Why are Real Madrid fans called ‘Vikings’?

Real Madrid, who face Barcelona in El Clásico on Saturday, are often referred to as ‘Los Vikingos’. Where does the club’s nickname come from?

Real Madrid’s famous all-white home kit makes club nicknames such as ‘Los Blancos’ (‘the Whites’) and ‘Los Merengues’ (‘the Meringues’) fairly easy to explain. However, another common moniker for the 14-time European champions, who visit arch rivals Barcelona in the first Clásico of the 2023/24 season this weekend, does need some unpacking: ‘Los Vikingos’ (‘the Vikings’).

At Madrid games, supporters of the club may be seen wearing the horned helmets traditionally associated with Vikings - the seafaring Scandinavians who, between the ninth and 11th centuries, raided and colonised areas across Europe.

Viking imagery has also been known to feature on the large tifos that Madrid fans have made a habit of unfurling inside their Bernabéu home stadium on big occasions. Before a Spanish-capital derby against Atlético Madrid in 2017, for example, supporters in one end of the arena unveiled a banner depicting a Viking sitting on a throne, with broken shields in the red and white colours of Atlético at his feet. The image was accompanied by the message: “The throne is ours.”

The names of a number of Real Madrid’s official supporters’ clubs - e.g. Orgullo Vikingo, Perú Vikingo, El Quijote Vikingo - also make reference to the club’s nickname.

There appear to be two chief theories as to its provenance. One credits the UK newspaper the Times with launching the nickname after Real Madrid’s European Cup final win in 1960, when a side led by Alfredo di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskas thumped Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 to secure the club’s fifth consecutive continental title. In the aftermath of what is