunda División 1
2001-02

Supercopa de España 1
1985

Campeonato del Centro 4
1920-21, 1924-25, 1927-28, 1939-40


Roll of Honour
9 Participations in UEFA Champions League
18 Participations in UEFA Cup
68 seasons in La Liga
6 seasons in Segunda División
1 Participation in Intertoto Cup
9 Participations in Cup Winners Cup




With
the 1974 European Champions Bayern Munich refusing to participate in
the Intercontinental Cup, alleging fixture congestion, it fell to
Atletico Madrid , as runners-up, to fly the flag for the Old Continent
against the reigning South America Champions Independiente de
Avellaneda. With their Liga campaign already in full swing, the
red-and-white party travelled to Buenos Aires for the first leg. In a
lacklustre affair, the Spaniards set their stall out to defend and the
Argentines were only able to convert one chance. A single goal from
Balbuena put the tie on a knife-edge ahead of the return match.

On
12 April 1975 , the Vicente Calderon stadium was awash with colour, and
a wall of noise enveloped the ground right from the first whistle.
Irureta levelled the tie in the first half with a superb header, with
Ayala’s goal five minutes from time capping a bravura display from the
home side and sending the 50,000 fans into raptures.

Key player
In
the all-important return match, one player’s performance would earn him
legendary status among a generation of Atletico fans. Team captain
Adelardo grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and bossed the
centre of the park, launching wave after wave of attack. It was he who
instigated the moves that lead to both goals, and he who received the
loudest cheer from delirious Atletico fans when he hoisted the trophy
aloft.

“The Intercontinental is a very prestigious competition
in South America . The atmosphere when we went to Buenos Aires was
incredible. The Independiente fans never stopped cheering their team
on. We managed to get a decent result, and in the return game we were
able to turn the tie around. It was my job to mark Independiente’s
danger man, Bochini, who was thought to be one of the best players in
the world at the time,” recalls Adelardo. He did his job well,
preventing the Argentine star from getting a sniff at goal.

Coach
Coaching
Atletico de Madrid in that thrilling final was none other than
Madrid-born Luis Aragones. The previous season he had been the team’s
centre-forward, only hanging up his boots a mere five months before the
historic Intercontinental Cup tie. "I’ll still be just one of the lads
but the players will need to understand my new responsibilities," he
said as he took over the coaching duties from his mentor Juan Carlos
Lorenzo.

As a player, Aragones had been the epitome of
commitment and was able to instil this fighting spirit into his new
charges. He was one of the best Spanish players of the 60s and 70s,
turning out for eight different teams, although he played his best
football in the red and white of Atletico. His medal collection
includes one La Liga title, four Spanish Cups and one Supercup, as well
the Pichichi award for top goalscorer in the Spanish league in the
1969/70 season which he shared with Amancio and Garate.

Nicknamed
“The wise man of Hortaleza” because of the neighbourhood he grew up in
and his vast experience, he has coached 9 Spanish first division clubs
since 1975. These include FC Barcelona, Valencia CF, Real Betis and, of
course, Atletico. He is one of the most highly-rated and distinguished
coaches in Spain and is currently head coach of the Spanish national
team.

The History of Club Atlético de Madrid

Athletic Club de Madrid

The
club was originally founded on April 26th 1903 as Athletic Club de
Madrid by three Basque students living in Madrid. The founders saw the
new club as a branch of Athletic Bilbao. In 1904 they were joined by
dissident members of Madrid FC. They began playing in blue and white,
as did Athletic Bilbao, but by 1911 they were playing in their current
colours. The reason the club changed colours is not known for certain.
However one theory is that red and white striped tops were the cheapest
stripes to make because the same combination was used to make bed
mattresses. The left over cloth was easily converted into football
shirts. Although both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid started out
with blue and white stripes, the discovery of a cheaper option probably
persuaded them to change. The Madrid club did it first and they became
known as los colchoneros - the mattress makers.

In 1921 Athletic
Madrid became independent of Athletic Bilbao and by 1923, the club
built its first stadium, the Metropolitano. During the 1920s Athletic
won the Campeonato del Centro three times and in 1921 and 1926 they
were Copa del Rey runners-up. Based on this record, they were invited
to join the Primera División of the inaugural La Liga in 1928. During
their debut La Liga season the club were managed by Fred Pentland.
However in 1930 they were relegated to the Segunda División. They
briefly returned to the Primera División in 1934, again with Pentland
in charge. The club were relegated again in 1936 after Josep Samitier
took over in mid-season from Pentland. However the Spanish Civil War
gave the club a reprieve and both La Liga and Athletics relegation were
postponed.



Athletic Aviacion de Madrid

By
1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with Aviacion
Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviacion de Madrid. Aviacion
Nacional had been founded in 1939 by members of the Spanish Air Force.
They had been promised a place in the Primera División for the 1939-40
season, only to be denied by the RFEF. As a compromise this club merged
with Athletic, whose squad had lost eight players in the Spanish Civil
War. The team were awarded a place in the 1939-40 Primera División only
as a replacement for Real Oviedo whose ground had been damaged during
the war. With Ricardo Zamora as manager, the club subsequently won
their first La Liga in 1940 and then retained the title in 1941.

In
1941 a decree issued by Franco banned teams from using foreign names
and the club became Atlético Aviacion de Madrid. In 1947 the club
decided to drop the military association from its name and settled on
its current name Club Atlético de Madrid. The same year saw Atlético
beat Real Madrid 5-0 at the Metropolitano, to date their biggest win
over their rivals.


The Golden Age

Under
Helenio Herrera and with the help of Larbi Benbarek, Atlético won La
Liga again in 1950 and 1951. With the departure of Herrera in 1953, the
club began to slip behind Real Madrid and CF Barcelona and for the
remainder of the 1950s they where left to battle it out with Atlético
Bilbao for the title of third team in Spain.

However during the
1960s and 1970s, Atlético Madrid seriously challenged CF Barcelona for
the position of second team. The 1957/58 season saw Fernando Daucik
take charge of Atlético and he led them to second place in La Liga.
This resulted in Atlético qualifying for the 1958/59 seasons European
Cup since the winners, Real Madrid where the reigning European
champions. Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward Vavá and Enrique
Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra, CSKA
Sofia and FC Schalke 04. In the semi-finals they met Real Madrid. Real
won the first leg 2-1 at the Bernabéu while Atlético won 1-0 at the
Metropolitano. If away goals had counted double Atlético would have
progressed to the final. However the tie went to a replay and Real won
2-1 in Zaragoza.

Atlético, however, gained their revenge when,
led by former Real coach José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two
successive Copa del Generalísimo finals in 1960 and 1961. In 1962 they
won the European Cup Winners Cup beating Fiorentina 3-0 after a replay.
In 1963 they reached the final of the same competition again, this time
losing 5-1 to Tottenham Hotspur F.C.. Enrique Collar, who continued to
be an influential player during this era, was now joined by the likes
of midfielder Miguel Jones and midfield playmaker Adelardo.

In
1968 Atlético changed his Metropolitano Stadium for an state of the art
venue, Estadio del Manzanares, later renamed to Estadio Vicente
Calderón, after the best ever Chairman Atlético had.



Unfortunately
for Atlético fans their best years coincided with a great Real Madrid
team. Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated La Liga with the
club winning the competition 14 times. During this era only Atlético
offered Real any serious challenge, winning La Liga titles in 1966,
1970, 1973 and 1977. They were also runners-up in 1961, 1963 and 1965
and won the Copa del Generalísimo again in 1965, 1972 and 1976. In
1965, when they finished as La Liga runners-up to Real after an intense
battle for the title, Atlético became the first team to beat Real at
the Bernabéu in eight years.


European Cup Finalists

Significant
players from this era included the now veteren Adelardo and regular
goalscorers Luis Aragonés, Javier Irureta and José Eulogio Gárate. The
latter won the Pichichi three times in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In the
1970s Atlético also recruited several Argentine employees, signing
Ruben Ayala, Panadero Diaz and Ramon Heredia, as well as coach Juan
Carlos Lorenzo. Lorenzo believed in discipline, caution and disrupting
the opponents’ game. Although controversial, his methods proved
successful and after winning La Liga in 1973, the club reached the
European Cup final in 1974. On the way to the final Atlético knocked
out Galatasaray, Dinamo Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade and Celtic. In the
away leg of the semi-final against Celtic, Atlético had Ayala, Diaz and
substitute Quique all sent off during a hard fought encounter. Despite
this they still managed a 0-0 draw and then won the return leg 2-0 with
goals from Gárate and Adelardo. However the final at the Heysel Stadium
proved to be a heartbreaker for Atlético. Against a Bayern Munich team
that included Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness
and Gerd Müller, Atlético played above themselves. Despite missing
Ayala, Diaz and Quique through suspension, they went ahead in
extra-time with only seven minutes left. Aragonés scored with a superb,
curling free-kick that looked like the winner. However in the last
minute of the game Bayern defender Georg Schwarzenbeck equalised with a
stunning 25 yarder that left the Atlético goalkeeper Miguel Reina
motionless. In a replay, back in the Heysel, two days later Bayern won
4-0.


The Aragonés Years

Shortly after the
defeat in the European Cup, Atlético appointed their veteran player
Luis Aragonés as coach. Aragonés subsequently served as coach on four
separate occasions (1974-80, 1982-87, 1991-93 and 2002-03). His first
success came quickly. Bayern Munich had declined to participate in the
Intercontinental Cup and as runners-up, Atlético were invited instead.
Their opponents were Independiente of Argentina and, after losing the
away leg 1-0, they won the return leg 2-0 with goals from Javier
Irureta and Ruben Ayala. Aragonés subsequently led the club to further
successes in the Copa del Rey in 1976 and La Liga in 1977.

During
his second spell in charge, Aragonés led the club to second in La Liga
and a Copa del Rey in 1985. He received considerable help from Hugo
Sánchez who scored 19 La Liga goals and won the Pichichi. Sánchez also
scored twice in the Copa final as Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1.
However Sánchez only remained at the club one season before he move
across the city to Real Madrid. Despite the loss of Sánchez, Aragonés
went on to lead the club to success in the Supercopa de España in 1985
and then guided them to the European Cup Winners Cup final in 1986.
However Atlético lost their third successive European final, this time
3-0 to Dynamo Kiev.


The Jesús Gil Years

In
1987 Jesús Gil became club president. Atlético had not won La Liga for
ten years and were desperate for success. Gil spent heavily, bringing
in a number of expensive signings, most notably Paulo Futre. However
the title proved elusive and Gil developed a reputation for his
ruthlessness. He hired and fired a number of managers, including César
Luis Menotti, Ron Atkinson, Javier Clemente and a returning Luis
Aragonés, in pursuit of success. In 1996 Radomir Antic, with a squad
including José Luis Caminero, Diego Simeone, Milinko Pantic, Juan
Manuel López and Kiko, finally delivered. Atlético won a La Liga/Copa
del Rey double. However this success produced no change in the Gil
strategy and although Antic survived three consecutive seasons in
charge he was replaced in 1998 by Arrigo Sacchi. Antic returned briefly
in 1999 only to be replaced by Claudio Ranieri. The spending also
continued with Christian Vieri and Juninho arriving in the late 1990s.
The 1999/00 season proved disastrous for Atlético. Ranieri was sacked
with the club heading towards relegation and the return of Antic for a
third time failed to prevent the inevitable. Despite reaching the Copa
del Rey final, Atlético were relegated.


New Life Under Cerezo

Atlético
spent two seasons in the Segunda División, narrowly missing out on
promotion in 2001 before winning the Segunda División championship in
2002. In May 2003, at the culmination of a torrid season back in the
Primera, Gil resigned as Atletico's president after 16 years at the
helm, and died following a stroke in 2004. His position was taken by
Enrique Cerezo. Since promotion, the Club has never been close to his
usual records, and history has repeated itself for the last four years
with high early season expectation, but below-par on pitch performances.

After
the 2005/06 campaign, Atletico finished 10th and were without a
manager. Former Mexico World Cup Manager Javier Aguirre was handed the
job and he eventually began a revolution at the club. Aguirre soon
puled off the signing of the summer as 18 year-old Argentine playmaker
Sergio "Kun" Aguero was bought from Independienete for €23,000,000.
This signalled something of a fresh start for the promising,
underachieving Atleti squad, and with much promise within the side and
manager of great repute, who would bet against them being there or
thereabouts come the end of the season?

thx for the topic about this club really nice history