In 1972, Mike Birkett was working in the British Embassy in Madrid. Mike was a bit of a football fan and had been playing football since he was young. Together with a few other guys from the embassy and some friends who were working in businesses in Madrid, they got together for a kick around every Saturday morning. As interest grew, the group got bigger and they started to play against local teams. One day in October 1972, a referee asked what the team was called, the team had no official name and so Mike just said ‘Los Británicos’ and FC Británico de Madrid was born. The team started to play more matches in Madrid, sporting a Real Betis kit in the classic green and white vertical stripes. In 1976 they became original and founder members of an amateur league which is now called La Liga Santillana and transitioned to a red kit.
The club played matches in Pozuelo till the late 1970´s until Pozo del Tio Raimundo became the permanent home ground of the club. Many Británicos will always refer to this ground as simply Pozo and the club is fondly remembered by locals in the area. Sadly in 2001 the owners couldn´t maintain the ground and it lay in ruins for a few years until the local Council took over and refurbished the complex into a modernised complex with much in demand artificial grass. FC Británico de Madrid keep going and now play their league matches all over the city stretching from Barajas to El Pardo and Canillas to Getafe. Matches take place on Saturday mornings and during the season the club trains on the all weather grass pitch at the Instalación Básica Las Cocheras, near metro La Elipa.
In the early years of the club, you either worked in the Embassy or in business. But as English became a very popular language to teach, lots of teachers arrived in Madrid. Those who liked their football were soon playing for the club. Nowadays, the players have a variety of careers. In keeping with the modern era FC Británico de Madrid opened their club to others from other nations and now our only rule is that you must speak English, whether that’s a little amount or a lot.
The ultimate success of winning the league always eluded the club but often finished in the top half of the league. The highest position was 2nd in season 1982-83 when it came down to the last game of the season. The club has also finished 3rd on a few occasions including season 2005-06. All that changed in 2007 when the club won the Copa de Liga followed Apertura Champions in 2015, 2016 & 2020.
So who do FC Británico de Madrid play against? We play against amateur clubs based in the Madrid area. The club also plays friendly matches, entertain visiting teams from England and from time to time tour parts of Spain. Such places have included Segovia, Toledo, Bilbao, Barcelona, Sevilla, Montilla and perhaps the highlight was the visit to ‘The Rock’ to play against Gibraltar, then temporarily managed by ex- England international Peter Barnes to help them prepare for the Inter-Island European Nations Tournament.
We currently have 3 teams regularly playing 11 aside, 7 aside & 5 aside football on the weekends. The 11 aside team play on Sundays in the RFF Madrid League, the Fútbol Sala team (5 aside) team play in the IFL Madrid Sala League and the 7s team play in the Madrid Municipal League. We also have a vets team which plays from time to time.
Players of all abilities are welcome and the club will try to accommodate all players who show a commitment to moving the club forward and a desire to work hard and improve as a footballer.
The nature of our club means we have a high turnover of players caused by players returning home or moving on to other countries due to work and study commitments, this causes a lack of stability which over the years has affected consistency within the teams. To counter this, the club also has non-British players who speak English and understand our footballing culture, bringing to the side an international feel as well as much needed stability.
If you’re interested in playing for the club please contact us letting us know a bit about yourself.
Please explore our website to find our more information about the club and join our Facebook fan page to keep up to date with what’s happening at the club. You can also keep up to date by checking out our Instagram or Twitter pages.
The club is a registered not-for-profit club (CIF G87358057) and our focus on the pitch is to finish as high as possible and win trophies. We aim to create a strong united group of players working towards the club goal. As well as our goals on the pitch, we also aim to promote the use of English in a football environment off the field and encourage all players involved with the club to socialise with all other players and supporters in English. We do this through training, matches and regular social events.