Schalke 04

Wappen of Schalke 04
Full name	Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V.
Nickname(s)	Die Königsblauen (The Royal Blues) Die Schlacke (The Slag) Die Knappen (The Miners)
Founded	4 May 1904; 108 years ago  (1904-05-04)
Ground	Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen (Capacity: 61,673[1])
President	Clemens Tönnies
Coach	Huub Stevens
League	Bundesliga
2011–12	Bundesliga, 3rd
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke (German pronunciation: [ˈʃalkə]), is a German association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major successes have been rare since the club's heyday in the 1930s and early 1940s. The football team is the biggest part of a large sports club with more than 100,000 members (August 2011) making it the second largest sports club in Germany. Other activities offered by the club include basketball, handball, and track and field.

Schalke won its first major European trophy in 1997 by defeating Internazionale on penalty kicks in the final of the UEFA Cup. Since 2001, Schalke's stadium is the Veltins-Arena. Schalke holds a long-standing rivalry with Borussia Dortmund, and matches between the two teams are referred to as the Revierderby. The mascot of the club is called Erwin (also Ährwin.)

History[link]

Schalke's early years[link]

The club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colors red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband and played in one of the "wild associations" of early German football. In 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915 when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club. The separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga. It was around this time that Schalke picked up the nickname Die Knappen –from an old German word for "miners"– because the team drew so many of its players and supporters from the coalmine workers of Gelsenkirchen.

In 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts once again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue and white uniforms from which their second nickname would derive – Die Königsblauen (English: The Royal Blues). The following year, the club became the dominant local side, on the basis of based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would later become famous as the Schalker Kreisel (English: spinning top; gyroscope). In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, and then into the opening rounds of the national finals.

Rise to dominance[link]

The popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the city's support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. They won their first West German championship in 1929, but the following year were sanctioned for exceeding salary levels set by the league and, in an era that considered professionalism in sport to be anathema, found themselves banned from play for nearly half a year.

However, the ban had little impact on the team's popularity: in their first game after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931, the team drew 70,000 to its home ground. The club's fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a semi-final appearance in the 1932 German championship, losing 1–2 to Eintracht Frankfurt. The year after, the club went all the way to the final, where Fortuna Düsseldorf proved the better side, winning 3–0.^[2]

With the re-organisation of German football in 1933, under Nazi Germany, Schalke found themselves in the Gauliga Westfalen, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established to replace the innumerable regional and local leagues, all claiming top status. This league saw Schalke's most successful decade in their history: from 1933 to 1942 the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals (10 in the German championship and 8 in the Tschammerpokal, the predecessor of today's German Football Association Cup) and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons.

The club never lost a home game in Gauliga Westfalen in all these eleven seasons and only lost six away games, while remaining entirely unbeaten in the seasons 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1940–41 and 1942–43; a clear sign of the club's dominance.^[3]

The championship years 1934–42[link]

Schalke's first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites Nuremberg. The next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart in a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the championship match in each of the next six years, coming away victorious in 1937, 1939, 1940, and 1942. Three of those national finals were against Austrian teams –Admira Vienna, Rapid Vienna, and First Vienna– which played in Germany's Gauliga Ostmark after Austria's incorporation into the Reich through the 1938 Anschluss.

Die Königsblauen also made frequent appearances in the final of the Tschammerpokal, but enjoyed much less success there. They lost the inaugural Tschammerpokal 0:2 to Nūrnberg in 1935. They also made failed appearances in the 1936, 1941, and 1942 finals with their only Cup victory coming in 1937 against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Over a dozen seasons, from 1933 to 1945, Schalke won 162 of 189 Gauliga matches, drawing 21 and losing only 6. On the way, they scored 924 goals and gave up just 145. From 1935 to 1939, they did not lose a single league match. The club's dominance throughout this period led them to be held up for propaganda purposes by the Nazi regime, as an example of "new Germany". This was despite the fact that many players were descended from Polish immigrants, most notably the two stars of the team, Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra.

Post-war football[link]

With Germany in chaos towards the end of World War II, Schalke played just two matches in 1945. They resumed regular play following the war and, for a time, continued to compete as a strong side. They set a record in a national championship round match with a 20–0 drubbing of SpVgg Herten, but that spoke more to the weakened condition of German football than the ability of the team. Schalke's play fell off and the best they could manage in the new Oberliga West in 1947 was a sixth place finish: within two years they slipped to 12th place.

It would take Schalke until the mid-50s to recover their form. They finished third in a tight three-way race for the 1954 Oberliga West title, decided on the last day of the season. The following year, they appeared in the German Cup final, where they lost 2–3 to Karlsruher SC. The club's next German championship came in 1958, with a 3–0 victory over Hamburger SV.

This is Schalke's last national-championship title to date.

Entry to the Bundesliga[link]

Schalke continued to play well, delivering a number of top four finishes, in the years leading up to the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, West Germany's new federal, professional league. Those results earned them selection as one of sixteen sides admitted to the top-flight league.

Their first years in the Bundesliga were difficult. In 1965, they escaped relegation only through the expansion of the league to eighteen teams. A number of finishes at the lower ends the league table followed, before a marked improvement in 1972, culminating in a second place finish to Bayern Munich and after having led the league for much of the season. In the same season, Schalke won the German Cup for the second time in its history.

The Bundesliga Scandal of 1971[link]

Despite their improved results, the seeds of a major reversal had already been sown. A number of the team's players and officials were accused of accepting bribes as part of the widespread Bundesliga scandal of 1971. Investigation showed that Schalke had deliberately played to lose their 17 May, 28th-round match against Arminia Bielefeld by a score of 0–1. As a result, several Schalke players were banned for life, including three —Klaus Fischer, "Stan" Libuda and Klaus Fichtel— who were with the German national team of the time.

Even though the penalties were later commuted to bans ranging from six months to two years, the scandal had a profound effect on what might have possibly become one of the dominant German teams of the 1970s.

Crisis and recovery[link]

Schalke players celebrate winning the DFB-Pokal in 2002

In 1973, the club moved to the Parkstadion, newly built for the 1974 World Cup and having a capacity of 70,000 spectators. In the wake of the scandal, the club's performance was uneven. They managed another second place result in 1977, finishing just one point behind champions Borussia Mönchengladbach.

In the early 1980s Die Knappen ran into trouble and found themselves relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga for the 1981–82 season and, after promotion, again in 1983–84. They returned to the top flight in 1984 but slipped once more to the second tier in 1988. They returned to the Bundesliga in the 1991–92 season and have stayed in the top flight ever since.

The club earned their first honours since the German Cup win of 1972 with a victory in the final of the 1997 UEFA Cup over Italian side Internazionale on penalties. Coached by the dutch coach Huub Stevens, the 1997 Schalke squad earned the nickname "Euro Fighters", which is still in use among fans. Stevens, who was widely unknown in Germany at the time, quickly earned himself a cult following among the Schalke supporters.

Stevens successfully implemented a system of rigid discipline, especially in the defense. His Motto Die Null muß stehen. (engl.: The Nil has to be), emphasizing the importance of not conceeding any goals, has found its way into everyday language in Germany.

The turn of the millennium has seen much stronger performances from Schalke. During the 1990s and early 2000, the club underwent a successful transformation into a modern, commercial sports organization and established itself as one of the dominant teams of the Bundesliga. Schalke captured consecutive German Cups in 2001–02, and earned second place finishes in the Bundesliga in 2001, 2005 and 2007. The 2001 season finish was heartbreaking for Schalke's supporters as it took a goal in the 4th minute of injury time by Bayern Munich away to Hamburg to snatch the title from Die Königsblauen.

Current[link]

Fans displaying their colours at Veltins-Arena.

The last few years have been more successful for Schalke, who finished in the second place in 2005, a result that led to Schalke making its second appearance in the UEFA Champions League. There, Schalke finished in 3rd place during the group stage and continuing into the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by the eventual winners Sevilla in the semi-finals. In 2006, Schalke finished in 4th place in the Bundesliga and a year later they once again finished as runners-up (for the 3rd time in 7 seasons).

Raúl is the all-time top goalscorer in all European club competitions

In the 2007–08 season, Schalke progressed past the Champions League group stage for the first time and advanced to the quarter-finals after beating Porto on penalties in the round of 16. They were stopped by FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals, losing both home and away games 0–1.

On 9 October 2006, Russian oil company Gazprom became the club's new sponsor. The company stated it expects to invest as much as €125 million in the club over a 5½ year period.^[4] Gazprom's sponsorship has been seen by some analysts as a politically motivated attempt to buy friendship in Germany.^[5] Within this sponsorship, Schalke 04 and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg signed a "partnership agreement." Both clubs intend to work closely on improving football-related issues.

On 13 April 2008, the club announced the dismissal of manager Mirko Slomka after a heavy defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen and elimination from the Champions League. Former players Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder were put in charge of the first team on an interim basis.

For the 2008–09 Bundesliga season, Schalke signed a new head coach, Fred Rutten, previously the manager of Dutch team Twente. Rutten signed a contract running until June 2010.^[6] In March 2009, Rutten was sacked and, once more, Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck took over the helm.

On 1 July 2009, Felix Magath, who had led VfL Wolfsburg to the top of the table in the Bundesliga, became Head Coach and General Manager of the Royal Blues. On 16 March 2011, Magath was sacked and replaced with Ralf Rangnick, who previously, between 2004 and 2005, had a brief spell being in charge of the team. Within just weeks of his appointment, Rangnick masterminded a 5–2 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro during the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Schalke advanced to the semifinals where they lost 2–0 to Manchester United in the first leg and 4–1 in the second leg.^[7]

On 22 September 2011, Ralf Rangnick announced his immediate resignation as head coach of Schalke 04 due to long-term exhaustion.^[8] Assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn coached the team as Interim Manager until the appointment of Huub Stevens on 27 September 2011. Stevens' contract is to run until 30 June 2013.^[9]

Despite having legendary status among Schalke supporters, Stevens' return to Schalke was met with some scepticism as fans feared that Stevens, who coached Schalke to the 1997 UEFA Cup win with a rigidly defensive system, could ditch Rangnicks system of attacking play in favour of returning to the 1997 defensive antics. ^[10] The doubts of the supporters proved unfounded. Although Schalke played a somewhat inconsistent season, they reached third place in the Bundesliga and therefore direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

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Stadium[link]

The Veltins-Arena

Schalke's stadium, known as the Veltins-Arena under a sponsorship agreement with Veltins brewery, was completed in the summer of 2001 and has a capacity of 61,673 spectators. Schalke regularly draws sell-out crowds to what is widely regarded as one of the most modern and best multi-use facilities in Europe. The facility was previously known as the Arena AufSchalke and replaced the Parkstadion (capacity 62,000) built in 1973. Prior to this the club had played its matches in the Glückauf-Kampfbahn constructed in 1928 with a capacity of 35,000. The facility was used for amateur matches during its latter years with a reduced capacity of just 5,000.

Club songs[link]

Blau und weiß, wie lieb ich Dich ("Blue and White, How I Love You") and Königsblauer S04 ("Royal Blue S04") are the official club songs.

Popular, unofficial chants are

• Ein Leben lang, Blau und Weiß ein Leben lang ("a life-long, blue and white a life-long"),
• Kennst du den Mythos vom Schalker Markt?! ("Do you know the Myth of the Schalke Market?!"), sung to the melody of "Haben Sie Gehört Das Deutsche Band" from The Producers.
• Opa Pritschikowski ("Grandpa Pritschikowski"),
• Wir sind Schalker ("We are Schalke"),
• Schalke ist die Macht ("Schalke is the Power"), and
• Steht auf, wenn ihr Schalker seid ("Stand up if you're Schalke"), sung to the melody of "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys (itself a cover of a Village People song).

Honours[link]

2002 German Cup trophy, damaged during celebrations of Schalke's victory.

German championship

• Winners – 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1941–42, 1957–58
• Runners-up – 1932–33, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1971–72, 1976–77, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10

DFB-Pokal

• Winners – 1937, 1972, 2001, 2002, 2011
• Runners-up – 1935, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1955, 1969, 2005

DFL-Supercup

• Winners – 2011
• Runners-up – 1940, 2010

DFB-Ligapokal

• Winners – 2005
• Runners-up – 2001, 2002, 2007

UEFA Cup

• Winners – 1997

UEFA Intertoto Cup

• Winners – 2003, 2004

2. Fußball-Bundesliga

• Winners – 1981–82, 1990–91

Fuji-Cup (unofficial tournament)

• Winners – 1996

Coppa delle Alpi (Tournament of the Italian Association)

• Winners – 1968

Oberliga West

• Winners – 1951, 1958

Western German football cup

• Winners – 1955

Western German football championship

• Winners – 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933
• Runners-up – 1927

Ruhrbezirk Championship

• Winners – 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933

Gauliga Westfalen

• Winners – 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944

Westphalia Cup

• Winners – 1943, 1944

Youth[link]

• Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga
  • Champions: 1976, 2006
  • Runners-up: 1975, 1980, 1981
• Under 17 Fußball-Bundesliga
  • Champions: 1978, 2002
  • Runners-up: 1977, 1980
• Under 19 Bundesliga West
  • Champions: 2006

Players[link]

Current squad[link]

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2011 and List of German football transfers winter 2011–12. Manager: Horst Heldt

Coach: Huub Stevens

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Ralf Fährmann 2 DF Hans Sarpei 3 DF Sergio Escudero 4 DF Benedikt Höwedes (captain) 6 DF Tim Hoogland 7 FW Raúl González (vice-captain) 8 FW Ciprian Marica 10 MF Lewis Holtby 11 MF Alexander Baumjohann 12 DF Marco Höger 13 MF Jermaine Jones 14 MF Kyriakos Papadopoulos 17 FW Jefferson Farfán 18 MF José Manuel Jurado 19 FW Chinedu Obasi 20 FW Teemu Pukki

No. Position Player 21 DF Christoph Metzelder 22 DF Atsuto Uchida 23 DF Christian Fuchs 24 MF Peer Kluge 25 FW Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 26 FW Andreas Wiegel 28 MF Christoph Moritz 30 MF Levan Kenia 31 MF Julian Draxler 32 MF Joël Matip 33 GK Mathias Schober 34 GK Timo Hildebrand 35 DF Sead Kolasinac 36 GK Lars Unnerstall 40 GK Robin Himmelmann

Players out on loan[link]

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

No. Position Player 9 FW Edu (at Beşiktaş J.K.) 16 MF Jan Morávek (at FC Augsburg) 19 FW Mario Gavranović (at 1. FSV Mainz 05) 27 MF Ciprian Deac (at Rapid Bucureşti)

No. Position Player 40 MF Anthony Annan (at Vitesse) DF Carlos Zambrano (at FC St. Pauli) MF Vasileios Pliatsikas (at MSV Duisburg)

Retired numbers[link]

7 - Raúl, Forward (2010-12) ^[11]

FC Schalke 04 U23 squad[link]

Manager: Bernhard Trares

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

No. Position Player GK Christian Görres GK Robin Himmelmann DF Frank Fahrenhorst (captain) DF Alban Sabah DF Jeffrey Volkmer DF Kenan Kedem DF Richard Ziff DF Nils Zander MF Dominik Ernst MF Felix Frank MF Nadav Müller MF Zlatko Muhović

No. Position Player MF Kevin Rodrigues Pires DF Daniel Vale MF Dominik Stommel MF Eren Taskin MF Manuel Torres FW Jonas Erwig-Drüppel FW Philipp Hofmann FW Ideal Iberdemaj FW Alexander Langlitz FW David Loheider FW Timmy Thiele FW Andreas Wiegel

Notable former players[link]

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the club, the supporters voted for Schalker Jahrhundertelf, the "Team of the Century":^[12]

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

No. Position Player GK Norbert Nigbur DF Klaus Fichtel DF Rolf Rüssmann DF Olaf Thon MF Marc Wilmots MF Fritz Szepan MF Ernst Kuzorra MF Ingo Anderbrügge FW Stan Libuda FW Klaus Fischer FW Rüdiger Abramczik

Records[link]

Most appearances     Player Apps 1 FichtelKlaus Fichtel 477 2 NigburNorbert Nigbur 355 3 RüssmannRolf Rüssmann 304 4 FischerKlaus Fischer 295 5 ThonOlaf Thon 295 6 LütkebohmertHerbert Lütkebohmert 286 7 AsamoahGerald Asamoah 277 8 BüskensMike Büskens 257 9 NemecJiří Němec 256 10 EigenrauchYves Eigenrauch 229

Top scorers     Player Goals 1 FischerKlaus Fischer 182 2 SandEbbe Sand 74 3 KuranyiKevin Kurányi 70 4 HuntelaarKlaas-Jan Huntelaar 61 5 ThonOlaf Thon 52 6 KremersErwin Kremers 50 7 AnderbruggeIngo Anderbrügge 46 8 KremersHelmut Kremers 45 9 AbramczikRüdiger Abramczik 44 10 AsamoahGerald Asamoah 44

In popular culture[link]

Schalke has been subject of a feature-length film called Fußball ist unser Leben ("Football is our life"), shown in 1999. Actors Uwe Ochsenknecht and Ralf Richter, both of whom were in the award-winning film Das Boot played the main roles, while many persons associated with Schalke had cameo roles, such as manager Rudi Assauer, coaches Huub Stevens and Helmut Schulte, and player Yves Eigenrauch. Also featured were prominent fans like Manfred Breuckmann, Ulrich Potofski or DJ Hooligan.^[13] The film is a comedy about "Hans", a Schalke fanatic, and his three pals who somehow get involved in kidnapping and trying to bring back to form the team's new star player "Di Ospeo" and in the process bet Hans' house that their idol will score in the final game.^[13] Some critics considered Football is our life to be "one of the worst German comedies ever."^[13]

"Schalke" is mentioned in the film Das Boot when the bosun tells the crew in their ward room "I got bad news for you men. Schalke lost 5–0, looks like we won't be in the final this year."

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: FC Schalke 04

• Official website (English) (German) (Russian)
• FC Schalke 04 on Facebook
• Official site of Schalke's Veltins Arena
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer

Raúl

Raúl playing for Schalke 04.
Personal information
Full name	Raúl González Blanco
Date of birth	(1977-06-27) 27 June 1977 (age 34)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Al Sadd
Number	7
Youth career
1987–1990	San Cristóbal de los Ángeles
1990–1992	Atlético Madrid
1992–1994	Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994	Real Madrid C	7	(13)
1994	Real Madrid B	1	(0)
1994–2010	Real Madrid	550	(228)
2010–2012	Schalke 04	66	(28)
2012–	Al Sadd	0	(0)
National team‡
1994	Spain U18	2	(4)
1995	Spain U20	5	(3)
1995–1996	Spain U21	9	(8)
1996	Spain U23	4	(2)
1996–2006	Spain	102	(44)
Honours Real Madrid C.F. Winner La Liga 1995 Runner-up Supercopa de España 1995 Winner La Liga 1997 Winner Supercopa de España 1997 Winner UEFA Champions League 1998 Runner-up UEFA Super Cup 1998 Winner Intercontinental Cup 1998 Runner-up La Liga 1999 Winner UEFA Champions League 2000 Runner-up UEFA Super Cup 2000 Runner-up Intercontinental Cup 2000 Winner La Liga 2001 Winner Supercopa de España 2001 Third La Liga 2002 Runner-up Copa del Rey 2002 Winner UEFA Champions League 2002 Winner UEFA Super Cup 2002 Winner Intercontinental Cup 2002 Winner La Liga 2003 Winner Supercopa de España 2003 Runner-up Copa del Rey 2004 Runner-up La Liga 2005 Runner-up La Liga 2006 Winner La Liga 2007 Runner-up Supercopa de España 2007 Winner La Liga 2008 Winner Supercopa de España 2008 Runner-up La Liga 2009 Runner-up La Liga 2010 FC Schalke 04 Runner-up DFL-Supercup 2010 Winner DFB-Pokal 2011 Winner DFL-Supercup 2011
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2006

Raúl González Blanco (born 27 June 1977), commonly known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who has joined the Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd as a striker in 2012.^[2]

Raúl had spent most of his career playing for Spanish club Real Madrid and is the club's all-time top goalscorer. He was known for his technique, shooting ability and creating chances for other teammates.^[3] Raúl is a three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League and has long been the competition's all-time leading goalscorer. He left Real Madrid on 25 July 2010, having scored 323 goals in 741 appearances, and joined FC Schalke 04.^[4][5][6][7]

He joined Al Sadd after two seasons with FC Schalke 04, following the 2011–12 Bundesliga season.

Club career[link]

Youth clubs[link]

Raúl González's career began at his local team CD San Cristóbal de los Ángeles playing for their Alevín team and the Infantil the next season. He signed with Atlético Madrid's Infantil team and won a national title with the Cadete team the following season. Following Atlético's then-president Jesús Gil decision to close their youth academy as a cost-saving measure, Raúl moved on to Real Madrid's Cadete team. The following season, he was promoted to the Juvenil C team and subsequently went on to play for their Juvenil B and Juvenil A team.

Real Madrid[link]

Raúl playing for Real Madrid in an El Clásico match against Barcelona in 2007

He started his professional career in the 1994–95 season with Real Madrid C; he scored 13 goals in just seven games and swiftly promoted to the first team by coach Jorge Valdano, replacing the legendary figure of Emilio Butragueño in a highly symbolic "passing of the crown." He became the youngest player — 17 years and 124 days — ever to play for the senior side, though the record was broken by Alberto Rivera later that same season. On 29 October 1994, in an away game against Real Zaragoza at La Romareda, he created a goal for strike partner Iván Zamorano and impressing observers^[who?] with all-round play of startling precocity^{[peacock term]}, heralding the demise of Butragueño in the process. The very next week, Raúl scored his first goal in his second senior game on a home debut against Madrid rivals and former youth club Atlético Madrid in a bitter derby match. Duly establishing himself as a fixture in the first team, Raúl registered a total of nine goals in 28 appearances to help Real Madrid win the 1994–95 league championship in his first season.

With Real Madrid, he won several honours, including further La Liga titles in 1996–97 (scoring 21 La Liga goals), 2000–01 (scoring 24 La Liga goals), and 2002–03 (scoring 16 La Liga goals in a campaign truncated by a bout of appendicitis for which Raúl was hospitalized). During the period from 1998 to 2002, Raúl and Real Madrid also won three UEFA Champions League trophies in 1998, 2000, and 2002. For most of this time, Raúl struck up a prolific scoring partnership with Fernando Morientes and later Ronaldo. Raúl took over the captaincy of Real Madrid when Fernando Hierro was transferred in 2003, a responsibility he held until leaving the club in 2010. Despite appearing in two finals, in 2002 (in which he scored) and 2004, Raúl never lifted the Copa del Rey.

Raúl during a Champions League group match against Zenit St. Petersburg

He became the first player to score 50 Champions League goals when he netted in a 2–1 group stage win over Olympiacos on 28 September 2005,^[8] and continues to be the all-time leader in appearances, with 128.^[9] He was also the first player to score in two Champions League finals, netting in the finals of both 2000 against Valencia CF in the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, and 2002 against Bayer Leverkusen in Hampden Park, Glasgow. Samuel Eto'o later equaled this feat, scoring in the 2006 against Arsenal and in 2009 against Manchester United, with Lionel Messi also scoring in the same match and later in 2011 against the same team.

Raúl holds the distinction of having never received a red card throughout his 17 years at the professional level.^[10] On 11 November 2008, Raúl scored his 300th goal for Real Madrid with a hat-trick against Real Unión, with Real winning the game 4–3 but being eliminated on away goals after draw 6–6 on aggregate.^[11] In total, Raúl scored 323 goals for Real Madrid, breaking the long-standing club record of Alfredo Di Stéfano (228) with a volleyed goal against Sporting de Gijón on 15 February 2009. He is also the top active La Liga goalscorer with 228 goals in La Liga matches,^[12] and is presently third on the all-time list, which is headed by Telmo Zarra with 252 goals.^[13]

Raúl and fellow long-serving teammate Iker Casillas were both awarded "contracts for life" in 2008 (the terms of which stipulate that it will be renewed annually for as long as they play 30 games each season).^[14] On 23 September 2009, Raúl equalled former veteran and legend Manolo Sanchís' league appearance record for Real Madrid,^[15] and is second in La Liga behind Andoni Zubizarreta, who played 622 games.^[16]

Raúl in his last match with Real Madrid against Real Zaragoza

Raúl's last touch with the ball as Real Madrid player before an injury ruled him out of action for the rest of that season was to score his last goal, an opening goal scored on 24 April 2010 in a 2–1 away victory against Real Zaragoza in La Romareda, coincidentally the stadium where he made his debut in 1994. It was scored in the 50th minutes after Raúl (himself only on the pitch as a substitute for Rafael van der Vaart after 15 minutes) had signalled that he could not physically continue and was prepared to be substituted by Karim Benzema one minute after the goal.^[17] Before the substitution could be made, Real Madrid launched a counter-attack to create a goal. Though Raúl ran to a slow hobble, he shuffled into the box and was able to poke the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo's cross.

Having spent the rest of the season recovering from that injury, the club confirmed on 25 July 2010 that Raúl would be leaving the club, a day after his teammate Guti confirmed he was also leaving after 15-year spell.^[5] Although new coach José Mourinho wanted Raúl to continue, Raúl did not want to spend another season as third or fourth choice striker and he thought that it was better if he left as he was still able to deliver a good performance in another club.^[5]

Schalke 04[link]

Raúl playing with Schalke 04 in August 2011

Raúl signed a two-year contract with Schalke 04 on 28 July 2010. Schalke coach Felix Magath hailed the signing and told the club website,"It's great news for FC Schalke 04, I am pleased that we have succeeded in signing such an exceptional footballer and world-class striker switching to the Bundesliga for Schalke 04."^[18] Previously, it was expected that Raúl would have finished off his career in the United States or Qatar and he also received a lucrative offer from an unnamed Russian club. Raúl chose Schalke because they made it to the Champions League for the 2010-11 season.^[19]

Raúl scored his first goal for the club during his first match on 1 August 2010 with a brace in a 3–1 victory over Bayern Munich in the final match pre-season competition LIGA total! Cup 2010. One week later, he made his official match debut in the 2010 DFL-Supercup on 7 August 2010 against Bayern Munich again, but this time he failed to score in the 2–0 defeat. Raúl made his official Bundesliga debut on 21 August 2010 in a 2–1 defeat against Hamburger SV.^[20] and scored his first goal for Schalke in Bundesliga against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 25 September 2010 in a 2–2 draw.^[21] After a quiet start, he has rediscovered his goalscoring form in the Bundesliga with a brace against St. Pauli on 5 November 2010 in a 3–0 win, and on 20 November 2010, he scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen. On 18 December, he scored his second hat-trick for Schalke in a 3–0 win against Köln.

Raúl scored another crucial goal on 2 March 2011 in a 1–0 victory over the arch-rival Bayern Munich in the semi-final of 2010–11 DFB-Pokal. After being absent for six years, Schalke ultimately reached the finals since 2005. In the final match, they played against MSV Duisburg, the first 2. Fußball-Bundesliga team which reached the final since 2004. Raúl never won a domestic cup with Real Madrid (the Copa del Rey), but on 21 May 2011, in his first season, he finally won a domestic cup and got his maiden trophy with his new club. They won the tournament with a 5–0 win in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. This success was followed with victory two months later on 23 July 2011 in the 2011 DFL-Supercup against the league champions and rivals Borussia Dortmund.

In European play, Raúl has since become the highest goal scorer in all UEFA competitions with 73 goals, ahead of Milan veteran Filippo Inzaghi with 70 goals. He scored 71 goals in Champions League (66 goals with Real Madrid and five with Schalke 04) and addition his two goals with Los Blancos, one goal in 2000 UEFA Super Cup and the other one in 1998 Intercontinental Cup (also commonly referred to as EUSA Cup). On 22 October 2010, the former Spanish international scored twice against Hapoel Tel Aviv in a 3–1 win, which tied him with German legend Gerd Müller for the most number of European goals. Raúl duly broke this record on 15 February 2011 on his return to Spain, with a crucial away goal in the last 16 tie against Valencia CF at the Mestalla in a 1–1 draw.