150 days of madness. A look back (16th July, 2017)

I had something else to write for today, but I decided to shelve it for another day. Because yesterday marked 150 days since I started daily blogging. Today is 151.

150 days ago, things were very, very different...

16th February, 2017.

My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.
My brow is tense, my hand is anything but steady.
My head is spinning, the decision that I'm making
is major, is intense, is everything, is all or nothing.

Excuses come in - where will I find the time?
Will I ever get drained and pained by this uphill climb?
What may I find, how will I keep up the grind?
Will anyone even listen to what I have in my mind?

My head, filled with dread, tried to look ahead
Tried to see that some stories just deserved to be read
That other people would read what I had to say
As long as I said it, and just started it today

No delaying and stalling and dallying was gonna work
I had to start today and hopefully someday see the perk
I had to share, and dare and bare and lose myself in there,
And hope that someday my effort would be worth the care.

But I did it. I gave myself the mandate - the challenge - that every day, I would share a story, a perspective, an opinion, a rant - something, anything - and it would be live on the internet at 10 am UK time every single day.

"I want to write about Rayo. I want to write about its history, its famous players and its struggles. I want to write about the football and the board, the politics and the fans, the players and the coaches. But more importantly, I want to give my take on the day-to-day coverage."

-My words on that fateful day

A 150 days later, and wow. Just wow. This blog, which started out in my mind as a Rayo-centric blog, has become much, much more that that.

The blog is called Pride of Vallekas, but I love the initials more. PoV - Point of View. It's not the PoV, but a PoV. On most days, a point of view gets uploaded.

But one some days it's your point of view. It's easy to forget that I write about something as silly as a game where 22 people kick a ball around. And yet, so far, fans, footballers, coaches and staff who share a crazy bond with this "silly" game have all shared their perspectives on a blog that was made this year.

That includes players (yes, plural) who've played at Barcelona, a player who won three consecutive league titles, the assistant technical director of Rayo Vallecano, an Ipswich legend, the nephew of Juan Sabas and the cousin of Santiago Martínez - both complete coincidences, a Kurd who supports Real Madrid, a Norwegian who supports Gimnàstic de Tarragona, and a Chinese who supports Real Jaén. And many, many, many more interesting people.

All of whom I'm thankful to.

And that doesn't stop. By any means. More collaborations, more perspectives, more projects. In fact, I'm launching a live, long term project tomorrow that fits this ethos exactly!

So I look forward to writing more. But I also look forward to hearing from you. If you have a perspective to share, a story to convey, feedback to rant, suggestions to express, or literally have anything to say - positive, negative or neutral, please contact me.

I want your PoV too.

Follow @Vallecanos1924

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,

The Pride of Vallekas

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