Atlético Madrid

Atlético Madrid

Full name	Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Los colchoneros (The mattress makers)
Founded	April 26, 1903 (as Athletic Club de Madrid)${\displaystyle }$ October 4, 1939 (as Club Atlético de Madrid)
Ground	Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Madrid Spain
Capacity	54,851 seats
Chairman	Enrique Cerezo
Manager	Abel Resino
League	La Liga
2008–09	La Liga, 4th
Home colours Away colours

Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D. (known in English as Atlético Madrid, Atletico Madrid or simply Atleti.) is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in the Primera División of La Liga. Their home stadium is the Vicente Calderón Stadium, which currently holds up to 55,000 spectators. The club is one of the most successful in Spanish League history, having won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996. They also won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1962 and were European Cup runners-up and Intercontinental Cup winners in 1975.

During their history, the club have been known by a number of nicknames including Los Colchoneros or The Mattress Makers due to their first team stripes being the same colours as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s they became known as Los Indios. This was allegedly due to the club signing several South American players after the restrictions on signing foreign players was lifted. However there are a number of counter theories which claim they were so named because their stadium is camped on the river bank or because Los Indios were the traditional enemy of Los Blancos —the whites. The latter nickname refers to the club's city rival Real Madrid.

History

Club Atletico de Madrid S.A.D.

The Club was founded on 9 October 1939. A previous club was originally founded on 26 April 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 Real Madrid. 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. Other more plausible account of the reason to change colours is that both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid used to buy Blackburn Rovers blue and white kits in England. Once in 1911 Juanito Elorduy, former player and member of the board of Athletic Madrid, went to England to buy kits for both teams. He did not find Blackburn Rovers kits and bought Sunderland red and white ones instead. Athletic Bilbao adopted Southampton full kit with red and white shirt and black shorts, whereas Athletic Madrid adopted the red and white shirt but kept Blackburn Rovers blue shorts.

First Atletico's ground, 'Ronda de Vallecas', was situated in the homonym working-class area south of the city. In 1919, the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana—the company that ran the underground communication system in Madrid—acquired some land, near the Ciudad Universitaria. As part of that project the company built a sports stadium, named Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid. With a capacity for 35.800 spectators, in 1923 it was rented by Atlético de Madrid, which used it until 1966 when they moved to the new Estadio Vicente Calderón. After the move, the Metropolitano was demolished, being replaced with university buildings.

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 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 (because Real Oviedo was unable to play due to the destruction of their stadium during the bombings) and both La Liga and Athletic's relegation were postponed, the latter by winning a playoff against Osasuna (champion of the last played Segunda División tournament).

Athletic Aviación de Madrid

By 1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviación de Madrid. Aviación 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 the legendary 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 cross-town 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 Barcelona and for the remainder of the 1950s they were 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 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 were the reigning European champions. Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward Vavá and Enrique Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra, CSKA Sofia and 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. 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. 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.

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 veteran 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 Rubén Ayala, Panadero Díaz and Ramón "Cacho" 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 Bucureşti, Red Star Belgrade and Celtic. In the away leg of the semi-final against Celtic, Atlético had Ayala, Díaz and substitute Quique all sent off during a hard fought encounter in what was reported as one of the worse cases of cynical fouling the tournament has seen. Because of this cynicism they managed a 0–0 draw, which was followed by a 2–0 victory in the return leg 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, Díaz 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 equalized 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 Rubén 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 controversial politician and businessman Jesús Gil (most of his colleagues when he was the Marbella mayor are now in jail) 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. In pursuit of success, he hired and fired a number of managers, including César Luis Menotti, Ron Atkinson, Javier Clemente and a returning Luis Aragonés.

In 1996 Radomir Antić, with a squad including José Luis Caminero, Luboslav Penev, Diego Simeone, Milinko Pantić, Juan Manuel López and Kiko, finally delivered the much sought after league title as Atlético won the 1995/96 La Liga/Copa del Rey double. The heavy spending also continued with top signings Christian Vieri and Juninho Paulista arriving in the summer of 1997. However all the success produced little change in the overall Gil strategy, and although Antić survived three consecutive seasons in charge he was replaced during summer 1998 by Arrigo Sacchi who himself remained in the managerial hot seat for less than 6 months. Antić then returned briefly in early 1999 only to be replaced by Claudio Ranieri. The 1999–2000 season proved disastrous for Atlético. In December 1999, Gil and his board got suspended pending investigation into the misuse of club funds and government-appointed administrator José Manuel Rubí began running Atlético's day to day operations. With the sudden removal of Gil's strong presence, the club was in complete disarray and results on the pitch clearly reflected that. Ranieri handed in his resignation with the club in 17th spot out of 20 and heading towards relegation. The return of Antić for the third coaching stint failed to prevent the inevitable. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final, Atlético were relegated.

Atlético spent two seasons in the Segunda División, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001 before winning the Segunda División championship in 2002.

Aguirre Era

In 2006, Fernando Torres, one of the biggest talents in recent Spanish football history, was joined by Portuguese internationals Costinha, Maniche and Argentine Sergio Agüero.

Fernando Torres shocked the club in June 2007 when he stated his desire to play for Liverpool. He left Atlético and joined the English giant on 4 July 2007 for £26.5 million, £20 million of which was in cash, with the rest consisting of the rights to Luis García. Around this same time, Atleti also made a splash by signing Uruguay international and former European Golden Boot/Pichichi winner Diego Forlán for roughly €21 million from Villarreal. Several weeks later, the club gave up Bulgarian star Martin Petrov to Manchester City, but got a replacement shortly after: Portuguese star Simão, signed from Benfica for roughly €20 million. On 29 July, it was announced that Atlético had signed winger José Antonio Reyes for €12 million.

In July 2007, the Atlético board reached an agreement with the city of Madrid to sell the land where the stadium is built and move the club to the Olympic Stadium, owned by the city. Atlético will be allowed to play in Vicente Calderón stadium until 2010. The new stadium will be owned by the club on 2016, as the city is applying to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

The 2007/08 season proved to be the most successful season for the club in the last decade. The team reached the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup, where they were defeated by Bolton Wanderers. They also reached the Quarterfinal round of the Domestic Cup, the Copa del Rey, where they were beaten by eventual champions Valencia. More significantly, the team finished the La Liga season in 4th place, qualifying for Champions League Play. The return of UEFA Champions League football to the Vicente Calderon Stadium was the first time since the 1996/97 season, when Atlético lost in the Quarterfinal round to the Dutch powerhouse Ajax. Sergio Agüero, Diego Forlán, Simão, Maxi Rodríguez, and goalkeeper Leo Franco led Atlético to its first Champions League appearance in more than ten years.

So far, the 2008/09 season has proven to be another great stride forward in the resurrection of Club Atlético de Madrid's reputation as a force to be reckoned with both in Domestic and European Football, with participation continuing in the UEFA Champions League, however recent performances in La Liga have not been as successful as the club would have liked. This season, Atlético have added French goalkeeper Grégory Coupet, Dutch central defender John Heitinga, Czech central defender Tomáš Ujfaluši, Brazilian central midfielder Paulo Assunção, Argentine Midfielder Ever Banega (on loan from Valencia S.A.D., and French forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle to the lineup, who join returning loanee Portuguese central midfielder Maniche.

On 3 February 2009, Javier Aguirre was dismissed from his post as manager after a terrible start to 2009, not winning a game in 6 run outs. He later claimed this was simply not the case, and that he had been released by mutual termination rather than sacked. There was a public outrage after his dismissal, many believing he was not the cause of Atlético's problems, specifically player Diego Forlán who claimed “Dismissing Javier was the easy way out, but he was not the cause of our problems. The players are to blame because we have not been playing well and we have been committing a lot of errors." Abel Resino was confirmed as the new manager.

Abel Resino Keeps Atletico in Champions League

Atletico's success continued in the last season when they placed 4th once again in the league table, securing a position in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League. Striker Diego Forlan was crowned Pichichi of the season and Golden Boot when he scored 32 goals for Atletico this season. Atletico is already seeing some strong changes to their lineup, with their veteran goalkeeper Leo Franco now departing and the promising young Real Valladolid star, Sergio Asenjo expected to take his place. Atletico also purchased Real Betis defender and Spanish international, Juanito. Despite pressure from big clubs to purchase their star players, Aguero and Forlan, Atletico remained committed to keeping their strong attacking base in the hopes for a successful new season.

El Derbi Madrileño

Main article: El Derbi madrileño

Real Madrid and Atletico are clubs with contrasting identities and very different fates. Historically, Real Madrid have long been seen as the establishment club. On the other side, the rojiblancos were always characterized by a sentimiento de rebeldía (a sense of rebellion) although, during the early Franco years, it was Atlético that was the preferred team of the regime, being associated with the military airforce, until the regime's preferences moved towards Real Madrid in the 1950s. That Franco's regime subsequently intervened to ensure success for Real Madrid for political and propaganda purposes is widely alleged and believed, although denied by many Real Madrid supporters.

Certainly, the dictatorial state sought to make political capital out of Real Madrid's European Cup trophies at a time when Spain was internationally isolated - "Real Madrid are the best embassy we ever had," said one minister. Such perceptions have had an important impact on the city's footballing identities, tapping into the collective consciousness. In this vein, Atlético fans were probably the originators, and are the most frequent singers, of the song "Real Madrid, Real Madrid, el equipo del gobierno, la verguenza del país" ("Real Madrid, Real Madrid, the government's team, the country's shame").

The Bernabeu is majestic, alongside banks and businesses on the classy and aristocratic Castellana, while the Calderon can be found beside a brewery. Real Madrid draw greater support certainly because of its successes, while Atletico gain the majority of its friends from the passionate working-class south of the city.

All that feeds into the myths, reinforcing them: Real Madrid as the power, Atletico the people; bourgeoisie against proletarians; right-wing against left-wing (even though the far right is as implicated in Atlético as it is in Real Madrid, and the city's third team, Rayo Vallecano, largely ignored, is the one which has more left-wing influence); the swish, sanitised north against the 'real' city of the south; the favored against the persecuted; the media darlings against the unfashionable battlers... GÖZ GÖZ GÖZTEPE//1925

Trophies

• La Liga

Winners (9): 1939–40, 1940–41, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1995–96

Runners-up (8): 1943–44, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1973–74, 1984–85, 1990–91

• Copa del Rey

Winners (9): 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96

Runners-up (8): 1920–21, 1925–26, 1955–56, 1963–64, 1974–75, 1986–87, 1998–99, 1999–2000

• Supercopa de España

Winners (3): 1940, 1951, 1985

Runners-up (4): 1950, 1991, 1992, 1996

• Segunda Division

Winners (1): 2001–02

Runners-up (3): 1932–33, 1933–34,

• Campeonato del Centro: 4
  • 1920–21, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1939–40

• European Cup/UEFA Champions League

Runners-up (1): 1973–74

• Intercontinental Cup

Winners (1): 1974

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (1): 1961–62

Runners-up (2): 1962–63, 1985–86

• UEFA Intertoto Cup

Winners (1): 2007

Runners-up (1): 2004

---

• 16 Participations in UEFA Champions League
• 18 Participations in UEFA Cup
• 71 seasons in La Liga
• 6 seasons in Segunda División
• 2 Participation in Intertoto Cup
• 8 Participations in Cup Winners Cup

Current squad

The numbers are established according to the official website:www.clubatleticodemadrid.com and www.lfp.es Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	ESP	Antonio López (vice-captain)
4	DF	ESP	Mariano Pernía
5	DF	NED	John Heitinga
6	MF	BRA	Cléber Santana
7	FW	URU	Diego Forlán
8	MF	ESP	Raúl García
9	MF	ESP	Luis García
10	FW	ARG	Sergio Agüero
11	MF	ARG	Maxi Rodríguez (c)
12	MF	BRA	Paulo Assunção
14	FW	FRA	Florent Sinama-Pongolle

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	MF	ESP	José Manuel Jurado
17	DF	CZE	Tomáš Ujfaluši
20	MF	POR	Simão
21	DF	COL	Luis Amaranto Perea
22	DF	ESP	Pablo Ibáñez
24	MF	ESP	Ignacio Camacho
28	DF	ESP	Álvaro Domínguez
29	MF	ESP	Keko
--	DF	ESP	Juanito
--	DF	URU	Leandro Cabrera

Out on Loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
30	MF	BRA	Diego Costa (at Albacete)
33	MF	ESP	Juan Valera Espín (at Racing Santander)

Foreign players 2008–09

Further information: La Liga § Eligibility of non-EU players

• Luis Amaranto Perea
• Diego Forlán
• Leo Franco
• Maxi Rodríguez
• Sergio Agüero
• Paulo Assunção

Famous players

• Sergio Agüero
• Rubén Ayala
• Germán Burgos
• Fabricio Coloccini
• Rubén Díaz
• Juan Esnaider
• Ubaldo Fillol
• Leo Franco
• Luciano Galletti
• Matías Lequi
• Santiago Solari
• Ramón Heredia
• Luis Cabrera
• Óscar Mena
• Maxi Rodríguez
• Diego Simeone
• Gerhard Rodax
• Friedrich Hollaus
• Alemão
• Baltazar
• Dirceu
• Heraldo Bezerra
• Juninho Paulista
• Leivinha
• Luís Pereira
• Vavá
• Rodrigo Fabri
• Iván Rocha
• Luboslav Penev
• Martin Petrov

• Adolfo Valencia
• Luis Amaranto Perea
• Miroslav Votava
• Demis Nikolaidis
• Giourkas Seitaridis
• José Cardona
• Demetrio Albertini
• Christian Abbiati
• Christian Vieri
• Avi Nimni
• Hugo Sánchez
• Luis García
• Larbi Benbarek
• Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
• Kiki Musampa
• Celso Ayala
• Miguel Ángel Benítez
• Carlos Gamarra
• Roman Kosecki
• Costinha
• Dani
• Fernando Correa
• Jorge da Silva
• Rubén Cano
• José Antonio Reyes
• José Mari
• Kiko
• Miguel Reina
• Toni
• Álvaro Novo

• Mariano Pernía
• Julio Alberto Moreno
• Salva
• Juan Carlos Valerón
• Quique Setien
• Marcos Alonso
• Vladimir Jugović
• Mateja Kežman
• Vladan Lukić
• Milinko Pantić
• Đorđe Tomić
• Mirsad Hibić
• Donato
• Eusebio Sacristán
• Juan Carlos Rodríguez
• Pedro González
• Rubén Baraja
• Sergi Barjuán
• Delfi Geli
• Luis García
• Adelardo Rodríguez
• Quinton Fortune
• Henry Carlsson
• Raphaël Wicky
• Gonzalo de los Santos
• Diego Forlán
• Paulo Futre
• Maniche
• Simão
• Zé Castro

• Cosmin Contra
• Daniel Prodan
• Igor Dobrovolski
• Rade Bogdanović
• Zoran Njeguš
• Serge Maguy
• Jesper Grønkjær
• Radek Bejbl
• Marcel Domingo
• Peter Luccin
• Bernd Schuster
• Manolo Sánchez
• Julio Salinas
• José Eulogio Gárate
• Andoni Goikoetxea
• Javier Irureta
• Miguel Jones
• Roberto López Ufarte
• José Armando Ufarte
• Carlos Aguilera
• Luis Aragonés
• José Luis Caminero
• Juan Manuel López
• Joaquín Peiró
• Roberto Solozabal
• Fernando Torres
• Raúl García
• José Francisco Molina
• Antonio López
• Lobito Negro

see also Category:Atlético de Madrid footballers

Staff

Famous coaches

• Fred Pentland: 1928–29, 1934–36
• Josep Samitier: 1936
• Ricardo Zamora: 1939–46
• Helenio Herrera 1949–53
• Fernando Daučík: 1957–60
• José Villalonga: 1959–62
• Domènec Balmanya: 1965–66
• Otto Glória: 1966–68
• Marcel Domingo; 1968–72, 1980
• Max Merkel: 1972–73
• Juan Carlos Lorenzo: 1973–75
• Luis Aragonés: 1974–80, 1982–87, 1991–93, 2001–03
• Martínez Jayo: 1980, 1986–87
• José Luis García Traid: 1980–81, 1981–82
• Luis Cid Carriega: 1981
• Héctor Núñez: 1978
• Ferenc Szusza: 1978–79
• Vicente Miera: 1986
• César Luis Menotti: 1987–88
• Ron Atkinson: 1988–89
• Colin Addison: 1989
• Javier Clemente: 1989–90
• Tomislav Ivić: 1990–91
• Omar Pastoriza: 1993
• Francisco Maturana: 1993–94
• Jorge D’Alessandro: 1994–95
• Alfio Basile: 1995–96
• Radomir Antić: 1995–98, 1999, 2000
• Arrigo Sacchi: 1998–99
• Claudio Ranieri: 1999–2000
• Fernando Zambrano: 1999–2000
• Marcos Alonso Peña:2000–01
• Gregorio Manzano: 2003–04
• César Ferrando: 2004–05
• Carlos Bianchi: 2005
• José Murcia : 2006
• Javier Aguirre: 2006–2009

See also Category:Atlético de Madrid managers

Presidents

1. Enrique Allende: 1903 2. Eduardo de Acha: 1903–07 3. Ricardo de Gondra: 1907–09 4. Ramón de Cárdenas: 1909–12 5. Julián Ruete: 1912–19 6. Álvaro de Aguilar: 1919–20 7. Julián Ruete: 1920–23 8. Juan de Estefanía: 1923–26 9. Luciano Urquijo: 1926–31 10. Rafael González: 1931–35

11. José L. del Valle: 1935–36 12. José María Fernández: 1936–39 13. Francisco Vives: 1939 14. Luis Navarro: 1939–41 15. Manuel Gallego: 1941–45 16. Juan Touzón: 1946–47 17. Cesáreo Galindez: 1947–52 18. Marqués de la Florida: 1952–55 19. Juan Suevos: 1955 20. Javier Barroso: 1955–64

21. Vicente Calderón: 1964–80 22. Ricardo Irezábal: 1980 23. Alfonso Cabeza: 1980–82 24. Antonio del Hoyo: 1982 25. Agustín Cotorruelo: 1982 26. Vicente Calderón: 1982–87 27. Francisco Castedo: 1987 28. Jesús Gil: 1987–2003 29. Enrique Cerezo: 2003–

Current Board

• President: Mr. Enrique Cerezo Torres

• General Manager / Delegate to the Board: Mr. Miguel Ángel Gil Marín
• Secretary to the Board: Mr. Pablo Jiménez de Parga Maseda

• Sports Director: Mr. Jesús García Pitarch
• PR & Communications Director: Mr. Emilio Gutíerrez
• Financial Director: Mr. Mario Aragón
• Marketing & Sales Director: Mr. Guillermo Moraleda

• Board Members: Mr. Jesús Gil Marín, Mr. Óscar Gil Marín, Ms. Myriam Gil Marín, Mr. Severiano Gil y Gil, Mr. Miguel Pérez Cano, Mr. Lázaro Albarracín Martínez, Mr. Fernando García Abásolo, Mr. Antonio Alonso Sanz, Mr. Manuel Herrero Porta and Mr. Mario Rodríguez Valderas

Statistics 2007–08

The 2007–08 season was one of Atletico's most successful campaigns in recent memory, with the team finishing strong both in La Liga and in Europe, progressing to the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup before being knocked out by English side Bolton Wanderers by a solitary goal at the Reebok. On the domestic side, los Rojiblancos achieved their highest league position in over 10 years: fourth overall, finishing level on the table with Sevilla with 64 points but beating them to the last Champions League qualifying place by virtue of their two wins against the Costa del Sol team (4–3 at the Calderón and 2–1 in Andalucía). The year also saw the emergence of Kun Agüero as a scoring threat, finishing third in the Pichichi Trophy standings with 19 goals. The season was not without controversy, though, as two of the team's Portuguese stars (Costinha and Maniche) left the team to go to Italy (a sale to Atalanta and a loan deal with Inter Milan, respectively) after highly-publicised disagreements with manager Javier Aguirre.

• Top Scorers:
  • Sergio Agüero - 19 goals
  • Diego Forlán - 16 goals
  • Maxi - 8 goals
• Top Goalkeepers
  • Christian Abbiati - 28 goals In 20 Matches
  • Leo Franco - 19 goals In 18 Matches

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Notes
1996–97	1D	5	42	20	11	11	76	64	71		ECL	quarter-final
1997–98	1D	7	38	16	12	10	79	56	60		UC	semi-final
1998–99	1D	13	38	12	10	16	54	50	46	Final	UC	semi-final
1999–2000	1D	19	38	9	11	18	48	64	38	Final	UC	4th round	relegated
2000–01	2A	4	42	21	11	10	59	39	74
2001–02	2A	1	42	23	10	9	68	44	79				promoted
2002–03	1D	11	38	12	11	15	51	56	47
2003–04	1D	7	38	15	10	13	51	53	55
2004–05	1D	11	38	13	11	14	40	34	50	Semi-Final
2005–06	1D	10	38	13	13	12	45	37	52	last 16
2006–07	1D	7	38	17	9	12	46	39	60				Will play Intertoto Cup.
2007–08	1D	4	38	19	7	12	66	47	64	Quarter-Final	UC	Round Of 32
2008–09	1D	4	38	20	7	11	80	57	67	Round of 16	UCL	First knockout round

Stadium Information

Vicente Calderón stadium

• Name - Vicente Calderón
• City - Madrid
• Capacity - 54,851
• Inauguration - 1966
• Pitch size - 105 × 70 m
• Other Facilities: - Ciudad Deportiva del Nuevo Cerro del Espino (Sports Academy)

Kit Information

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, while the AXN cable channel (a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment) has a minor sponsorship on the back of the shorts and Kyocera has a sponsor's logo on the back of the shirt. 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:

• 1985–98 Puma
• 1998–2001 Reebok
• 2001– Nike

Previous shirt sponsors:

• 1989–90 Mita
• 1990–93, 1994–96, 1997–99 Marbella Tourism Board, as Jesús Gil was mayor of Marbella at this time
• 1993–94 Antena 3
• 1996–97 Bandai/Tamagotchi
• 1999–2000 no sponsor
• 2000–03 Idea
• 2003–05 Columbia Pictures (Movies advertised on the shirt included: Bewitched, Hollywood Homicide, S.W.A.T., Big Fish, Hellboy, Spanglish, Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse, Hitch, XXX and the aforementioned Spider-Man 2)
• 2005– KIA

Others

• Atlético Madrid B

Notes and references

External links

• Template:Es icon Template:En icon Atlético de Madrid Official Website
• Template:En icon Template:Es icon Template:De icon Atleticopedia international WIKI-Project about Atlético
• Template:Es icon Spanish site of Atletico's Kits
• Template:Es icon Evolution of the uniform until 2006 by MARCA [1]
• Template:En icon Atletico's formations at football-lineups
• Template:En icon Photos and information on the Estadio Vicente Calderon
• Template:Ru icon [http://www.atleticomadrid.ru/ Atletico Madrid in Russia!