The Pride of Vallekas

Thomas is the founder of bilbaogroundguide.wordpress.com - a blog dedicated to the stadiums in the Bilbao (and surrounding) regions. You can follow Thomas himself on Twitter: @nousrembobinons A bit about yourself and your background I'm Thomas Sargent, I'm 31 and I'm originally from Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire. I am a Grimsby Town supporter but I have had the good fortune to live abroad in France, Ireland and the Basque Country where I have been able to follow some other sides. How long have you been a fan of Santutxu and what made you support them in the first place? I first went to a Santutxu game in the 2015/16 season when I first moved to Bilbao. Santutxu is the area of Bilbao I found a place to live and so I decided to support them as they were in the Spanish league's fourth tier. Describe your first experience of watching Santutxu play? I thought, during that first game, "oh dear, I've chosen the only long ball team in the S...

27th May, 2000 It could not have been more different. Espanyol were facing Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey, and their runs to the final couldn’t have been more different. Espanyol had beaten Celta Vigo and Real Madrid; Atlético Madrid had beaten Rayo on away goals in the quarters and Barcelona forfeited the semifinals. At the end of a crazy league season, where Atlético Madrid were relegated, the notion was that the Copa del Rey would be their consolation. Boy, were they wrong. Goalkeeper Toni Jiménez, who was in his first season at Atlético Madrid after having won the 1998 Zamora with (ironically) Espanyol, served as backup to José Francisco Molina. He was having a treacherous season, and only played cup games. And he was about to have a moment that would haunt him for ever. The ball was in his hands. He was about to throw it in the air to kick it. And he did. But Tamudo’s head beat him to the ball, and he scored into the open net. Tamudo had made his for...

In February 2009, de la Vega was arrested in connection with an anti-drug operation in the Spanish capital. After eight days, he paid €30.000 in order to be released from custody. Former footballers Predrag Stanković and Txutxi were also involved in the plot, among others. In 2014 (confirmation in 2015) de la Vega was one of two persons acquitted, as five other people received sentences that ranged from four to 12 years. Predrag and Txutxi were condemned to nine years in 2014 (confirmation in 2015) for smuggling 950 kg of cocaine into the country. After emerging through Rayo Vallecano's youth system, right-back Carlos de la Vega went on to play with amateur sides Alcalá and Alcorcón, also from his hometown of Madrid, until well into his 20's. He did not have his first taste of full professional football until the 2008–09 season (he had only played one match with Rayo's first team in 2002–03's La Liga, two minutes) when, after returning to Rayo in the previous ye...

Tom Canton is an aspiring football journalist with a love for Spanish and Austrian football. His diehard support of Arsenal, in addition to following Austrian double winners Red Bull Salzburg and Catalan underdogs Espanyol, has led him into the blogging and podcasting world. When he is not contributing to FutbolPulse and Outside of the Boot, you can find his Kentish charm on his YouTube channel hosting The Gooner Talk - an Arsenal focused channel reviewing each individual match win, lose or draw. Check out the The Gooner Talk YouTube Channel here , his Outside of the Boot profile here , his FutbolPulse Profile here and follow him on Twitter here . How long have you been a fan of Espanyol and what made you support them in the first place? I have been following Espanyol for around 3 seasons now. My love for Spanish football has grown exponentially over the last half decade and when it came to deciding which side I would look to follow in a more fan-like fashion, I decided on ...

James Extegorri runs the website with the most up-to-date news on Athletic Club, insideathletic.com . You can follow it on Twitter here too. A bit about yourself and your background... My name is James Etxegorri. I am a Basque-Catalan who was born in the United States. I moved back to Bilbao when I was older to get close to my family and heritage. I grew up loving Athletic Club and the Basque Country. My heritage and family has shaped a lot of my identity. How long have you been a fan of Athletic Bilbao and what made you support them in the first place? I have been an Athletic Club supporter since I was a child. Being Basque, my entire family loved Athletic. Supporting Athletic isn’t just being a fan of a club; it is a way of life and an identity. I’ve seen the club’s ups and downs and have loved every moment. Given the transfer windows and the squad that was assembled at the start of the season, is Athletic Bilbao where you want it to be? Athletic’s Basque only policy do...

By the end of next weekend Rayo could still be mathematically in contention for relegation. By the end of next weekend Getafe could solidify their position in the playoff spots.  But by the end of next weekend, Levante could be promoted to La Liga. On the last day of the 2015-16 season, Levante were already down to La Segunda, down 2-0 at Vallekas, down partly due to bad luck, mostly due to mediocrity, down with an away record worse than even Sevilla - the only team that managed to do that - and, in the 31st minute, down a man with injury. Than man, a man who warned he would cry if Levante went down, was 40-year-old captain Juanfran. As he pulled out with a groin injury, he did cry. His final game in professional football was a game where his most sacred team were going down. Both sets of coaches and fans applauded, for that was the end of an era. That was the image which Levante took with them. The only one. That was the image Raimon took with him. The man who proudl...