l Formed by royal charter 100 years ago, hence Real meaning Royal l One of only three clubs, with Barcelona and Osasuna, “owned” by the “socios” or club members l There are 68E000 “socios” l Dictatorial former president Santiago Bernabeu helped to organise the first European Cup, which Real won by beating Stade de Reims 4-3 l New president Florentino Perez’s first job was to get a bank loan to pay players’ wages – unpaid since June l In less than three months, Perez has received four bank loans totalling oe52- million
l Current total wage bill is oe60-million a year – 75% of the total budget l Average attendance is just 38E000 l Real had the game’s two best-paid players – Raul (oe4-million) and Luis Figo (#3,5-million) – until Rivaldo’s new deal at
rivals Barcalona eclipsed them. Steve McManaman is seventh on a mere oe3,4-million a year