Pedro Parages

Pedro Parages Diego-Madrazo (17 December 1883 – 15 February 1950) was a Franco-Spanish footballer, manager, and the 5th President of Real Madrid from July 1916 until 16 May 1926. During his mandate, Madrid FC received the Royal title (Real) from the hands of the King Alfonso XIII.

He played as a forward for Association Sportive Amicale before joining Madrid FC (now Real Madrid) in 1902. Parages was thus the first French player to represent Los Merengues. After retiring he became the club's fifth president, a position he held for 10 years between 1916 and 1926. During that period he also coached the Spain national team at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, being eliminated in the preliminary phase in the only competitive match of the three that he was at the helm of the team. He is regarded as one of the most influential and recognized personalities of the entity.

His outstanding work in favor of the growing sport of football earned him in the 1931–32 season the recently inaugurated distinction of the Medalla al Mérito del Fútbol awarded by the Madrid Football Federation.

Playing career Early years Pedro Parages was born in Madrid to a Spanish mother and a French father, from whom he adopts his nationality. The family businesses (textile) made a young Pedro complete his training in Manchester, where he studied commerce (Business).

Madrid FC Parages became the first French footballer to wear the Madrid team's shirt, after his debut on 2 November in a friendly match against Moncloa Football Club held at El Escorial, in which he helped his side to a 2–7 victory for Madrid. He made his competitive debut with the club in the semi-finals of the first edition of the Copa del Rey in 1903, which took place on 6 April 1903 against the Club Espanyol, netting one of the goals in a 4–1 win, thus helping his side reach the cup's first-ever final, which ended in a 2–3 loss to Athletic Club.

In the following years, he won four consecutive Copa del Rey titles between 1905 and 1908, which still stands as the shared national record for consecutive cups. In the same way, and being the tournament that gave access to the national cup, he won a total of five regional championships of Madrid. It became "soccer" since then, despite the fact that historians and academics of the Spanish Language, advised in the most Castilian "football".

He was the great founding figure of the Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. — Santiago Bernabéu. However, Real Madrid was one of the most ambitious clubs of the time, and just two years later, in 1924, the club felt the need for a much larger stadium, and thus the Estadio Chamartín was built, moving from a venue with 8,000 spectators to another with the capacity for a crowd of 25,000 people. They bought the land for 642,000 pesetas, and once again, it was Pedro Parages, who together with José María Peña, Bernardo Menéndez and Carlos López Quesada, endorsed the amount. Chamartín opened on 17 May 1924 with a match against the professional Newcastle United, which the amateur Real Madrid players defeated by 3–2.

One of the most remarkable events during his presidency was the reception of the Royal title of "Real", given by the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII. Parages finished his mandate on 16 May 1926. Notably, he held the interim presidency again in 1928–29, until the election in 1930, which was won by Luis Usera Bugallal. He never renounced that dual nationality, something that prevented him, after the Spanish Civil War, from accessing the presidency of the club, since the authorities of the time banned this possibility to citizens with any nationalities other than Spanish.

Managerial career During his time as president of Madrid FC, Parages managed the Spain national team in 1923–24, coinciding with the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. The team would be eliminated in the preliminary round by Italy after losing 1–0, thanks to an own goal from Pedro Vallana. In total, he managed the team in three games with a balance of one game won, one tied, and one lost with three goals in favor and only one against, Vallana's own goal against Italy, which was his last match.

Death His outstanding work in favor of the growing sport of football earned him in the 1931–32 season the recently inaugurated distinction of the Medalla al Mérito del Fútbol awarded by the Madrid Football Federation.

He was married to Nieves Gros Urquiola. He died on 15 February 1950, at the age of 66, in the French town of Saint-Loubès. He was the number one member of Madrid FC at that time of his death.

Honours Real Madrid Copa del Rey: 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908 Campeonato Regional Centro: 1902–03, 1904–05, 1905–06, 1907–08