Copa del Rey

Copa del Rey

File:Copa del Rey logo since 2012.png
Founded	1903
Region	Spain
Number of teams	83
Current champions	Barcelona (26th title)
Most successful club(s)	Barcelona (26 titles)
Television broadcasters	Canal+ 1, C+ Liga, GolT, Telecinco and Marca TV. La 1 and TV3 (only the Final)
Website	http://www.RFEF.es
File:Soccerball current event.svg 2012–13 Copa del Rey

The Copa del Rey (English: King's Cup) is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol (Championship of Spain – His Majesty the King's Football Cup).

The competition was founded in 1903, thus making it the oldest Spanish football competition. The current holder is Barcelona. The 2011–12 final was at Estadio Vicente Calderon between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, Barcelona won 3–0. Typically, the winner of Copa del Rey goes to the UEFA Europa League; should one of the finalists have already qualified for European competition then the other finalist goes into the Europa League. FC Barcelona has won the cup on the most occasions, with 26 wins.

History

File:Copa del Rey de Fútbol - 1978.jpg

The championship trophy won by FC Barcelona in 1978.

In 1902, a competition under the name Copa de la Coronación, was played after Carlos Padrós, later president of Real Madrid, suggested a football tournament to celebrate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII. Four other teams joined Madrid FC for the competition: FC Barcelona, Club Español de Foot-Ball, New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Bizcaya (a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC) which eventually defeated Barcelona in the final. That cup is on display in the Athletic Bilbao museum and the club includes the victory in its honours list. Nevertheless, it is considered only the forerunner of the Copa del Rey and the Royal Spanish Football Federation officially don't recognize it.

Copa del Rey was Spain's football National Championship from 1903 until the foundation of the Campeonato de Liga — League Championship — in 1928. 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 (President of the Republic Cup) or Copa de España (Spanish Cup) and during the years of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, it was known as the Copa de Su Excelencia El Generalísimo or Copa del Generalísimo ((His Excellency) The Supreme General's Cup). Teams from upper and lower divisions play against each other but the number of clubs allowed to participate is restricted.

Athletic Bilbao were declared winners in 1904 after their opponents 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 la España Libre, with Levante FC beating their city rivals Valencia CF 1–0 in the final. (Although in 2007 the Congress of Deputies urged Royal Spanish Football Federation to recognise it as a Copa del Rey win for Levante, the governing body of Spanish football has not made a decision yet.)

Because of the dispute regarding the 1902 competition, the statistics regarding the leading winners are also disputed. Barcelona have won the Copa 26 times; Athletic Bilbao are just behind, with either 24 or 23 titles, depending on the source. Throughout the history of the competition, there have been 12 actual trophies. Trophies have been permanently awarded to clubs for winning the competition either three times in a row or on five separate occasions and for other special reasons.
Thus, four trophies have been permanently awarded to Barcelona, three to Bilbao and one to Real Madrid. Athletic Bilbao kept 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 Francisco Franco. In December 2010, the cup was given to Sevilla, the 2010 winners, to keep in honour of Spain's World Cup win.

Before the formation of La Liga in 1929, 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 División, Segunda A, about 23 teams from the Segunda B and the Tercera División 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 Europa League the following season.

The 2011-12 Copa del Rey was scheduled after the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, as the Royal Spanish Football Federation anticipated the possibility of Spanish clubs meeting in the Champions League Final.

Trophy

On 22 December 2010, at an extraordinary general meeting of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Sevilla FC requested permission from the Federation to keep the trophy they had won in the 2009 final to commemorate the victory of the Spanish national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. There had been a precedent for this; Real Madrid were allowed to keep the first Copa de la República (1936), Sevilla, the first Copa del Generalísimo (1939) and, Atlético Madrid, the last Copa del Generalísimo (1976).

A new trophy was made by Madrid jeweller Federico Alegre. The trophy, made of silver, weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is 75 cm (30 in) tall. On 21 April 2011, Real Madrid became the first recipients of the trophy. During the post-game celebrations, the trophy was accidentally dropped at Plaza de Cibeles by the Real Madrid player Sergio Ramos from the top of a double-decker bus, which then ran over it. Ten pieces were found by civil servicemen when they recovered it from the ground. The club received a copy which is displayed at Santiago Bernabéu.

Winners and runners-up

Club	Wins	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost
Barcelona	26	2012	9	2011
Athletic Bilbao	23	1984	13	2012
Real Madrid	18	2011	19	2004
Atlético Madrid	9	1996	9	2010
Valencia	7	2008	9	1995
Real Zaragoza	6	2004	5	2006
Sevilla	5	2010	2	1962
Espanyol	4	2006	5	1957
Real Unión	3	1927	1	1922
Real Betis	2	2005	2	1997
Deportivo La Coruña	2	2002	0
Real Sociedad	1	1987	5	1988
Arenas	1	1919	3	1927
Mallorca	1	2003	2	1998
Racing de Irún	1	1913	0
Ciclista	1	1909	0
Celta de Vigo	0		3	2001
Getafe	0		2	2008
Real Valladolid	0		2	1989
Sporting de Gijón	0		2	1982
Español de Madrid	0		2	1910
Osasuna	0		1	2005
Recreativo de Huelva	0		1	2003
Castilla CF‡	0		1	1980
Las Palmas	0		1	1978
Castellón	0		1	1973
Elche	0		1	1969
Granada	0		1	1959
Racing de Ferrol	0		1	1939
Sabadell	0		1	1935
Europa	0		1	1923
Espanya	0		1	1914
Gimnástica	0		1	1912
Real Vigo Sporting	0		1	1908
Bizcaya	0		1	1907

‡ Real Madrid's reserve team. Reserve teams were banned for this competition for first time in the 1990–91 edition.

Finals

Season	Location	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1903	Hipódromo, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	3–2
1904	Tiro de Pichón, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Español de Madrid	No final
1905	Tiro de Pichón, Madrid	Real Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	No final
1906	Hipódromo, Madrid	Real Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	No final
1907	Hipódromo, Madrid	Real Madrid	Bizcaya	1–0
1908	O'Donnell, Madrid	Real Madrid	Real Vigo Sporting	2–1
1909	O'Donnell, Madrid	Ciclista	Español de Madrid	3–1
1910	Ondarreta, San Sebastián	Athletic Bilbao	Vasconia	No final
1910	Tiro de Pichón, Madrid	Barcelona	Español de Madrid	No final
1911	Jolaseta, Bilbao	Athletic Bilbao	Espanyol	3–1
1912	La Industria, Barcelona	Barcelona	Gimnástica	2–0
1913	O'Donnell, Madrid	Racing de Irún	Athletic Bilbao	1–0
1913	La Industria, Barcelona	Barcelona	Real Sociedad	2–1
1914	Amute, Irún	Athletic Bilbao	Espanya	2–1
1915	Amute, Irún	Athletic Bilbao	Espanyol	5–0
1916	La Industria, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	4–0
1917	La Industria, Barcelona	Real Madrid	Arenas	2–1
1918	O'Donnell, Madrid	Real Unión	Real Madrid	2–0
1919	Martínez Campos, Madrid	Arenas	Barcelona	5–2
1920	El Molinón, Gijón	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	2–0
1921	San Mamés, Bilbao	Athletic Bilbao	Atlético Madrid	4–1
1922	Coia, Vigo	Barcelona	Real Unión	5–1
1923	Les Corts, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Europa	1–0
1924	Atotxa, San Sebastián	Real Unión	Real Madrid	1–0
1925	Reina Victoria, Sevilla	Barcelona	Arenas	2–0
1926	Mestalla, Valencia	Barcelona	Atlético Madrid	3–2
1927	Torreo, Zaragoza	Real Unión	Arenas	1–0
1928	El Sardinero, Santander	Barcelona	Real Sociedad	3–1
1929	Mestalla, Valencia	Espanyol	Real Madrid	2–1
1930	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	3–2
1931	Chamartín, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Real Betis	3–1
1932	Chamartín, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Barcelona	1–0
1933	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	2–1
1934	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Real Madrid	Valencia	2–1
1935	Chamartín, Madrid	Sevilla	Sabadell	3–0
1936	Mestalla, Valencia	Real Madrid	Barcelona	2–1
1939	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Sevilla	Racing de Ferrol	6–2
1940	Chamartín, Madrid	Espanyol	Real Madrid	3–2
1941	Chamartín, Madrid	Valencia	Espanyol	3–1
1942	Chamartín, Madrid	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	4–3
1943	Chamartín, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	1–0
1944	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Valencia	2–0
1945	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	Valencia	3–2
1946	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Real Madrid	Valencia	3–1
1947	Riazor, A Coruña	Real Madrid	Espanyol	2–0
1948	Chamartín, Madrid	Sevilla	Celta Vigo	4–1
1949	Chamartín, Madrid	Valencia	Athletic Bilbao	1–0
1950	Chamartín, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Real Valladolid	4–1
1951	Chamartín, Madrid	Barcelona	Real Sociedad	3–0
1952	Chamartín, Madrid	Barcelona	Valencia	4–2
1953	Chamartín, Madrid	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	2–1
1954	Chamartín, Madrid	Valencia	Barcelona	3–0
1955	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Sevilla	1–0
1956	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Atlético Madrid	2–1
1957	Montjuïc, Barcelona	Barcelona	Espanyol	1–0
1958	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid	2–0
1959	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Granada	4–1
1960	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Real Madrid	3–1
1961	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Real Madrid	3–2
1962	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Real Madrid	Sevilla	2–1
1963	Camp Nou, Barcelona	Barcelona	Real Zaragoza	3–1
1964	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Real Zaragoza	Atlético Madrid	2–1
1965	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Real Zaragoza	1–0
1966	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Real Zaragoza	Athletic Bilbao	2–0
1967	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Valencia	Athletic Bilbao	2–1
1968	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–0
1969	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Elche	1–0
1970	Camp Nou, Barcelona	Real Madrid	Valencia	3–1
1971	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Valencia	4–3
1972	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Valencia	2–1
1973	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Castellón	2–0
1974	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Madrid	Barcelona	4–0
1975	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Madrid	Atlético Madrid	0–0 (penalties, 4–3)
1976	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Real Zaragoza	1–0
1977	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Betis	Athletic Bilbao	2–2 (penalties, 8–7)
1978	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Las Palmas	3–1
1979	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Valencia	Real Madrid	2–0
1980	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Real Madrid	Real Madrid Castilla	6–1
1981	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Barcelona	Sporting de Gijón	3–1
1982	José Zorrilla, Valladolid	Real Madrid	Sporting de Gijón	2–1
1983	La Romareda, Zaragoza	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–1
1984	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Barcelona	1–0
1985	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	2–1
1986	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Zaragoza	Barcelona	1–0
1987	La Romareda, Zaragoza	Real Sociedad	Atlético Madrid	2–2 (penalties, 4–2)
1988	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Real Sociedad	1–0
1989	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Madrid	Real Valladolid	1–0
1990	Luis Casanova, Valencia	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–0
1991	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Mallorca	1–0
1992	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Atlético Madrid	Real Madrid	2–0
1993	Luis Casanova, Valencia	Real Madrid	Real Zaragoza	2–0
1994	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Zaragoza	Celta Vigo	0–0 (penalties, 5–4)
1995	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Deportivo La Coruña	Valencia	2–1
1996	La Romareda, Zaragoza	Atlético Madrid	Barcelona	1–0 (aet)
1997	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Barcelona	Real Betis	3–2 (aet)
1998	Mestalla, Valencia	Barcelona	Mallorca	1–1 (penalties, 5–4)
1999	La Cartuja, Seville	Valencia	Atlético Madrid	3–0
2000	Mestalla, Valencia	Espanyol	Atlético Madrid	2–1
2001	La Cartuja, Sevilla	Real Zaragoza	Celta Vigo	3–1
2002	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Deportivo La Coruña	Real Madrid	2–1
2003	Martínez Valero, Elche	Mallorca	Recreativo de Huelva	3–0
2004	Lluís Companys, Barcelona	Zaragoza	Real Madrid	3–2 (aet)
2005	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Real Betis	Osasuna	2–1 (aet)
2006	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Espanyol	Real Zaragoza	4–1
2007	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Sevilla	Getafe	1–0
2008	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Valencia	Getafe	3–1
2009	Mestalla, Valencia	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	4–1
2010	Camp Nou, Barcelona	Sevilla	Atlético Madrid	2–0
2011	Mestalla, Valencia	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–0 (aet)
2012	Vicente Calderón, Madrid	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	3–0

Club name changes

Real Madrid were originally known as Madrid FC and did not add the Real until 1920. During the Second Spanish Republic, the club dropped Real from their name. In 1941, a decree issued by Francisco Franco banned the use of non-Spanish language names. FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC became CF Barcelona and Sevilla CF and Athletic Bilbao had to change the spelling of their prefix to Atlético. (These changes were reverted after Franco's death.) RCD Espanyol were known as RCD Español until 1995.

Other Copas del Rey

(Includes Copa de la Reina trophies, for women's tournaments.)

• Women's football - Copa de la Reina de Fútbol
• Basketball - Copa del Rey de Baloncesto for men and Copa de la Reina de Baloncesto for women.
• Handball - Copa del Rey de Balonmano for men and Copa de la Reina de Balonmano for women.

References

{{{header}}}
{{{body}}}

{{{header}}}
{{{body}}}

{{{header}}}
{{{body}}}

{{{header}}}
{{{body}}}

ar:كأس ملك إسبانيا an:Copa d'o Rei de Fútbol az:İspaniya Kral Kuboku be-x-old:Кубак Гішпаніі па футболе bg:Купа на краля (футбол) ca:Copa del Rei de futbol cs:Copa del Rey da:Copa del Rey de:Copa del Rey et:Copa del Rey el:Κύπελλο Ισπανίας (ποδόσφαιρο ανδρών) es:Copa del Rey eo:Copa del Rey eu:Futboleko Espainiako Errege Kopa fa:کوپا دل ری fr:Coupe d'Espagne de football gl:Copa do Rei de fútbol ko:코파 델 레이 hy:Կոպա դել Ռեյ hr:Kup kralja id:Piala Raja Spanyol it:Copa del Rey he:גביע המלך הספרדי ka:ესპანეთის თასი lv:Spānijas Karaļa kauss lt:Ispanijos futbolo taurė hu:Spanyol labdarúgókupa ml:കോപ ഡെൽ റേ nl:Copa del Rey ja:コパ・デル・レイ no:Copa del Rey uz:Copa del Rey pl:Puchar Króla pt:Copa do Rei da Espanha ro:Copa del Rey ru:Кубок Испании по футболу sq:Copa del Rey simple:Copa del Rey sk:Copa del Rey sr:Куп Шпаније у фудбалу fi:Copa del Rey sv:Copa del Rey th:โกปาเดลเรย์ tr:İspanya Kral Kupası uk:Кубок Іспанії з футболу vi:Cúp Nhà vua Tây Ban Nha zh:西班牙國王盃