FIFA held vote to crown the 'greatest club of the century' and there was clear winner

FIFA crowned the 'Club of the Century' at an awards ceremony in Rome, with the winner receiving 42.35% of the public vote.

Some of the most notable names in football, including Pele, Diego Maradona and Alfredo Di Stefano, came together on December 11, 2000, for the annual FIFA World Player Gala.

Pele and Maradona were voted by the public as the joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award, while Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane was crowned the World Player of the Year.

But perhaps the most intriguing trophy of the evening went to Real Madrid, who were voted the Club of the Century by subscribers of the bi-monthly FIFA World Magazine.

It wasn't much a surprise given their achievements. At the time, Madrid were the most successful club having amassed eight European Cups, two UEFA Cups, two Latin Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.

At the ceremony in Rome, Real Madrid legends Alfredo Di Stefano and Florentino Perez collected the trophy from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

As you can see from the results below, Manchester United came in second place with 9.69% of the vote, while Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich closely followed with 9.18%.

Barcelona and Santos made up the top five with 5.61% and 5.1% respectively.

In regards to teams from England, Liverpool and Arsenal also feature in the standings but both were beaten by Uruguayan outfit Peparol.

Image credit: Getty

Here are the results in full:

Real Madrid: 42.35%

Manchester United: 9.69%

Bayern Munich: 9.18%

FC Barcelona: 5.61%

Santos: 5.10%

Ajax Amsterdam: 5.10%

Juventus: 2.55%

Peñarol 2.04%

River Plate: 1.53%

Flamengo: 1.53%

AC Milan: 1.53%

Liverpool: 1.02%

Botafogo: 1.02%

Benfica: 1.02%

Independiente: 1.02%

Boca Juniors: 1.02%

Inter Milan: 1.02%

Arsenal: 1.02%

Other clubs: 6.63%

You can see the 'Club of the Century' award in Real Madrid's trophy room. Image credit: Getty

To commemorating their status as FIFA's Club of the Century, a crest was added to Real Madrid's shirts for the 2006/07 campaign.