Royal Madrid Football Federation

The Royal Madrid Football Federation (Spanish: Real Federación de Fútbol de Madrid; RFFM) is the governing body of the sport of football in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its headquarters are in the city of Madrid.

Royal Madrid Football Federation

Abbreviation	RFFM
Formation	1913
Purpose	Football Association
Headquarters	Madrid
Location	Community of Madrid, Spain
President	Francisco Díez Ibáñez
Website	www.rffm.es

Functions

Below the national level competitions controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the Madrid Federation has various functions, including administering:

• Group 7 of the Tercera División RFEF (fifth level of the men's Spanish football league system)
• Further men's regional divisions headed by the Categoría Preferente
• The region's qualifying tournament for the Copa Federación de España
• A group in the Spanish Women's regional leagues
• Group 12 of the Liga Nacional Juvenil de Fútbol (second tier of youth football)
• Several other regional leagues and cups in the pyramid systems of each youth age level
• Various men's and women's age-group representative squads competing in nationwide contests^[1]
• An amateur-level selection competing in the Spanish stage of the UEFA Regions' Cup
• The Madrid autonomous football team - a squad of professionals which plays occasional friendly matches against FIFA international teams or fellow Spanish regional teams.

History

Founded in 1913 as the Centre Regional Federation (Spanish: Federación Regional Centro), the new organisation replaced the casual Madrid Association of Foot-ball Clubs which had been formed a decade earlier, between 1902 and 1904.^[2] The Centro Federation, expanded to include the wider Castile region but always dominated by clubs from the capital, particularly Real Madrid CF, took over the running of the existing Madrid regional championship, the local league competition in which the best-placed teams qualified for the Copa del Rey each year until these were disbanded in 1940. Centro also played regional representative matches, mostly friendlies but they also participated in the Prince of Asturias Cup between 1915 and 1924, and winning twice, in 1917 and 1918,^[3][4][5] their most frequent opponent being Catalonia.

In 1932, the name changed to the Castilian Football Federation which remained in place until 1988, when separate federations were created for the established autonomous communities of Spain, therefore Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha and Madrid have had different governing bodies since then.

To celebrate the federation's centenary in 2013, a match was played between Madrid and the Andalusia autonomous football team,^[6] the same opposition as for its 'golden jubilee' in 1963.^[7][8] However, matches are rarely played by the Madrid XI and other regions as such fixtures have not proven cost-effective to arrange, other than for the regions such as Catalonia and the Basque Country with leanings towards independence whose matches draw larger crowds.^[9]

References

1. "Campeonatos autonómicos" [Autonomous Championships] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
2. "Historia" [History] (in Spanish). Royal Madrid Football Federation. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
3. "Spain - Copa Príncipe de Asturias/Campeonato Interregional". RSSSF. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
4. "Centro ganó la Copa Príncipe de Asturias" ['Central' wins the Prince of Asturias Cup]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 20 January 1918. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
5. Vicente Martínez Calatrava (17 August 2009). "La Copa Príncipe de Asturias" [The Prince of Asturias Cup] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
6. "Andalucía festeja con victoria el Centenario de la federación madrileña" [Andalusia celebrates with victory in the Centenary of the Madrid federation]. Marca (in Spanish). 7 June 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
7. "Por cuatro goles a cero, la Seleccion de Castilla vencio a la de Andalucia" [By four goals to nil, the Castille selection wins over that of Andalusia]. ABC (in Spanish). 29 October 1963. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
8. "70 años de partidos de fútbol en el Bernabéu sin el Real Madrid" [70 years of football matches at the Bernabéu without Real Madrid] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
9. "Selecciones sin autonomía" [Selections without autonomy]. Público (in Spanish). 22 December 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

External links

• Official website