Santiago Bernabéu Yeste

Bernabéu was born in San Sebastián street, Almansa in the province of Albacete, Spain; where his family lived. His family moved to Madrid when he was very young, and Bernabéu himself joined the Real Madrid junior ranks in 1909 at age 14, after being a regular spectator at their matches for years. Bernabéu wore the captain's armband for years. In 1920, Santiago Bernabéu withdrew from Real Madrid and joined their city rival Atlético Madrid, with whom he would only play one game. In 1921, he returned to Real Madrid, playing as a striker before retiring from playing in 1927. He continued to be associated with the club until 1935, first as manager of the first team, then as a director and later becoming assistant manager.

In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the L'Équipe journalist Gabriel Hanot and building upon the Latin Cup (at the time the most important European club tournament involving the champions of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy), Bernabéu met in the Ambassador Hotel in Paris with Ernest Bedrignan (deputy chairman of the Ligue de Football Professionnel) and Gustav Sebes and created what was at first a loosely constructed tournament played among invited teams, but which over time developed into what is today the Champions League. Under the administration of UEFA, it is the world's premier club competition. Bernabéu helped Manchester United rebuild its team following the Munich air disaster in 1958. At the time of his death, Bernabéu had been the club's president for nearly 35 years, during which his club won 6 European Cups, 2 Latin Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 16 league titles, 6 Spanish Cups, and 1 Copa Eva Duarte. He died in 1978, while the World Cup was being played in Argentina. In his honour FIFA decreed three days of mourning during the tournament. In 2002, he was posthumously awarded the FIFA Order of Merit.

Player

Madrid:

Campeonato Regional de Madrid: 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1926–27 Copa del Rey: 1917 Copa Federación Centro: 1922–23

President

Football

Real Madrid:

La Liga: 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78 Copa del Generalísimo: 1946, 1947, 1961–62, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75 Copa Eva Duarte: 1947 European Cup: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66 Latin Cup: 1955, 1957 Intercontinental Cup: 1960

Basketball

Real Madrid Basketball:

Liga Española de Baloncesto: 1957, 1958, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 Copa del Rey de Baloncesto: 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977 FIBA European Champions Cup: 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1977–78 Basketball Latin Cup: 1953 FIBA Intercontinental Cup: 1976, 1977

Volleyball

Real Madrid Volleyball:

División de Honor: 1971–72, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78 Copa del Rey de Voleibol: 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1976, 1977

Handball

Real Madrid Handball:

Primera División: 1952–53