Copa Federación Centro

Organising body	Castilian Federation [es]
Founded	6 May 1923
Abolished	8 December 1943
Region	Central Spain
Number of teams	4 to 8 teams
Last champions	Real Madrid
Most successful club(s)	Real Madrid (3)

The Copa Federación Centro (English: Center Federation Cup), or the Castilian Federation Cup, was a football competition contested by the best clubs from Central Spain (which encompassed Madrid and the wider Castile region). It was the second-tier competition for the said region after the Campeonato Regional Centro. The competition was formed and reformed numerous times in its 20-year-history between 1923 and 1943, going from a knock-out format to a league mode of all against all. Throughout the editions, the Castilian Cup took different names. Its first version was known as the Copa Madrid (1923–1928), then it developed into the Copa Castilla (1933–1934), and Copa Presidente de la Federación Castellana (1940–1944). Its first edition was organized in 1923 by the Castilian Federation [es] and the last was in 1953 under the same name.^[1] The Castilian Federation Cup had five known editions, although it is probable that there are others, such as Copa Primavera (1941–1943) and Copa José Luis del Valle (1943–1945).

Great figures played at this tournament, such as Santiago Bernabéu, Monchín Triana, René Petit, and José María Peña.

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The first edition of this competition was held between 6 May and 17 June 1923 in Madrid and was contested by all the Madrid teams in a single-match knock-out tournament under the denomination of Copa Federación Centro (also known at the time as the Copa Madrid).^[2][3] After the first two knockout rounds, Athletic de Madrid and Real Madrid reached the final that took place on 17 June at the newly-opened Estadio Metropolitano.^[4][5]

In the first half, Madrid scored twice through crosses from Gerónimo del Campo and strikes from Santiago Bernabéu, helped in the second by a mistake by Pololo, but the hosts fought back and equalized shortly after courtesy with two quick goals, a header from Monchín Triana and a free kick launched by Luis Olaso.^[4] This served as a wake-up call for the Madrid team, who responded with a relentless wave of attacks on Athletic's goal, who failed to resist, conceding four more goals: A superb shot by Posada broke the tie, and after this, Antonio de Miguel, Bernabéu and Posada sealed the game. Thus Real Madrid won the cup.^[4]

^[2]

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	6 May 1923
	Sociedad Gimnástica	1
					31 May 1924
	Real Madrid	3
					Real Madrid	3
	13 May 1923
					Racing de Madrid	1
	Racing de Madrid	6
									17 June 1923
	Unión Sporting Club (Madrid) [es]	0
									Real Madrid	6
	13 May 1923
									Athletic de Madrid	2
	Athletic de Madrid	9
					31 May 1924
	Sociedad Primitiva Amistad	0
					Athletic de Madrid	7
	20 May 1923
					AD Ferroviaria	0
	AD Ferroviaria	?
	GC Ciudad Lineal	?

^[4]

17 June 1923

Real Madrid	6–2	Athletic de Madrid
Bernabéu Posada De Miguel	Report	Triana Olaso

Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Sr. Chopeitia

Real Madrid line-up: Martínez; Escobal, Quesada; Sicilia, Mengotti, Mejía; De Miguel, Posada, Bernabéu, Pérez, Del Campo.

Athletic line-up: Ortueta; Olalquiaga, Pololo; Fajardo, Burdiel, Marín; Bustillo, Ortiz de la Torre, Triana, Dunwater, Olaso.

It was a single match disputed by the Regional Championship champion Athletic de Madrid and the runner-up Real Madrid on 7 June 1928 at the Chamartín stadium. The local team won by three goals to nil.^[6] The game was organized by the Castilian Football Federation, which also donated the trophy.^[7]

^[6]

7 June 1928

Real Madrid	3–0	Athletic de Madrid
Rubio 1' Quesada 10' (pen.) Cominges 65'	Report

Estadio Chamartín, Madrid

Referee: Sr. Gárate

Real Madrid line-up: Cabo; Quesada, Urquizu, Prats, Esparza, Peña, Cominges, Pérez, Rubio, López, Benegas.^[6]

Athletic line-up: Vidal; Lafuente, A. Olaso, Santos, Ordóñez, Joaquín, De Miguel, Luís Marín, Palacios, Galatas, L. Olaso.^[6]

The Castillian Cup was organized again for the 1933–34 season under the denomination of Copa de Castilla, as a means to fill a calendar lacking in matches, especially due to the participation of the Spanish national team in the 1934 World Cup held in Italy. It was developed with a phase prior to a single match in which several teams had to be eliminated to reach the final phase in which five teams were automatically classified (Madrid FC, AD Ferroviaria, Athletic de Madrid, CD Nacional de Madrid and the guest Racing de Santander). The final phase consisted of elimination rounds between eight teams, for which the quarterfinals, semifinals and final were played.^[8]

It was disputed by clubs from the Castilian Federation (preliminary phase) of the First Category (with the exception of Club Valladolid Deportivo), plus the first three of the Second Category of Madrid and the first two of the North and South sections.^[9] The final was played by Athletic Club de Madrid and Club Deportivo Nacional de Madrid, the latter winning by four goals to three.^[8]

Qualified for the quarterfinals: Sociedad Alcántara, RCD Carabanchel and UD Salamanca.

	Quarterfinals 27 May–3 June						Semifinals 10–17 June						Final 24 June
	Real Madrid		1	0
	AD Ferroviaria		1	7
							AD Ferroviaria		1	2
							Athletic de Madrid		4	1
	Athletic de Madrid		2	7
	Alcántara Deportiva		1	0
													Athletic de Madrid		3
													CD Nacional		4
	CD Nacional		4	4
	RCD Carabanchel		4	1
							CD Nacional		3	2
							Racing de Santander		0	3
	Racing de Santander		6	3
	UD Salamanca		0	0

^[8]

24 June 1934

CD Nacional	4–3	Athletic de Madrid
Aja 1–0', 3–0' San Emeterio 13' Sanz 4–0'	Report	Peña 37' Losada 55' Arocha 88'

Estadio Chamartín, Madrid

CD Nacional line-up: Joven; Muñoz, Suárez; Sánchez, Otero, Zulueta; Sanz, Moriones, López Herranz, San Emeterio, Aja.^[8]

Athletic line-up: Pacheco; Corral, Mandaro; Peña, Basterrechea, Losada; Liz, Guijarro, Arocha, Amunárriz, Buiría.^[8]

The competition was resumed in 1941, as a means to resume the regional championships in central Spain that had been suppressed after the restructuring of the Royal Spanish Football Federation following the Spanish Civil War. The main reason, however, was the complete consolidation and success of the competitions at the national level. For this reason, it was renamed the Copa Presidente Federación Castellana, having its renewed dispute in the 1940–41 season. The title was disputed by the champion and runner-up of the last Central Regional Championship, the 1939 Mancomunado [es], who were Athletic-Aviation Club and Real Madrid CF.^[10]

The contest was played over two legs; the first on 15 June at the Chamartín Stadium, the second on 22 June at the Vallecas Stadium, where Atlético temporarily played until the reconstruction work of the Metropolitan Stadium was completed (it had been destroyed in the Civil War). Atlético-Aviación was champion of the competition for the first time after a 3–1 aggregate win against its neighbors and historical rivals, Real Madrid, the absolute dominators of the regional tournaments of Castile.^[11][12]

15 June 1941

Real Madrid	1–0	Athletic-Aviation Club
Marcial Arbiza 64'	Report1 Report2

Estadio Chamartín, Madrid

Referee: Ramón Melcón

22 June 1941

Athletic-Aviation Club	3–0	Real Madrid
Francisco Arencibia [es] Campos	Report1 Report2

Vallecas Stadium, Madrid

Referee: Manuel Álvarez Corriols

This edition was disputed again by the same contenders from the previous edition, as representatives in the First Division of Castilian football, due to the fact that the Central Regional Championship was no longer disputed. A single match final was played, with Real Madrid winning.^[13][14]

8 December 1943

Real Madrid	5–0	Athletic de Madrid
Barinaga Moleiro 62' Alonso II 65' Cuca 88'	Report

Estadio Chamartín, Madrid

Referee: Sr. Gárate

Real Madrid line-up: Bañón; Querejeta, Corona, Sauto, Tamargo; Huete, Alonso II, Moleiro; Barinaga (Elías 70´), Belmar (Pruden 45´), Cuca.^[13]

Athletic line-up: Abel (Caballero 45´); Jimeno, Cobo, Ameztoy, Germán; Machín (García 85´), Domingo, Casaus; Martín, Calixto, Vázquez (Alcalde 45´).^[13]

Season	Champion	Result	Runner-up	Notes
Copa Federación Centro (Copa Madrid, 'Copa Castilla, Copa Presidente de la Federación Castellana, Copa Primavera and Copa José Luis del Valle)
1922–23	Real Madrid	6–2	Athletic de Madrid	Copa Federación Centro
1927–28	Real Madrid	3–0	Athletic de Madrid	Copa Federación Centro
1933–34	CD Nacional de Madrid	4–3	Athletic de Madrid	Copa Castilla
1939–40	CD Toledo	-	-	Copa Primavera
1940–41	Club Atlético-Aviación	0–1 and 3–0	Real Madrid	Copa Presidente Federación Castellana
1941–42	CD Toledo	4–4 and 1–0	UD Girod	Copa Primavera
1942–43	CD Toledo	2–0	Rayo Vallecano	Copa Primavera
1943–44	Real Madrid	5–0	Club Atlético-Aviación	Copa Presidente Federación Castellana
1943–44	CD Toledo	2–2 and 5–2	AD Ferroviaria	Copa José Luis del Valle
1944–45	Real Madrid	2–1	Club Atlético-Aviación	Copa José Luis del Valle
1947–48	Real Madrid Amateur	??	Real Ávila CF	Copa Castilla
1948–49	Getafe Deportivo	3–1	Villaverde San Andrés	Copa Federación Castellana
1949–50	CD Guadalajara	3–1 (tie-breaker)	RSD Alcalá	Copa Castilla
1952–53	UD San Lorenzo	4–0 and 0–1	CD Guadalajara	Copa Federación Castellana

Including the Copa Primavera and Copa José Luis del Valle, Real Madrid CF is the most successful team with five titles, followed by CD Toledo with four titles, and with only one title is CD Nacional de Madrid, Club Atlético-Aviación (now Atlético de Madrid), Getafe Deportivo (now Getafe CF), CD Guadalajara and UD San Lorenzo.

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Year
Real Madrid CF	4	1	1922–23, 1927–28, 1942–43, 1944–45
CD Toledo	4	-	1939–40, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1943–44
Atlético Madrid[n 1]	1	4	1940–41
CD Nacional de Madrid	1	-	1933–34
Real Madrid amateur	1	-	1947–48
Getafe Deportivo	1	-	1948–49
CD Guadalajara	1	1	1949–50
UD San Lorenzo	1	-	1952–53

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