History of the Copa Del Rey

Copa Del Rey is a 107-year old annual football tournament played by Spanish teams. This football competition was held for the first time in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of Alfonso XIII. The idea was proposed by Carlos Padrós who later went on to become the president of Madrid Football Club.

Five elite Spanish football clubs played the competition in its first edition. They included FC Madrid, FC Barcelona, Club Espanyol de Foot-Ball, Club Vizcaya and New Foot-Ball de Madrid. The first ever recorded Copa Del Rey soccer game was a titanic clash between FC Barcelona and Madrid FC, with the Catalan club emerging clear winners by a 3-1 margin. Club Vizcaya went on to beat FC Barcelona 2-1 in the final and became the first ever team to hold the Copa Del Rey trophy. To keep the Copa Del Rey trophy permanently, clubs have to win the tournament three times in a row or win it on five separate occasions. Only eleven trophies have been handed out to date. Football teams from the Primera Division, Segunda A, Segunda B and the winner of the Tercera Division are eligible to enter the main draw.

Previous Copa Del Rey season(s)

The Copa Del Rey 2008-09 football season was exciting to say the least. The betting odds favoured Valencia CF in the battle against Sevilla FC in the quarterfinals, but defending champions Valencia CF were knocked out. In the semi-finals, Sevilla FC went on to lose to eventual finalists Athletic Bilbao. The final between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao held at the Estadio Mestalla turned out to be an historic affair. The odds were stacked in favour of Barcelona, of course! Who would want to bet against the rampaging Barcelona team? But then, Athletic Bilbao had a collection of 23 Copa Del Rey trophies second only to their opponent FC Barcelona’s 24. As it turned out, the FC Barcelona team romped home 4-1 and won their 25th Copa Del Rey trophy. The fruits of victory were even sweeter this time, as they went on to achieve the historic treble by winning La Liga, UEFA champions league and Copa Del Rey. Athletic Bilbao had to be content with a berth in the UEFA Europa League the following season.