The 'Copa del Rey' is an annual cup competition for
Spanish football teams. Its full name is
'Copa de Su Majestad El Rey Don Juan Carlos I' (''His Majesty King Juan Carlos I's Cup''). It was initially known as the ''Copa del Ayuntamiento de Madrid'' (''Madrid City Council's Cup''). Between 1905 and 1932, it was known as the 'Copa de Su Majestad El Rey Alfonso XIII' (''His Majesty King Alfonso XIII's Cup''). During the
Second Spanish Republic it was known as the ''Copa del Presidente de la República'' (''Republic President's Cup'') or 'Copa de España' (''Spanish Cup'') for short and during the years of the
Franco dictatorship it was known as the ''Copa de Su Excelencia El Generalísimo'' or 'Copa del Generalísimo' (''(His Excellency) The Supreme General's Cup''). Spanish basketball teams compete for the
Copa del Rey de Baloncesto.
History
The competition was first played in 1902 after
Carlos Padrós, later president of
Madrid FC, suggested a football competition to celebrate the coronation of
Alfonso XIII. Four other teams joined
Madrid FC for the first competition:
FC Barcelona,
Club Espanyol de Foot-Ball,
Club Vizcaya and
New Foot-Ball de Madrid. The competition featured the first recorded game between
FC Barcelona and
Madrid FC, with the former emerging 3-1 winners.
Club Vizcaya eventually beat
FC Barcelona in the final.
Athletic Bilbao were declared winners in 1904 after their opponents
Club Español de Madrid failed to show up. In both 1910 and 1913, there was a split among the clubs and two rival associations, the ''Unión Española de Clubs de Fútbol'' and the ''Federación Española de Fútbol'', organised rival competitions, the 'Copa UECF' and the 'Copa FEF'. In 1937, during the
Spanish Civil War clubs in the Republican area of
Spain entered the 'Copa de España Libre', with
Levante FC beating their city rivals
Valencia CF 1-0 in the final. This competition has never been officilly recognised by the
RFEF. No competition was played in 1938.
FC Barcelona have won the Copa 24 times and
Athletic Bilbao 23. Throughout the history of the competition there have been 12 actual trophies. Of these, four have been awarded permanently to
FC Barcelona, three to
Athletic Bilbao and one to
Real Madrid, all for winning the competition three times in a row and/or on and five separate occasions.
Club Vizcaya were awarded the first trophy as inaugural winners,
Sevilla FC were awarded the ''Trofeo del Generalísimo'' in 1939 and
Atlético Madrid, winners the previous year, were awarded the 11th trophy following the death of
Franco.
Format
Before the formation of the first
La Liga in 1928, the competition was effectively a national championship. Teams qualified to enter via their regional leagues. Over the years, various formats, including group stages have been used. Unlike the English
FA Cup, entry is limited. Only teams from the
''Primera Division'',
''Segunda A'', about twenty-three teams from the
''Segunda B'' and the
''Tercera Division'' champions (or runners-up if the champion is a
reserve team) are invited to enter. The early rounds are one-off games with teams from the lower divisions given home advantage. The round of 32, the round of 16, the quarter finals and semi-finals are played over two legs. The final is a one-off game played at a neutral venue. The winners qualify for both the
Supercopa de España and the
UEFA Cup the following season.
Performance By Club
Winners
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years |
|---|
| FC Barcelona | 24 | 9 | 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 23
★ | 11 | 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1973, 1984 |
| Real Madrid | 17 | 19 | 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1917, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1993 |
| Atlético Madrid | 9 | 8 | 1960, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1996 |
| Valencia CF | 6 | 9 | 1941, 1949, 1954, 1967, 1979, 1999 |
| Real Zaragoza | 6 | 5 | 1964, 1966, 1986, 1994, 2001, 2004 |
| RCD Espanyol | 4 | 5 | 1929, 1940, 2000, 2006 |
| Sevilla FC | 4 | 2 | 1935, 1939, 1948, 2007 |
| Real Unión | 3 | 1 | 1918, 1924, 1927 |
| Real Sociedad | 2 | 5 | 1909, 1987 |
| Real Betis | 2 | 2 | 1977, 2005 |
| Deportivo de La Coruña | 2 | 2 | 1995, 2002 |
| Arenas Club de Getxo | 1 | 3 | 1919 |
| RCD Mallorca | 1 | 2 | 2003 |
| Club Vizcaya | 1
★ | 1 | 1902 |
| Racing Irún | 1 | - | 1913 |
''
★ The number of Copa wins ''Athletic Bilbao'' have been credited with is disputed. The 1902 competition was won by ''Club Vizcaya'', a team made up of players from ''Athletic Club'' and ''Bilbao FC''. In 1903 these two clubs merged as ''Athletic Club Bilbao''. The 1902 cup is on display in the Athletic museum
[1] and the club includes it in its own honours list.
[2]. However
LFP and
RFEF official statistics do not include this as an Athletic win.''
Finals
Note on name changes
Real Madrid were originally known as ''Madrid FC'' and did not add the ''Real'' until 1920. During the
Spanish Second Republic the club dropped ''Real'' from their name. In 1941,
a decree issued by Franco banned the use of non-
Spanish language names.
FC Barcelona and
Sevilla FC became ''CF Barcelona'' and ''Sevilla CF'' and
Athletic Bilbao changed the spelling of their prefix to ''Atlético''.
RCD Espanyol were known as ''RCD Español'' until 1995.
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