One of the most successful stories in basketball began with an advertisement on ABC. On March 8, 1931, the following announcement was published in the newspaper: “Real Madrid requests all gentlemen interested in playing basketball to go to the club’s secretariat, Caballero de Gracia 15, to receive instructions regarding the game of selection and training that will be played on Sunday, at ten in the morning, against the Instituto Escuela ”. Almost a century later, the club has 35 leagues, 28 King’s Cups and 10 European Cups, among many other titles.
Such a long trajectory goes a long way. In Real Madrid Basketball Stories (JC), Óscar Antón, Macarena García and Brais Iglesias select memories, anecdotes and characters that have helped shape the character of the white team. Two weeks after the announcement was published, the team played the first game in its history, against the Dumping Basket-Ball Club, being defeated by 19 to 5. Ángel Cabrera, one of the promoters of the project and who had hired the advertisement, scored all the Madrid points. One field goal and three free throws. That first team was followed in 1934 by another female team.
Beyond the stars, clubs are forging thanks to the drive and ingenuity of their leaders. Like the one Pedro Ferrándiz demonstrated in his role as coach in the quarterfinals of the 1962 European Cup. The rival was Ignis de Varese. With the match tied and having returned to Madrid, Ferrándiz did not want an extension. He had studied the regulation to know its gaps. With a tie at 80 on the scoreboard and a very hostile atmosphere in the stands, Madrid serves in the background and Lorenzo Alocén scores in his own basket. The public goes crazy and mocks. By the time they understand the play, the whites are already in the locker room. In the second leg, Madrid win by 21 points of difference. Innovation and judicious risk also make clubs great.
