Real Madrid

Place of Birth: 

Madrid

Date of Birth: 

17 December 1883

Titles Won: 

4 Regional Championships
1 Spanish Cup

Madrid CF was awarded the Royal title (Real) during the office of Pedro Parages. He had been a prominent player before becoming the Club’s President, winning four Spanish Cups in seven years. He was also the first-ever Frenchman to play for Madrid –he was born in the Spanish capital, but his father was French-.

Parages was also the author of the Club’s rules and regulations, which he drew up from the experience he acquired in England. In 1917, during his first year in office, Real Madrid won their first Spanish Cup since 1908, as well as the Central Federation title.

He built the first proper pitch the Club ever owned on O’Donnell street, turning football into a sport of spectacle by charging money for tickets for the first time in the country’s history. Two years later, the Club felt the need of a much larger stadium with capacity for a crowd of 25,000 people. Thus, Chamartín Stadium was built. It opened on 17 May 1924 with a match against professional English side Newcastle United; the amateur Real Madrid players won 3-2. Parages left the Presidency on 16 May 1926.