Real Madrid CF's 1927 tour of the Americas
 Real Madrid playing a team of players from Buenos Aires on 10 July | |
| Date | 7 or 9 July[note 1] – 24 September 1927 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 2 months and 15 or 17 days[note 1] |
| Venue | Various |
| Location | Argentina Uruguay Peru Cuba Mexico United States |
| Type | Exhibition games |
| Theme | Association football |
| Participants | Real Madrid |
Real Madrid's tour of the Americas in 1927 was an exhibition tour by Spanish football club Real Madrid.[1] It was one of the first exhibition tours to be played in two continents, being North and South America.
Background
[change | change source]Since 1904, British football clubs had done tours of South America. These tours mainly saw teams play in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.[5] In September 1914, Italian club Torino became the first non-British team to do an exhibition tour of South America.[6] The first Spanish team to do a tour of South America was made up of players from teams in Gipuzkoa, including from Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club, and Real Unión.[7]
Real Madrid had done two exhibition tours before. Those tours were in Italy in 1920,[8] and across Europe (specifically England, France, and Denmark) in 1925.[9]
The tour
[change | change source]
The goal of the tour was to promote Spanish football in the Americas.[10] At the time, this type of tour was seen as unusual, and created a lot of expectation around it.[10]
The team left Barcelona on the SS Giulio Cesare in mid-June.[2] The team spent 18 days at sea,[3] before arriving in Argentina.[10] During the journey, they encountered a storm off the coast of Uruguay.[11]
Real Madrid played their first match on 7 July, when they played a team made up of players from Buenos Aires.[2] In total, Real Madrid played 16 matches during the tour. This included five in Argentina, one in Uruguay, two in Peru, one in Cuba, six in Mexico, and one in the United States. It is also reported the team travelled to Chile as well.[12]
In the final match of the tour, they were supposed to face American Soccer League team Brooklyn Wanderers, but instead played Galicia SC.[13] Before the match, the players were invited to a dinner at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan.[2] Only 5000 people attended the match on 24 September, as Real Madrid drew 1–1 with Galicia SC.[2] One of the people that attended the match was former diplomat Rafael Casares y Gil, who was an ambassador of Spain to Romania between 1907 and 1908.[2]
Players
[change | change source]The team Real Madrid brought for the tour did not include Cándido Martínez and Juan Monjardín, who both played for them at the time. To make up for this, Real Madrid brought players from other clubs, including Travieso from Athletic Bilbao and José Maria Yermo from Arenas Club.[11][1] Santiago Bernabéu, who had retired at the end of the 1926–27 season, also travelled with the team.[10]
Two changes to the team were made during the tour. Before the match against Juventud Asturiana, the team were joined by Oliván and Félix Pérez, who stayed for the North American part of the tour.[4] However, after the match against Real Club España, José Gurucharri and Manuel Vidal left the team to return to Europe.[4]
Squad
[change | change source]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Matches
[change | change source]| 9 July 1927[note 2] Friendly | Combinado Buenos Aires  | 0–0 |  Real Madrid | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Report | Stadium: Estadio Sportivo Barracas Referee: Servando Pérez (Argentina) | |||
| Note: Combinado Buenos Aires was made up of players from teams in Buenos Aires. | ||||
| 10 July 1927 Friendly | Combinado Buenos Aires | 3–2 | Real Madrid | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Carricaberry  18', 90'Calandra 56' |
Report | Triana 15', 66' |
Stadium: Estadio Sportivo Barracas Referee: José Calli (Argentina) | |
| Note: Combinado Buenos Aires was made up of players from teams in Buenos Aires. | ||||
| 16 July 1927 Friendly | Boca Juniors | 1–2 | Real Madrid | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Tarasconi 65' |
Report | Gurucharri 8', 12' |
Stadium: Estadio Sportivo Barracas Referee: Nai Foino (Argentina) |
| 17 July 1927 Friendly | Newell's Old Boys | 4–0 | Real Madrid | Rosario, Argentina |
| Aguirre 13' Francia 47', 70'Libonatti 60' |
Report | Stadium: El Coloso Referee: Servando Pérez (Argentina) |
| 24 July 1927 Friendly | Peñarol  | 0–0 | Real Madrid | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Report | Stadium: Estadio Pocitos Attendance: 12,000[14] Referee: Mengler (Uruguay) |
| 30 July 1927 Friendly | Racing Club | 2–0 | Real Madrid | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Miguel 34' Rey 55' |
Report | Stadium: Estadio Racing Club Referee: Juan P. Barbera (Argentina) |
| 14 August 1927 Friendly | Selección Chalaca  | 1–4 | Real Madrid | Lima, Peru |
| Saldarriaga (p) |
Report | Gurucharri 9', 40' Triana 50', NA' |
Stadium: Estadio Nacional Referee: Artemio Serra (Peru)[15] | |
| Note: Selección Chalaca was made up of players from Atlético Chalaco, Unión Buenos Aires, and Sportivo Tarapacá Ferrocarril.[15] | ||||
| 15 August 1927 Friendly | Combinado Limeño | 1–1 | Real Madrid | Lima, Peru |
| Villanueva 9' (p) |
Report | Gurucharri 6'[note 3] |
Stadium: Estadio Nacional Referee: Alberto Benites (Peru)[15] | |
| Note: Combinado Limeño was made up of players from Alianza Lima, Circolo Sportivo Italiano, and Association FBC.[15] | ||||
| 28 August 1927 Friendly | Juventud Asturiana  | 1–2 | Real Madrid | Havana, Cuba |
| Gacha 14' |
Report | Félix Pérez 63' Triana 77' |
Stadium: Almerades Park Referee: Francisco Rodríguez |
| 4 September 1927 Friendly | Club América  | 2–4 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Sota 12' Garces |
Report | Travieso 20', 25', NA' Félix Pérez |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Mercadé (Mexico) |
| 8 September 1927 Friendly | Club Asturias | 0–6 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Report | Gurucharri 20', 30' del Campo Lope Peña 52'Félix Pérez |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Jardón (Mexico) |
| 11 September 1927 Friendly | Real Club España | 2–8 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Giralt Suárez |
Report | Lope Peña 6', 13', NA' Félix Pérez 25'del Campo Muñagorri Travieso |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Clifford (Mexico) |
| 14 September 1927 Friendly | Club Atlante | 1–4 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Pérez |
Report | Lope Peña del Campo |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Roldán (Mexico) |
| 16 September 1927 Friendly | Club Necaxa | 0–5 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Report | Travieso 6' Menéndez 34' Muñagorri del Campo (p) |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Núñez Cortina (Mexico) |
| 18 September 1927 Friendly | Club América | 3–5 | Real Madrid | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Contreras Carreño Sota |
Report | Menéndez Lope Peña Félix Pérez Moraleda |
Stadium: Parque España Referee: Friedrich (Mexico) | |
| Note: Atlante F.C. forward Juan Carreño featured as a guest player for Club América.[4] | ||||
| 24 September 1927 Friendly | Galicia SC  | 1–1 | Real Madrid | New York City, United States |
| Vega 14' (p) |
Report | Travieso 68' |
Stadium: Hawthorne Field Attendance: 5000[2] Referee: C.E. Greighton (United States) |
After the tour
[change | change source]When Real Madrid returned to Spain, they started playing in the Torneo de Campeones, a competition with the six teams that had won the Copa del Rey by that point. This was the first attempt at making a professional football league in Spain, and helped to create La Liga. Because the team had been away on the tour, Real Madrid were fined 1000 pesetas for missing some of the competition's first matches.[11]
This tour would be the last time Real Madrid played Club América until 2010, 83 years later.[16]
Notes
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- 1 2 3 4 5 "American Trip of Real Madrid CF 1927". RSSSF. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Real Madrid's first match in New York, a century ago—driven by Bernabéu and a jewish entrepreneur". El Mundo America. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
- 1 2 Ángel Lara, Miguel (8 July 2019). "La primera gira americana del Madrid: tres meses fuera, multa de 1.000 pesetas, tiburones, peleas, tiros..." Marca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 February 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Temporada 1927-28". www.leyendablanca.galeon.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ Hernández, Sergio (17 May 2018). "British Clubs in Argentina and Uruguay (1904-1929)". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ Hernández, Sergio (16 June 2016). "European Clubs in Argentina and Uruguay (1914-1935)". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ Ciullini, Pablo (15 September 2021). "South American Trip of Federación Guipuzcoana 1922". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ Torre, Raúl (2 February 2017). "International Friendlies of Real Madrid CF 1902-1939". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ "European Trip of Real Madrid CF 1925". RSSSF. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Luis de Urquijo 1926-1930". Real Madrid. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- 1 2 3 "The wild story of Real Madrid's first American tour". Marca. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
- ↑ "Los 100 años del Real Madrid, uno a uno: 1927". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
- ↑ "The origins of United States' love affair with Real Madrid". World Soccer. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
- ↑ "Visitas reales: el campeón de Europa nunca ganó en Montevideo" [Real visits: the European champion never won in Montevideo]. EL PAIS. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Combe, Eduardo (15 August 2018). "Real Madrid: el empate histórico que ayudó a la primera Selección Peruana hace 91 años" [Real Madrid: the historic draw that helped the first Peruvian national team 91 years ago]. Depor (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ↑ Serrano, Rodrigo (25 July 2022). "How many times have Club América defeated Real Madrid?". AS USA. Retrieved 27 January 2026.