In 1588, the Spanish Armada departed for England, hell-bent on destroying the English fleet and laying a pathway for a Spanish invasion of mainland England. Yet it was all but totally destroyed.
Exactly 400 years later, in 1988, England’s very own armada landed on the shores of Spain. In fact, it landed right in the capital.
Ron Atkinson, the former Manchester United manager, had been appointed manager of Atletico Madrid, the first Englishman to become manager of the club since Fred Pentland in 1932.
Just like the armada, Atkinson’s time in Madrid was a disaster. It was defined by a clash of two gargantuan personalities, kickstarted one of the most tumultuous managerial hot seats in modern European history and resulted in one of the most extraordinary interviews in footballing TV history.
Which, of course, happened at the European Figure Skating championships. Oh, and the person who replaced Atkinson after just over 90 days? His assistant. Welcome to the mad story of Big Ron in Madrid.
Departure for Madrid
By November 1986, Manchester United had grown tired of Atkinson. Things had stagnated and a poor start to the 1986 season was the final straw.
He was frustrated when it happened. United post-Matt Busby were tumultuous, and he was the first to bring some stability back near the top of the table.
“Obviously I’m a bit disappointed,” said Atkinson, putting it mildly. “Things have gone against us so I suppose it was inevitable this would eventually happen.”
Atkinson briefly returned to West Brom, but bigger things were on the cards for him when Atletico Madrid came calling.
They were a club in turmoil. They had not won the league since 1977, nor the Copa del Rey since 1985 and so Atkinson was chosen to change all that.
Why? Well, he was simply the next name on the list.
He had been due to takeover not long after being sacked at United. Spain was having something of a British revolution, with Terry ‘El Tel’ Venables out in Barcelona and Welshman…
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