1931-1940
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| The Birth Of Legendery Team |
Invented by Canadian-born James Naismith in 1891, basketball took three decades to make its way to Spain. In the late 1920s, and as a result of the sport’s growing popularity, Ángel Cabrera proposed to Real Madrid that the club start its own team. From there a team was created that proved decisive in making basketball such a popular sport in Spain. A sport that would become legendary.
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| The 1933 Campeonato de Castilla, the Whites' first title |
Cabrera, a Spaniard who had been playing basketball in Argentina, was given the go ahead by the Real Madrid board at the time to create the first teams. On the 8th of March 1931 an advertisement was placed in the daily newspaper ABC which said the following: “Men who are interested in practicing this sport are kindly asked to visit the club secretary, Caballero de Gracia, 15, to receive further instructions”.
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| THE CAMPEONATO DE CASTILLA Real Madrid and Rayo Club de Madrid, the two big teams from the centre in the thirties |
At the beginning, basketball’s evolution in Spain was helped on by the efforts of individuals. Cabrera, the founder of the basketball project, not only played but was also a driving force behind the Federación de Castilla. One of his first teammates, Segundo Braña, became the team’s first coach in 1935. The dedication of these pioneers helped basketball really get a foothold in Real Madrid and gradually helped it become a hugely popular sport all over Spain.
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| BRAVE PIONEERS In its first years in Spain, basketball was played outdoors and on grass |
THE FIRST BIG RIVALRY
Real Madrid began to compete in the Castilla Championship, where the team’s first big rivalry was with Rayo Club de Madrid. Both teams fought it out to be the best side in the region for years. The Whites won their first title against Rayo in the final of the Castilla Championship in 1933 (the third edition of the competition). Real Madrid won 22-16 with Filipino Juan Castellví putting in a MVP performance. Also playing for the Whites were Braña, Máximo Arnáiz, ‘Tano’ Ortega and Juan Negrín, son of the soon to be Spanish prime minister. The sides met again in the final of the Spanish Championship, however, on this occasion the Whites were beaten to the title. This great rivalry lasted right up until Rayo disbanded in 1941.
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| The first big rivalry |
FROM OUTDOORS TO THE FRONTON COURT
Basketball in Spain was initially played outdoors, on earthen or clay courts, with wooden backboards. Some players would play with a beret, knee guards and rope-soled sandals. Real Madrid’s first court was situated on land close to one of the stands of the Chamartín Stadium. Onlookers would have to crowd around the court to see the pioneers of what was at the time an exotic sport. In 1939 the Whites moved their games to the now-extinct Recoletos Fronton. Frontons were not the only enclosures transformed into basketball courts. In April of 1933 a crowd of 14,000 fans attended a game between a selection of players from Madrid and Lisbon at the Goya Bullring. Basketball was initially played outdoors in Spain on homemade grass or ash courts and with wooden backboards. Some players used to compete in games wearing a beret, kneepads and sandals. Real Madrid’s first basketball court was located near the stands of the Chamartin football stadium. To watch these pioneers play this new, exotic sport, spectators had to crowd together by the side of the court. In 1939 the Whites began playing in the now defunct Frontón Recoletos. Fronton courts weren’t the only places that were adapted to make basketball courts, in April 1933, 14,000 spectators crowded into the Plaza de Toros de Goya (The Goya Bullring) to watch Madrid and Lisbon take each other on.
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| From outdoors to the fronton court |
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| REGIONAL RUNNERS-UP The 1932 Real Madrid basketball squad. At the time the team's white shirts included a central purple band |
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| THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING TEAM Filipino Juan Castellví, with the ball in his hands, heading the team that won the 1933 Campeonato de Castilla |
HONOURS
Castile Championship1
1941-1950
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| The section was consolidated in the 40s |
With the help of players from different colonial outposts, Real Madrid managed to win three Castilla Championships between 1942 and 1944. It was the first period during which the team really dominated. Already established as one of the references of Spanish basketball, the Whites were missing something in order to be truly dominant. And that was about to come.
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| Ortega, the Filipino Castellví and Arnáiz |
Basketball was late coming to Spain, but the Civil War delayed its full implementation even further. When the fighting stopped, Real Madrid and Rayo resumed their rivalry. With the latter going defunct in the early 1940s, brothers Pedro and Emilio Alonso along with their cousin Claudio moved across town to join the Whites. From sworn enemies to powerful allies.
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| RUN FOR IT A Real Madrid player starts a counter attack in the 1940 Campeonato de Castilla |
The Alonsos, who were originally from Cuba, were hugely important for Real Madrid as the team won three Castilla Championships (1942, 43 and 44). The club repeated that success at the end of the decade with another three Castilla Championships (1948, 49 and 50), and thereby cemented its status as central Spain’s basketballing superpower. There was still more to come.
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| RUNNERS-UP IN THE CUP In 1940 Real Madrid played in the final of the Copa del Generalísimo against Español |
REINFORCEMENTS FROM OVERSEAS
A lot of the star players during this period were either from or descended from the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico. These children of emigrants, who moved to Madrid to go to university, had an advantage in terms of playing basketball. Given that the sport was invented and developed in the USA and Canada, it arrived to the aforementioned countries, which had stronger ties with North America, sooner than Spain. Juan Castellví, Edy Hernández-Villamil and Kaimo were Filipino. Freddy Borrás was Puerto Rican. Pedro, Emilio and Claudio Alonso were born in Cuba to Basque parents. These players helped secure the club’s first titles.
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| TRIPLE CHAMPIONS OF CASTILLA With the arrival of Pedro (no. 3) and Emilio Alonso (top right) Real Madrid won the 1942, 43 and 44 Campeonato de Castillas |
THE WOMEN’S TEAM, ALSO SUCCESSFUL
In 1934 Real Madrid inaugurated a new part of the club, the women’s basketball team. During this time women had a league of their own. The female game was initially played with some slightly different rules: six players instead of five, a court divided into three zones, access to which was dependent on the player’s position, and a restriction of only one bounce of the ball at a time. The Real Madrid women's team won the Castilla Championship in its founding year. In 1943, as well as lifting the Castilla Championship, the team finished runner-ups in Spain. However, the team disbanded in 1944.
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| THE BEST ONCE AGAIN In 1947 Real Madrid won the Campeonato Regional again. It would repeat the feat in the following two years SiguienteAnterior |
HONOURS
Castile Championships 6
1951-1960
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| Saporta was the section's greatest asset |
The Real Madrid basketball team received a major boost in 1952 with the arrival of Raimundo Saporta. The administrator was a visionary who provided the team with resources and helped shape its identity. Among his many merits, he entrusted another Spanish basketballing genius, Pedro Ferrandiz, with taking charge of the team. Together they built a Madrid side that would win in Spain and Europe.
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| Ferrándiz, the clairvoyant coach Freddy Borrás receives the 1954 Copa |
In 1952, to mark the club’s Golden Jubilee, Santiago Bernabéu wanted to organise a great basketball tournament. Jesus Querejeta, the president of the Federation at the time, recommended that he talk with a young administrator, Raimundo Saporta. The tournament was such a resounding success that the president of the Whites immediately grasped what it meant for Real Madrid.
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| THE FIRST GREAT DECADE With the emergence of Raimundo Saporta, Real Madrid progressed during the fifties to become the best team in Spain |
Saporta was an important figure in all the different areas of the club, but basketball had a special place in his heart. He spearheaded the creation of the National League (1957) and the European Championship Cup (1958), competitions in which his club triumphed. His philosophy always attracted the best. His dream was that the basketball team would match the football team’s success.
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| RAINING TITLES In the middle of the fifties the titles started to flow. In this picture Joaquín Hernández picks up the 1956 Copa del Generalísimo |
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| THE FIRST LEAGUE Real Madrid won the first National League, created in the 1956-57 season at the proposal of Saporta |
THE FIESTA ALEGRE CALDRON
In 1952 Real Madrid moved to the Frontón Fiesta Alegre, which was also known as Jai Alai, which acted as the team’s home for nearly fifteen years. It was a small building that held 2,500 spectators, and where the team played on a two-walled Fronton (Basque Pelota) court. On matchdays it was like an inferno. The cement court, heat and pressure cooker like atmosphere from the fans, made it a very difficult place for opposing teams to come to. The Fiesta Alegre witnessed some incredible comebacks, especially against European teams.
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| The Fiesta Alegre caldron |
FIRST STEPS IN THE EUROPEAN CUP
Real Madrid made its debut in the European Championship Cup on the 12th of March 1958, and did so as the champion of the National League which was inaugurated a year beforehand. Ignacio Pinedo’s men had no problem getting through the first two rounds of the competition but the run came to an end in the semi-finals. The Spanish government would not allow Madrid to play against ASK Riga for political reasons. As a result, the Soviet team reached the final where it won the first of three straight European Championship Cups. In 1961 the teams met each other in the semi-finals again, but this time Saporta had the idea of playing the game in a neutral venue. Both sides won a game each but ASK Riga’s greater points total meant they went to the final.
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| First steps in the European Cup |
THE BEST TEAM AND BEST YOUTH ACADEMY
Real Madrid’s basketballing progress wasn’t just the result of the team’s ability to sign good players, throughout the fifties the club worked hard on expanding its youth academy. More teams were created and tournaments were organised to attract new talent. The fruits of this new policy were for all to see in the final of the 1960 Copa de España (Spanish Cup). Real Madrid sent Barcelona out in the semi-finals and then met its own reserve team in the final. On its way to the final, Hesperia, led by a young Lolo Sainz, knocked out the previous year’s finalist (Aismalíbar) and the 1958 champion (Juventud Badalona). The ‘more senior’ side ended up winning the title (76-64). The White youth and reserve teams continued to achieve great results and, more importantly, kept providing the first team with good players.
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| The best team and best youth academy |
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| BÁEZ, THE VITAL PIVOT After arriving from Puerto Rico in 1957, Johnny Báez astonished everyone with his physique and technique. In three seasons Madrid won two leagues and a cup SiguienteAnterior |
HONOURS
National League 3
Spanish Cup 6
Latin Cup 1
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