AD Plus Ultra

In 1948, Agrupación Deportiva Plus Ultra, a local amateur team, then playing in the Tercera División, agreed to become a feeder club for Real Madrid. Originally formed in 1930, the team took its name from the national motto of Spain. Real gave AD Plus Ultra financial support and in return were given first refusal on the club's best players. By 1949, they made their debut in the Segunda División and in 1952, the club became the official Real reserve team. In 1959, they reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Generalísimo, losing 7–2 on aggregate to eventual runners-up Granada.

During the 1950s and 1960s, future senior Real Madrid players and Spanish internationals such as José María Zárraga, Enrique Mateos, Ramón Marsal, Pedro Casado, Juan Manuel Villa, José María Vidal, Fernando Serena and Ramón Grosso all spent time at the club, and Juan Alonso finished off his career there. Miguel Muñoz began his coaching career at the club. In 1972, Plus Ultra folded because of the demise of the insurance company of the same name, and their position in the Tercera División was taken by Castilla Club de Fútbol, the new reserve team for Real Madrid, on 21 July.

Castilla CF

Former logo of Castilla.

As Castilla CF, the team enjoyed something of a golden age. During this era, with a team that included Agustín, Ricardo Gallego and Francisco Pineda, Castilla reached the final of the 1979–80 Copa del Rey. During their cup run, they beat four Primera División teams, including Hércules, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Sporting de Gijón.^[3] The latter two eventually finished second and third in the Primera División. In the final, they played Real Madrid but lost 6–1. Because Real also won the Primera División, however, Castilla qualified for the 1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup. Despite beating West Ham United 3–1 in the opening game at the Santiago Bernabéu, they lost the return 5–1 after extra time and went out in the first round.^[3] Castilla reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on three further occasions, in 1984, 1986, and 1988.

In 1984, with Amancio Amaro as coach, Castilla won the Segunda División. Amaro's tenure as coach saw the rise of the famous La Quinta del Buitre – Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel, and Miguel Pardeza. Castilla were ineligible for promotion, however, because Real Madrid were already in the Primera División. In the 1987–88 season, they finished third in the Segunda División, but were once again ineligible for promotion.

Real Madrid B

In 1991, the Royal Spanish Football Federation banned the use of separate names for reserve teams and Castilla CF became known as Real Madrid Deportiva and then Real Madrid B. In the early 1990s, two former Castilla players, Vicente del Bosque and Rafael Benítez, began their coaching careers with the team. In 1997, the team was relegated to the Segunda División B, but despite this, they continued to produce internationally acclaimed players. These have included Raúl, Guti and Iker Casillas, who all became established members of the senior Real Madrid team.

Real Madrid Castilla

In the 2004–05 season, coach Juan Ramón López Caro guided the team back to the Segunda División and the team subsequently revived the El Castilla name and became known as Real Madrid Castilla. In 2006, the new stadium of the club's training facilities Ciudad Real Madrid was named the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium and Francisco Moreno Cariñena became the first independent chairman in 16 years. In this year, the team also has continued to produce quality players such as Roberto Soldado and Álvaro Arbeloa.

In the 2006–2007 season, the team was relegated to the Segunda División B under the management of ex-Real Madrid legend Míchel after occupying 19th place in the league in a disappointing season. Míchel received a lot of criticism and accepted all the blame for the team's bad performances, especially for those who had a wonderful season in the 2005–06 season, such as Rubén de la Red, Esteban Granero and Javi García. The reserves produced other quality players, including Juan Mata and Álvaro Negredo.

Real Madrid Castilla was promoted back to the Segunda División at the end of the 2011–12 season after beating Cádiz in the play-offs with an aggregate of score 8–1 and this year the club produced one quality player, Dani Carvajal who was sold to Bayer Leverkusen in 2012 before he returned to Real Madrid in 2013 to play in the first team.

In the 2013–14 season, three quality players Nacho, Álvaro Morata and Jesé were promoted to the first team, and then Castilla was relegated in the last matchday after being defeated by Real Murcia in the last match of the season.

Since 2014 when they played in the third division, Castilla continued to produce other quality players, including Lucas Vázquez, Fernando Pacheco, Borja Mayoral, Marcos Llorente, Sergio Reguilón, Óscar Rodríguez, Achraf Hakimi and Fran García.

In the 2019–20 season, the team was coached by Raúl, a legendary ex-Real Madrid player.

European record

European Cup Winners' Cup:

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1980–81	1R	West Ham United	3–1	1–5 (aet)	4–6

Current squad

As of 31 August 2023.^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Lucas Cañizares 2 DF  BRA Vinicius Tobias (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) 3 DF  ESP Rafael Obrador 4 DF  ESP Álvaro Carrillo (captain) 5 DF  ESP Marvel 6 MF  ESP Mario Martín 7 FW  ESP Noel López 8 MF  FRA Théo Zidane (vice-captain) 9 FW  URU Álvaro Rodríguez 10 MF  ARG Nico Paz 11 MF  DOM Peter González

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 GK  ESP Diego Piñeiro 14 MF  ESP David González 15 DF  ESP Edgar Pujol 16 DF  ESP Raúl Asencio 17 FW  ESP Gonzalo García 19 DF  ESP Lorenzo Aguado 20 MF  ESP Manuel Ángel 22 MF  ESP César Palacios 23 MF  ESP Víctor Muñoz 24 GK  ESP Mario de Luis 26 FW  ESP Iker Bravo (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen)

From Real Madrid C and Youth Academy

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  ESP Jacobo Ramón 27 DF  ESP David Ruiz 28 MF  ESP Andrés Campos 29 FW  ESP Esteban Aparicio 30 MF  ESP Antonio David 31 DF  ESP Ferran Ruiz

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 DF  ESP David Jiménez 33 DF  ESP Kike Ribes 34 DF  ESP Manu Serrano 35 FW  ESP Ángel Carvajal 36 MF  ESP Borja Alonso 39 DF  ESP David Cuenca

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ESP Mario Camero (at Sestao River until June 2024) — DF  ESP Álex Jiménez (at AC Milan until June 2024) — MF  ESP Bruno Iglesias (at Celta Fortuna until June 2024) — MF  JPN Takuhiro Nakai (at Rayo Majadahonda until June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ESP Javi Villar (at Unionistas until June 2024) — MF  ESP Álvaro Leiva (at Osasuna B until June 2024) — MF  ESP Julen Jon Guerrero (at Roma U19 until June 2024) — FW  ESP Jeremy Jorge (at Atlético Sanluqueño until June 2024)

Current technical staff

Top scorers

All competitions[6] Ranking Nationality Name Years Apps 1  Spain Roberto Soldado 2002–2006 70 2  Spain Paco Machín 1979–1982 50 3  Spain Álvaro Morata 2010–2013 45 4  Spain Miguel Bernal 1977–1981 40  Spain Emilio Butragueño 1982–1984  Spain Joselu 2010–2012 7  Spain Sergio Arribas 2020–2023 38 8  Spain Luis García 2001–2003 37 9  Spain José Manuel García Castro 1974–1976, 1977–1981 32  Spain Francesc Xavier Julià 1980–1985  Spain Míchel 1981–1984  Spain Jesé 2011–2013  Dominican Republic Mariano Díaz 2014–2016  Spain Cristo González 2017–2019

Most appearances

All competitions[6] Ranking Nationality Name Years Apps 1  Spain Casimiro Torres 1978–1983 173 2  Spain Miguel Bernal 1977–1981 168 3  Spain José Manuel Espinosa 1977–1982 157 4  Spain Francis Rodríguez 1981–1984, 1985–1986 156  Spain Pedro Mosquera 2006–2010, 2011–2013 6  Spain Juanito Felipe 1979–1982, 1983–1984 143 7  Spain Juan Carlos López Martín 1987–1992 142 8  Spain Juanfran Moreno 2009–2013 138 9  Spain Míchel 1981–1984 135 10  Spain Vicente Blanco 1977–1979, 1980–1981, 1983–1984 134