On July 16th 2020, Real Madrid became Spanish champion for the 34th time. What a season it was; starting with a string of bad results associated with poor performances, the team finally found its way with a renewed focus on defense and solidity and grinding out results. That was the key for this team that lost their serial scorer, CR7, and since then have struggled to be a real contender in all the competitions they played.
In my first ever post, I mentioned that I was a fan of Real Madrid and shared that I would be writing about it in a future post. Today, I wanted to shed a little light on what it is to be a Real Madrid fan from my view point.
Anyone who is interested in Real Madrid will first find out about "The Real Madrid Way" as is beautifully translated in a book of the same name by Steven G. Mandis. A book that provides amazing insight on the club, what it stands for and above all what has made it the most successful and even most valuable sports franchise in the world.
All the fans belong to this community known as the "Madridismo" and this sense of belonging has been instilled in me since that game on May 20th 1998. I did my homework and researched the club and since we are in a middle of one of the greatest eras of the club under the presidency of Florentino Perez I wanted to give some insights about the club. As mentioned above, the key to Real Madrid Fanhood is the core of values. "Management truly believes that the path to success has to be made through the values and culture attached to them. This culture has yielded success on the field and by so have created a profitable and sustainable enterprise that people can identify and refer to, embracing it as a meaningful and steadfast cornerstone of their own personal value and identity" (Mandis, 2016). This statement provides a clear and accurate description of how every fan should feel or aspire to feel about this club.
Now, what are these values that Florentino Perez, the current president, defined based on survey responses from Madridistas (fans)? I have them enumerated below, but first he also wrote a mission statement that is worth mentioning here:
Mission: to be an open and multicultural club that is both appreciated and respected throughout the world both for its sporting success and for the values it disseminates, which, based on the search for excellence both on and off the field of play, contribute toward fulfilling the expectations of its members and followers.
WILL TO WIN
SPORTMANSHIP
EXCELLENCE & QUALITY
TEAM PHILOSOPHY
TRAINING
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY
These are the values that I really wasn't aware of when starting my journey as a fan. They fall into what I have seen from the club's way of handling things throughout the years. Most recently, we saw Real Madrid offer their stadium, Santiago Bernabeu, as a warehouse for COVID-19 materials for the community of Madrid. We saw the players accepting pay cuts so that other employees could keep their jobs and keep on getting paid, and additional cuts are happening for the rest of the year. The first team players have been offering their cooperation and understanding to help the club via the leadership of the captain, Sergio Ramos. Should we also talk about Santiago Canizares (former Real Madrid player) who had an event for his foundation cancelled from happening on FC Valencia facilities after he criticized the management of the club? And then when Real Madrid offered him its facilities to host the event on short notice? Real Madrid remembered him as one of their own. This is what this team stands for.
As for me, I become an official Madridista Supporter in June 2017. I am actually supporter #903262 - official socio membership has been halted due to the high demand and a policy of only admitting descendants of present socios as new socios was established in June 2011. What this basically means is that no new voting member (socio) can be added to the 92,000 current members except when the rule above applies and due to the very high demand the "Madridista Supporter" system was implemented to still allow fans to contribute (by their memberships) and also to receive some perks for being a member. Unlike most professional sports teams that are owned by billionaires or corporations, Real Madrid has been owned by the socios.
Now you know a little bit of Real Madrid, now I leave you with our rally cry "Hala Madrid!!" and a verse from the Real Madrid anthem also titled Hala Madrid.
🎶
Hala Madrid and Nothing More
History that you made
History to make
Because nobody resists
Your desire to win
The stars are coming out
My old Chamartín
From far and near
You bring us here 🎶
References
Mandis, Steven G. “Real Madrid's on and off-Field Dominance.” Essay. In The Real Madrid Way, First Ed. DALLAS, TX: BENBELLA BOOKS, 2016.
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