Ramón de Cárdenas

Ramón de Cárdenas Pastor (9 April 1884 – 31 October 1943) was a Spanish lawyer and footballer who played as a midfielder for Madrid FC (now Real Madrid CF), Athletic Club, Español de Madrid, Athletic de Madrid and Club Vizcaya. He is best known for being the fourth president of the Athletic Club de Madrid (now Atlético Madrid) between 1909 and 1912. He is the brother of the architects Manuel de Cárdenas Pastor and Ignacio de Cárdenas Pastor.

Playing career Sky/New FC Cárdenas was born in Madrid as the son of Ramón de Cárdenas y Padilla (1852–1926), a journalist born in Havana who had emigrated to Madrid at the end of the 19th century and who belonged to the Spanish nobility. The last match he played for Sky was on 9 March, in a friendly between the club's members, as part of Sky's build-up for the upcoming Copa de la Coronación, the forerunner of the Copa del Rey founded a year later. In this game, Cárdenas played for the White Team and netted a goal in a 1–2 loss.

Madrid FC and Español de Madrid Together with Julián Palacios, the Padrós brothers (Carlos and Juan), the Giralt brothers (José, Armando, Mario) and Antonio Neyra, Cárdenas was a member of Madrid FC's first-ever complete season, in 1902–03. A solid midfielder, he was nonetheless one of the several players who left Madrid FC at the end of 1903 to form their own club, Español de Madrid, Cárdenas played an important role in helping Español de Madrid win the 1903–04 Campeonato Regional Centro, hence qualifying to the 1904 Copa del Rey, which ended in controversy as they were unable to participate in the final, meaning Athletic Club were declared the champions.

Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid In 1905, after two years with Español de Madrid, José and Armando Giralt decided to return to Madrid FC, and Cárdenas followed them, but unlike the pair of brothers, Madrid's board of directors did not accept him back, so he joined Athletic Madrid instead, the Madrid branch of Athletic Club de Bilbao. Cárdenas stayed closely linked to both clubs, alternating between both sides. He helped this team reach the final, where they faced his former club Madrid FC, and losing 0–1 thanks to a late goal from Manuel Prast.

Presidency In 1909 he became the fourth president in the history of the Athletic club. In the elections, he comfortably defeated the then-president, Ricardo de Gondra. On 22 January 1911, when the team wore the red and white shirt for the very first time, since until then their shirts had been blue and white, the colors of their foundation alike the Bilbao team. In 1912, he was replaced by Julián Ruete.

Honours Español de Madrid Centro Championship: Champions (1): 1903–04 Copa del Rey: Runner-up (1): 1904

Club Bizcaya Copa del Rey: Runner-up (1): 1907