Javi Fuego - the pre-Rayo story. And 2006 - the strangely popular journey from Spain to Aris. (8th July, 2017)

What makes modern football so beautiful is that some - few, but some - players love the game, or love a particular club, and stay for a reason other than the paycheck - like Javi Fuego rejecting a 800,000 euro move to Club Brugge in January 2012 because he loved playing at a club that couldn't even pay its players.

In a dizzying array of red and white, spurred by the battle cries and fervent arm movements of Pepe Mel, a 45 year old bespectacled former striker, newly-promoted Rayo Vallecano were punching well above their weight.

The club that was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, that couldn't pay its players and whose fan base actively hated the owners had a men's team that had just been promoted from the semi-professional third tier and was outside the top ten for just two jornadas, and a women's team that was winning the league.

In the 2008-09 season, at the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas, there was a team, plucky, beautiful, and aggressive. And it was winning.

I don't follow English football. I live 10 minutes from Stamford Bridge and 20 minutes from Craven Cottage and on the same street as both, and I don't follow English football.

My heart belongs to a working-class neighborhood in Spain.

So when Chelsea took N'Golo Kanté, the cog that kept Leicester City together, there was a sense of déjà vu for me. It was a reminder of what had happened to my club.

The parallels were all too real.

They had Danny Drinkwater - we had 33-year-old club legend and pass master Míchel. They had Christian Fuchs and we had 39-year-old left-back Carles Llorens. They had Kasper Schmeichel and we had David Cobeño. They had Kevin Albrighton and we had Jofre. They had Riyad Mahrez and we had Miguel Albiol.

They had N'Golo Kanté, and we had Mohamed Diamé.

There are priceless players, and then there was Mohamed Diamé. The season after, Pepe Mel was sacked midway as Rayo forgot to do with Diamé what Leicester forgot to do with Kanté - adequately replace him - and Rayo finished a dismal 11th.

In 2010, Rayo did what they should have done a season earlier, and brought in a tough-tackling, all-action midfielder in Javi Fuego, and Rayo were promoted to La Liga after an eight year absence.

As I rummaged into the transfer dealings of Greek clubs - because clearly I have nothing else to do - I noticed something strange. Aris Thessaloniki, a club for whom no Spaniard had ever played, suddenly had six Spaniards after the 2006 summer transfer window.

That summer, Sergio Koke, Pablo Coira, Javito, Aarón Escudero, José Reyes, and Rubén Palazuelos all moved to the Greek club. And they were joined by Jonan García and Álex Pérez in January 2007.

Heck, there were even non-Spanish players who moved from Spain to the club, such as Konstantinos Chalkias from Real Murcia in the summer and Cacá from Alicante in the winter.

After a little more research, I found that a man by the name of Manel Ferrer had something to do with all of this, but I'm not sure what exactly.

Watch this space.

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The story of a Dutch duo transferring to relegated Rayo - Dave van den Bergh and Robert Gehring (17th November, 2017)

Transfers are always fun. While digging around former Rayo players, I found that someone had transferred from Rayo Vallecano to Rayo Majadahonda - the other Rayo. What I uncovered was a fascinating story - the story of two Dutch friends who came together and left in very different ways... Robert Gehring started his youth career in AFC, and finished it at Ajax; he made his debut in the first team in the second match for the 1995 UEFA Super Cup against Real Zaragoza - a competition Ajax subsequently won - but largely spent his time in the reserves. In the 1996-97 season, he got seriously injured, which stagnated his development. Robert Gehring, celebrating the Super Cup victory In 1997 his friend and teammate Dave van den Bergh made the switch to Spanish side Rayo Vallecano. Dave recommended Gehring to the club, and Gehring was invited to a trail - despite the fact that his ACL injury had ruled him out for a year. In the trial, Gehring made such an impression that he was off...

Non-league Incider: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers

Last game: 8th August: Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 East Thurrock United The previous day, I was blown away by my first ever football match experience. Dulwich Hamlet impressed me, but what impressed me more was the journey. The travel to the stadium was just as enjoyable as the football itself. I had caught the groundhopping bug. There were no games scheduled for the 9th of August. There was one, near Wigan, and all I had booked earlier was a refundable bus ticket from Manchester Airport leaving at quarter past midnight. I should have refunded it. This was a mistake. This whole day was a mistake. I was only slightly hungover from the previous night, but that was nothing compared to this feeling of loss - I couldn't handle the fact that there was a game happening. And I wasn't too far away. Just three hours and a bit. They'll fly by , I thought. I was in autopilot. Something within me made me get up, grab a bag, and get out the door. This wasn't me. I wasn't trave...

The "other" Las Palmas: 5 promotions in 6 seasons - Universidad de Las Palmas (Part 1). And Alfonso Artabe (31st October, 2017)

If you remember, a few days back, I wrote a piece titled The "other" Oviedo: CD Universidad de Oviedo - A historic university with a historic football team , talking about the football team of the Universidad de Oviedo. This story is similar - it's about the football team of Universidad de Las Palmas...but that's part 1. Part 2 is a continuation of that piece. Well, not so much continuation as nostalgia, as I wondered if there was anyone who has played for both the "Real" Oviedo (pun intended) and the "other" Oviedo? As it turns out, there are two. One of them is Real Oviedo legend Oli. The other is Alfonso Artabe... The rise and fall of Universidad de Las Palmas (Part 1) In 1994, a group of friends (university students, lawyers and former footballers), who used to play football on weekends, decided to register as a team in the Interinsular Federation of Las Palmas. This idea, which developed in meetings in the neighborhood of Vegueta,...

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