The Campeonato Regional Centro (Spanish for Central Regional Championship) was an annual association football competition for clubs based primarily in the Castile region of Spain, including the Community of Madrid, during the first half of the 20th century. The competition was organised by the Madrid Football Federation and first held in 1903 as the Campeonato de Madrid (Madrid Championship) and renamed as the Campeonato Regional de Madrid (Madrid Regional Championship) for the 1906–1913 seasons. The Royal Spanish Football Federation, founded on 29 September 1913, began organising the competition from 1913. It was called the Campeonato Regional Centro between 1913 and 1931, the Campeonato Regional Mancomunado (Joint Championship) from 1932 to 1936, and the Campeonato Regional del Centro (Regional Championship of the Centre) during its final season in 1939–40.
History The competition was founded in 1903 and run by the local regional federation, the Madrid Association of Foot-ball Clubs ( or FMF). From 1903 to 1913, it was referred to as "Campeonato de Madrid" and was open to clubs based in Spain.
In 1913 the Royal Spanish Football Federation ( or RFEF) was established to govern competitions at the national level and the FMF was re-established as one of its regional branches, named Federación Castellana de Fútbol (FCF). As part of the country-wide reorganisation the competition was also re-established as "Campeonato Regional". In the following years it was one of the four regional competitions used as a qualifying phase for the Copa del Rey (which acted as the national championship of Spain until the foundation of La Liga in 1929). The four regional competitions were territorially organized as follows:
Región Norte (Álava, Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Navarre and Rioja). Region Centro (Castile and Andalucia). Región Este (Catalonia, Valencia, Alicante and Murcia). Región Oeste (Santander, Asturias and Galicia)
With changes in territorial organization and several renamings (see below), these regional competitions were contested until 1940 when they were disbanded during Franco's dictatorship.
Format changes From 1903 to 1913 the competition was contested by clubs from Madrid. From the 1913–14 season onwards it expanded to include teams from six neighboring provinces (Ávila, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Segovia and Toledo). The territorial format remained largely unchanged until the last season in 1939–1940, with minor changes listed below.
Seasons Name Notes 1902–06 Campeonato de Madrid 1906–13 Campeonato Regional de Madrid 1913–31 Campeonato Regional Centro 1931–32 Campeonato Regional Mancomunado Centro-Aragón Included teams from Aragon and Castile and León 1932–34 Campeonato Regional Mancomunado Centro-Sur Included teams from Andalusia and Castile and León 1934–36 Campeonato Regional Mancomunado Castilla-Aragón Included teams from Aragón, Cantabria and Castile and León 1936–39 Competition suspended due to the Spanish Civil War 1939–40 Campeonato Regional del Centro Included teams from Castile and León
List of winners
+Key to list of winners§Team won Copa del Rey in that season‡Team finalist in Copa del Rey in that season#Team qualified for Copa del Rey in that season
Season Winners Runners-up Other team/s qualified forCopa del Rey Other team/s qualified forCopa del Rey Other team/s qualified forCopa del Rey Other team/s qualified forCopa del ReyCampeonato de Madrid1903 Moderno FC Madrid –1904 Español Madrid Moncloa FC –1905 Madrid Moncloa FC –1906 Madrid Internacional FC –Campeonato Regional de Madrid1906–07 Madrid Athletic Club Sucursal de Madrid –1907–08 Madrid RS Gimnástica Española –1908–09 Español Madrid Madrid (after tiebreakers) –1909–10 RS Gimnástica Española Español Madrid Madrid1910–11 RS Gimnástica Española Madrid –1911–12 Not held RS Gimnástica Española1912–13 Madrid Athletic Madrid –Campeonato Regional Centro1913–14 RS Gimnástica Española Athletic Madrid –1914–15 Racing Madrid Madrid RS Gimnástica Española1915–16 Madrid Racing Madrid –1916–17 Madrid Athletic Madrid –1917–18 Madrid Athletic Madrid –1918–19 Racing Madrid Madrid –1919–20 Madrid Athletic Madrid –1920–21 Athletic Madrid Racing Madrid –1921–22 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid –1922–23 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid –1923–24 Real Madrid Racing Madrid –1924–25 Athletic Madrid Real Madrid –1925–26 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid –1926–27 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid –1927–28 Athletic Madrid Real Madrid –1928–29 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid Racing Madrid1929–30 Real Madrid Racing Madrid Athletic Madrid1930–31 Real Madrid Athletic Madrid Racing Madrid1931–32 Madrid Nacional de Madrid Athletic de Madrid Valladolid1932–33 Madrid Betis Balompié Athletic de Madrid Valladolid Sevilla1933–34 Madrid Athletic Madrid Sevilla Betis1934–35 Madrid Racing de Santander Athletic de Madrid CD Nacional Zaragoza FC Valladolid1935–36 Madrid Zaragoza Athletic de Madrid Racing Santander Nacional Madrid Valladolid1936–37 Not held due to the Spanish Civil War1937–38 Not held due to the Spanish Civil War1938–39 Not held due to the Spanish Civil WarCampeonato Regional del Centro1939–40 Athletic Aviación Real Madrid Ferroviaria
Performances by club
+Performance by individual clubs in Campeonato Regional Centro Teams Winners Runners-up Winning seasons 1903, 1905, 1906, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1912–13, 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36 1920–21, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1939–40 1909–10, 1910–11, 1913–14 1914–15, 1918–19 1904, 1908–09 – – – – – –
1903
1904
The 1904 Campeonato de Madrid served as a qualifier to determine who would represent the Community of Madrid in the 1904 Copa del Rey. Originally, Madrid was to be represented by the winner of a preliminary round between Club Español de Madrid and Madrid-Moderno (a merger of Madrid FC and Moderno FC). Then two more teams from Madrid, Moncloa FC and Iberia Football Club, were admitted in the competition, forcing a change to the schedule.
The match between Club Español de Madrid and Madrid-Moderno ended in a 5–5 draw. The captains of both teams agreed not to play extra-time, but failed to reach an agreement on when they should replay the match. Español wanted to play the next day, but Madrid-Moderno refused, citing the rules of the tournament which stated that a replay could not be played less than 48 hours after the previous game. The next day Club Español went to replay the match, but Madrid-Moderno did not appear. The regional federation, whose president Ceferino Avecilla happened to be president of Club Español as well, ruled in favor of Español, and they were declared winners of the match eliminating Madrid-Moderno from the competition.
1905
The 1905 Campeonato de Madrid was played as a single elimination match between Madrid FC and Moncloa FC, with the winner representing Madrid in the 1905 Copa del Rey.
1906 The 1906 Campeonato de Madrid was played as a single elimination match between Madrid FC and FC Internacional, with the winner representing Madrid in the 1906 Copa del Rey.
1906–07 The Madrid Football Federation suspended the results of the 1906–07 season's matches for breach of norms.
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
RS Gimnástica champion 1910–11.
1912–13
1913–14 The Campeonato Regional Centro was organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation from the 1913–14 season. Teams were split into two divisions - 1a categoría A (1st category A) and 1a categoría B (1st category B). Madrid FC, Athletic Madrid and RS Gimnástica Española were placed in 1st category A and Unión Sporting, Regional FC, Credut Lyonnais, Cardenal Cisneros were placed in 1st category B. There was no system of promotion or relegation between the divisions.
1914–15 Newly founded Racing de Madrid was added to the Campeonato Regional Centro top division for the 1914–15 season.
1915–16
1916–17 This was the first season in which a club was promoted to the first division from the second division. Stadium won the 1st category B at the end of the 1916–17 season and following the play-off matches, the club secured promotion to 1st category A for the 1917–18 season.
1917–18 A third division below the 1st category B, called 2ª Preferente (2nd Preferential) was introduced for the 1917–18 season. The division included Recreativo Español, Madrid FC's third reserve team, and Unión SC's second reserve team.
This was the first season in which a club was relegated to the second division. Stadium FC, who had been newly promoted to the 1st category A, finished at the bottom of the table qualifying for the relegation play-offs with Unión SC, winner of the 1st category B. Unión SC won two of the three play-off matches between the teams earning promotion to the 1st category A, while Stadium FC was relegated to 1st category B for the 1918–19 season.
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24 The Federation expanded the number of teams included in the first division to five and the second division to six from the 1923–24 season. Unión SC, winner of the second division in the previous season, was promoted to the first division.
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
Playoffs:
Athletic Madrid champion 1927–28.
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32 (Campeonato Mancomunado Centro-Aragón)
1932–33 (Campeonato Regional Mancomunado Centro-Sur)
1933–34 (Campeonato Regional Mancomunado Centro-Sur)
1934–35 (Campeonato Mancomunado Castilla-Aragón)
1935–36 (Campeonato Mancomunado Castilla-Aragón)
1936 to 1939 The competition was not held for three seasons due to the Spanish Civil War.
1939–40
See also History of Real Madrid CF Madrid autonomous football team Campeonato Regional Sur
References