Skip to main content

Movilla and the other Rayo. Munir and how a tweet got him to Barcelona (26th May, 2017)

Ahead of the Zaragoza-Rayo game, I wanted to write a piece dedicated to José María Movilla, "the terrier".

But how do I start?

He was the player who Trashorras succeeded. José María Movilla was once a bin man and then a union man throughout his playing career. He too was from Real Madrid's youth system. He helped Numancia reach the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey while they were still in the Segunda B, and even helped level the tie against Barcelona with a 89th minute goal (2-2, 5-3 loss on aggregate). He took Málaga from the Segunda B to La Liga in back-to-back seasons. He helped Atlético Madrid return to La Liga, won the Copa del Rey and avoided relegation with Real Zaragoza,

Not to mention a top flight return for Rayo Vallecano.

He is currently the sporting director of Rayo Majadahonda.



"I was doing coaching practice with Iriondo, there was a vacancy and my name was proposed. That attractive style of Rayo - we have it here too!" 

-Movilla

If you're an Atlético Madrid fan, you know the Estadio Cerro del Espino. It's where the club won the league title this season with the women's team, where the B team plays and nurtures talent. It's also where Rayo plays their home games.

No, not Rayo Vallecano - Rayo Majadahonda.

Heck, the stadium was inaugurated on the 13th of September, 1995 in a friendly match between Rayo Majadahonda and Atlético Madrid. Atlético won 0-1.

In return, Rayo Majadahonda are an informal feeder club for Atlético.



"I’m going to Osasuna," tweeted 15-year-old striker Munir El Haddadi in 2011.

The Madrid-born player with Moroccan parents had been rejected by both Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid and his agent was looking at other options. The pair were about to leave for Pamplona when a Barcelona representative in Madrid saw the tweet. He called Munir’s agent.

"Have you signed for Osasuna?" asked Jose Luis Colomo.

"Not yet," replied Antonio Gabaldón - the same man who discovered Emilio Butragueño, and who had discovered Munir playing in a wasteland in Galapagar, a town on the outskirts of Madrid.

Colomo, who had watched the young striker, told the agent that he would call Barcelona. He rang Antonio Puig, the head of Barca’s youth football department. Barca were interested, so Munir held back on signing with Osasuna.

The Catalans dispatched García Pimienta, coach of a junior Barca team, to Spain’s capital to watch Munir and verify accounts from their man in Madrid that he couldn’t stop scoring for the junior teams of Rayo Majadahonda, a third-division club - he had scored 32 goals in 29 matches in the 2010-11 season.

He came to watch the Brunete-Majadahonda match. Munir scored a hat-trick early on and he left at half-time. He had seen enough. Two days later Munir joined La Masia.

He chose Barcelona over Osasuna, Real Madrid, who were now showing interest again, Manchester City, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano. Barcelona provided full-time accommodation for him in the famed Masia academy, which Madrid didn’t offer for their local youngsters. Munir moved 600 kilometres to Barcelona.

The rest is history.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain (1st November, 2017)

I've always wanted to ask a football player: how much do you love your club? If you see your club go down, what are you willing to put on the line to see them go back up? The notion that "players will come and players will go, but the fans are the club" is one that is sadly true in what has become a money-filled sport. The story of a player sacrificing money and success for his club? That story is rare. That story is beautiful. This is that story. This is the story of a player who loved his club. His local club. It'll be a long time if and when someone beats his record. Francisco Pérez Pérez, also known as Chico, currently holds the record for being the oldest player to play in the Segunda B - 43 years and 93 days is the figure. That's a figure that second place Diego Rodríguez Fernández (41 years and 324 days) falls short of by a year and 134 days. I should also point out that the top 3 list for oldest players to play in any of the top three tier

When three teams offered a 19-year-old an eight year contract (11th October, 2017)

Just how many players can you name who have the following descrption: He is a striker of great quality, and was a great promise of Spanish football, but his bad luck and some injuries denied him the opportunity to recover - he has never played more than one season in the same team. This is the story of a player - a technically and physically excellent striker - who made mistakes and suffered injuries very young and never really recovered. Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Iván Peñaranda started his youth career at Granollers. His real formation, however, was in the lower categories of Barcelona, ​​in which he stayed for seven years (1991-98). Playing alongside Xavi Hernández, Gabri and Carles Puyol. He was considered as one of the young players with a huge future within the club. In the summer of 1998, he angered Barcelona by using "change of residence" as an excuse to sign for Mallorca B (he would move there along with his family), where he would play alongs

Who is Raúl Martín Presa, the Mickey Mouse? Part 1. (20th August, 2017)

José María Ruiz-Mateos was the head and main shareholder of Nueva Rumasa - the company that owned Rayo and other companies - mainly specializing in dairy products. (He wasn't the president of Rayo though - his wife, Teresa Rivero, was Rayo's president). In early 2011, the directors announced a debt of over 700 million euros, that it was on the verge of bankruptcy and that staff wouldn't be paid. And the players were visibly angry about it - captain Míchel assured the press that the club would continue fighting on the pitch, but the day after the announcement was made, six key players didn’t attend training. Veteran midfielder José María Movilla spoke on radio station SER about the situation, about the fact that he had only received seven of the last eighteen months of pay, about the fact that there were a few players who couldn't even afford car repairs. When Rayo Vallecano were about to earn promotion to La Liga despite all the odds - the players not being paid,