Why do they call Atletico de Madrid “colchoneros” (“mattress men”)?

Why do they call Atletico de Madrid “colchoneros” (“mattress men”)?

Atletico de Madrid is one of the most famous football clubs and a multiple champion of the Europe League. Its story began the beginning of the last century, in 1903, when four Basque students created their own football team. Since then, it has different names at different times: Atletic de Madrid, Athletic Aviación, Atletic de Madrid, but the whole world calls it “colchoneros” (“mattress men”).

The development of the football club wasn’t easy. As a team of students, it didn’t have its own sponsors and played on a bad field in the poorest quarter of Madrid. But after 5 years of continuous training, the team developed sufficient capacity to declare itself a separate football unit. Until 1947, the National Aviation has sponsored Atletico de Madrid.

To enter the football field with dignity, Athletic Madrid needed its own form, as previously they wore a white-and-blue striped clothes that reminded of the form of Bilbao team. To distinguish themselves from their rivals, the team ordered the cheap fabric for the form, produced at one of the manufacturing firms for sewing mattresses.

The deciding factor in choosing the form was its cheapness. The outfit for aspiring football club was made from the white-red striped fabric, and after the first game when the players wore this form, the fans called them “colchoneros”, which is Spanish for “mattress men”. Besides, the white-red mattress fabric gave fame not only to Atletico de Madrid, but also to the factory that produced it. It began to receive orders from the other football teams.