The arrival of Portuguese gaffer Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid has increased the interest of La Liga football among Zimbabweans. The Special One has a huge following among Zimbabweans going back to his days at English premiership side Chelsea. Locals are now hooked to the action, as they want to see the matadors of football battle it out for top honours in Spain. One thing though about the Spanish game has however vexed locals and that is the number of clubs that have the prefix “Real” to their names. The word “Real” means Royal in Spanish. Most of these clubs that prefix their name with “Real” enjoy the patronage of the Spanish royal family. Out of the 20 teams in the top-flight league seven of them have the prefix “Real”. They are Madrid, Zaragoza, Mallorca and Espanyol. The others are Sporting Gijon and Sociedad. Villa have used “Real” as a suffix to make it Villareal. Betis, Valladolid and Murcia also fall in this same bracket, but currently they are playing in the lower leagues. It all began in 1902 when clubs suggested a football tournament to honour the coronation of King Alfonso XIII. The tournament was then christened Copa Del Rey meaning Cup of Kings. King Alfonso XIII subsequently became the patron of many Spanish football clubs, granting them permission to use “Real” in their names.
Nigel Matongorere
