In 1897 a group of British academics, who were studying at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza introduced football to the Spanish capital of Madrid through a new club – Sky.
By 1900, the group had fallen out and the club split in two, one of the clubs that was born from this disagreement was the Nueva Sociedad de Football. Just one year later this it would be renamed Madrid Football Club – the club that would one day morph into Real Madrid.
1140 miles to the north-east, just 9 years later, a Christian youth club got into trouble due to using a local pub to meet and drink at.
Unwilling to give up the pub as their meeting room, they would split off from their local parish and form their own club. Thirteen months later the group was playing organised football as Borussia Dortmund.
Since then, both of these clubs have become something that was unimaginable at their conception, with rich histories and loyal fanbases.
Tonight, they face off for the biggest prize of them all, in the Champions League final.
So how did the transformation occur for these two sides? What was it that took them from local amateur clubs to European and global phenoms?
Real Madrid
After the split, brothers Juan and Carlos Padrós met with other local football lovers in the back room of their family business to create Madrid Football Club. The now world renowned white strip was also decided in this same meeting, modelled after the kit of famous English amateur team, Corinthian.
It did not take long for Madrid to embark upon their dominance of Spanish football, something that would be synonymous with the club even to this day. They won the Copa del Ray four years on the bounce from 1905 to 1908, which at the time was the top prize in Spanish football due to the lack of a nationwide league setup.
12 years later, they donned a new name. Madrid Football Club became Real Madrid, after having the ‘royal’ title bestowed on them by King Alfonso XIII. They did briefly lose this title after the Second Spanish Republic was formed, being forced to revert back to the name of Madrid Football Club until the end of the Civil War.
From the club’s conception as an organised, top-level football club in 1902, through the 1943, Real Madrid enjoyed a fruitful existence at the top of Spanish football. But greater, more dominant times laid ahead. The catalyst for which came from a man that football fans today will still know the name of – Santiago Bernabéu.
Bernabéu was Madrid through-and-through, having played (and captained) the first team, as well as maintained, managed and directed the club throughout the previous period. It was in 1943, however, where he stepped into the role of club president – a position he would hold until 1978.
Bernabéu’s time in control of Madrid revolutionised the club and took it from one of Spain’s top sides, to a dominant monster, prevalent throughout both Spain, Europe and the world.
He recognised how the game was evolving, and made strides to revolutionise Madrid ahead of the curve of other clubs around the world. He appointed staff to the club at all levels, not just the first team, he was a major figure in founding Real Madrid’s academy and he instilled a transfer strategy which the club still uses a version of to this day.
The transfer strategy led to the formation of many of Madrid’s ‘galácticos’ teams (although this specific term would be forever attached to later president Florentino Pérez).
Bernabéu’s transfer strategy involved going after top stars, attracting them to the club through the appeal of life in Madrid, and heavy pay checks. These stars hailed both from within the country and from abroad (another thing he was largely ahead of the curve on). This transfer strategy brought many hallowed names, still respected and idolised to this day to the club. Names like Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano, and Francisco ‘Paco’ Gento.
During Bernabéu’s 35-year span at the helm of Real Madrid, the club grasped six European cups, 16 league titles, and six Spanish cups.
By the time Bernabéu passed away, and a new president was to be instated, his revolutionary effect on the club was clear to see. Bernabéu was an innovator, making strides towards the future of the game before others, and bringing Madrid great success. His time as president was fruitful and he was a major reason why Real Madrid became the club it is today.
Borussia Dortmund
As aforementioned, in 1909 a group of young men played their football at Dortmund club ‘Trinity Youth’. The club was sponsored by their local church, and its strong links were clear to see – they were even coached by their local priest Father Dewald!
Their disgruntlement with the church, and the stern rules it imposed on them reached its climax as Dewald tried to break up one of their regular meetings in the local pub. The boys defected and created Borussia Dortmund.
The ‘Borussia’ part of their name comes from the Latin word for ‘Prussia’, however, this name was actually taken on by the club due to the local Borussia Beer Brewery. Borussia Dortmund initially played in their local league with blue, white and red kits – their famous black and yellow strip would not be worn until 1913.
The club competed locally over the next few decades of their existence until 1929, where they nearly fell victim to bankruptcy – they were only kept afloat due to donations from local supporters.
The rise of the Nazi Party naturally hampered the club’s evolution. Not least because senior figures in the club openly stood against the Third Reich and used club supplies to print anti-Nazi posters and pamphlets. This led to a number of key figures being either removed from their positions or executed.
Following the war, Germany’s league system remained regional – with a national title being decided through play-offs between each region’s champions and runners-up.
Dortmund were dominant in the Oberliga West and claimed their first national title in 1956, triumphing 4-2 over Karlsruher SC. They went back-to-back the following year and six years later, won the last ever German national title under this league format.
Naturally, this earned them entry into the inaugural season of the Bundesliga the following year.
From there, Dortmund’s strength remained steadfast, as they added DFB-Pokal and European Cup Winner’s Cup wins to their previous national titles.
A Bundesliga win, however, still eluded them.
This would change as the club entered the 1990s, a period that brought two things with it – Ottmar Hitzfeld and a ‘golden era’ of football at Borussia Dortmund.
Hitzfeld positively transformed Dortmund and took them to new levels on both the domestic and the European stage, arguably turning them into the club they are today.
By 1995, he brought home Dortmund’s first ever Bundesliga. They did it in style as well, losing only four games all season and bagging 76 goals along the way.
In 1997, Hitzfeld went one step further as his side triumphed 3-1 over Juventus in the Champions League final. He was promptly named ‘World Coach of the Year’.
Hitzfeld took the club to new levels. He took a top German club and transformed them into a top European club, and it was under him that Dortmund began to compete at the level we see to this day.
The Final
Be it a club formed out of a dispute between academics, that was later revolutionised by the work of Santiago Bernabéu as president, or a club formed by youths who reached their boiling point with their strict, Christian regime, that later reached their golden years under the outstanding management of Ottmar Hitzfeld, both sides boast rich and illustrious histories.
The two sides have the opportunity tonight to add once again to their trophy cabinets and write their name in the history books one more time.
But will it be the academics from the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, or the rowdy Dortmund youths unwilling to give up their pub, who take home European gold tonight?