The Pride of Vallekas

There is a history of Barcelona rejects ending up on Rayo's doorstep.  But it is history - the last time it happened was in 1997, when two Barcelona players - one young, one old - became Rayo legends... Born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa, Julen Lopetegui started his professional career at local Real Sociedad, where he was barred by legendary Luis Arconada. In 1985, he accepted an offer from Real Madrid, who immediately incorporated the 19-year-old to its B-team. After a loan spell at Las Palmas (1988-89), Lopetegui returned, but could never dislodge another veteran, Francisco Buyo, only managing one La Liga appearance during two seasons, a 3-3 away draw against Atlético Madrid as Real was already crowned league champions. He subsequently signed with Logroñés, being instrumental as the modest Riojan club consistently managed to retain its top flight status. Lopetegui's stellar performances at Logroñés earned him his sole cap with Spain, coming on as a substitute for Andoni Zubiz...

Ahead of Barcelona B's visit to Rayo, it made sense to talk about the players who went from Rayo to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Rayo. This, part 1, talks about one of each. Hopefully there is a part 2... Jesús Landáburu was born in Guardo, Province of Palencia. He made his professional debuts at only 17 with Real Valladolid, quickly making an impression with the Segunda División side, his skills, field vision and set piece ability standing out alike. Landáburu made his La Liga debuts with Madrid-based Rayo Vallecano in the 1977–78 campaign: he majorly contributed to the modest team's maintenance of its top flight status during two seasons, after which he signed with league powerhouse FC Barcelona. Landáburu won his first piece of silverware with the Catalans in 1981, the Copa del Rey. However, after two good seasons, he struggled immensely in his last as Barça hired a new coach, German Udo Lattek. Landáburu moved subsequently to Atlético Madrid, being an automa...

I didn't write anything for today. Unfortunately, that's what happens when life gets in the way. I'm linking a Twitter TL that I wrote yesterday, talking about supporting a smaller club. You can read the original thread by clicking on the tweet below - it's more pertinent to fans of big clubs. 1/ I get confusing messages at times about why I support a small team. And I've seen others get this as well. And I thought I'd address — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) July 26, 2017 Otherwise, I've edited it below to remove the "come at me" style of writing - Twitter, essentially :D... Supporting a smaller team helps you appreciate every player who stays for more than a year, every signing made, every youth player who aspires to be in the first team, every contract renewal, every goal, every point, every new manager - everything. Even one season players are revered years after they have left. And the players feel that - for example one-season...

Juan Vicente Peinado, the Rayo B coach, announced that he would not continue with the club. Hours later, fellow Madrid and Tercera club CD Móstoles URJC announced him as their new head coach. This season, Rayo B were three points away. Three points away from the relegation zone. Three points away from demotion to the fifth tier - the regional leagues - which they haven't played in since the 1987-88 season. Three points away from playing the B teams of some fourth tier clubs - the clubs Rayo B was playing this season. At one point, it wasn't even a contest. There was a time when Rayo were releasing "inspirational" videos for their B team. Even on the final day, Rayo B were far from safe. 18th place Alcobendas were on 44 points, 17th place Trival Valderas were on 46 points, joint with 16th place and Rayo B. Thankfully, Rayo B's dismal 1-1 draw against Atlético Pinto didn't matter - Atlético Madrid's B team easily saw off Alcobendas 3-0. And b...

During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Ramón Calderé suffered from a case of traveler's diarrhea, and was prescribed antibiotics by the national team physician. After the win against Northern Ireland he was summoned for a doping test, which came out positive. Calderé, however, was not sanctioned, as the medical staff argued successfully the medication was administered to fight the condition, lest a severe risk of dehydration. He scored twice against Algeria in the following match. After anti-doping control was implemented in football in 1990, well... The first ever player to give a positive test in Spanish football was Dragan Panusic, from Castellón, gave the first positive in Spanish football, on January 26, 1992, for taking Bisolvon. In February 1992, Albacete's Soler tested positive for testosterone. However, there was only one urine sample taken and so the tests were defective - he was sanctioned anyways. Shortly after, in March, a player from Racing Santan...

One of my first ever posts was about Raúl Baena and his important to Rayo. (You can read it here ). This week, Baena, who is out of contract this summer, was linked to Alcorcón. The team is short of midfielders, since  Víctor Pérez and Bakic will be returning to Valladolid and Sporting Braga respectively. Pep Guardiola was revered by Barcelona fans because he achieved something believed to be impossible - winning trophies consistently whilst playing beautiful, attacking football. But beauty is subjective - and it isn't just of one type. It's hard to justify how a tough-tackling, yellow-card accumulating player who barely ever scores or assists goals can be described as beautiful. It's hard to see the importance of a player like that in a system that rewards passing and movement. But there is something beautiful, something heroic, something almost poetic, about a La Masia youth graduate, his hair flying in the air, his eyes determined, his brow tensed, his speed, ...

On the 24th of June, 2014, three players were presented at the Estadio de Vallekas. A signing from Real Madrid in the first division, a signing from Mallorca in the second, and a signing from Real Jaén in the third. As Quini, the right-back from Real Madrid, was being benched by a left-back; as Álex Moreno, the winger from Mallorca, was on loan at second division Elche, Jozabed continued to inspire the biggest success story of the 2015-16 season. And now? Jozabed left for Fulham for four million euros, Moreno is benching the left-backs who were benching Quini, and Quini himself is back up to Ernesto Galán. It's funny how life works out. The missing piece in this story is that of Diego Aguirre - he, too, was signed in 2014 after having made waves at Toledo in the third division. The left-back/left-winger has been rarely used at Rayo this season, despite a successful loan stint at Leganés (2014-15). However, a dismal loan spell at Real Oviedo (2015-16), and the perform...

While Rayo has a strong youth academy that produces some top quality, La Liga-caliber players, it is also a club where many managers start, and in most cases boost, their careers. Here's a list of those managers and how their careers have progressed since then: Míchel (José Miguel González Martín del Campo) After a long and successful career at Real Madrid, being part of the legendary Quinta del Buitre and a season at Celaya in Mexico, he retired in 1997 and took charge of Rayo for the 2005-06 Segunda B season - it was the only season out of the four spent in the Segunda B that Rayo didn't even qualify for the playoffs. He would go on to take charge of Real Madrid B as a coach while also being director of Real Madrid's sports city, the entire youth system. He would coach his son, Adrián, but get relegated to the Segunda B in 2007 and left. His career went upwards from there - in 2009 he took over at Getafe for two seasons, beating the drop both times (he would coa...

Going from having one manager for four seasons to having three just this season, I thought, to feel good amidst the institutional chaos to detail the times Rayo have had more than three managers at the helm. The first was in the 1995-96 season, when Rayo Vallecano were promoted to the top flight in 1995. This was the season they were jokingly called "Rayo gaditano", as four of Rayo's players (and starters) were from Cádiz: Jose González, Calderón, Barla and Cortijo. Additionally, the interim coach between Zabalza and Marcos Alonso on matchday 8, Francisco Baena, was from there too. Zabalza had taken over at the start of the season, but was sacked after just seven games - having picked up just one win (3-2 at home against Valencia), and with Rayo at the foot of the table. Baena's game in charge was a 2-2 draw at Tenerife. But it was Marcos Alonso (aka Marcos), the father of current Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso, who steered the ship. In his first ever manageri...

Failure is a strong word. It means a lack of success, collapse, the cessation of required action. Yesterday, I didn't want to fail. I failed because of me. I had an article ready and couldn't post it - but that's an excuse. As every second ticked towards the 10 o'clock mark I could feel myself becoming more and more frustrated. I was going to fail and I couldn't do anything about it. In just over a month I'm so addicted to daily blogging that the withdrawal was immense - symptoms including crankiness, anxiety and hyperactivity. 26th March will go up on the Hall of Shame, whether I like it or not. The irony of not having written for a day is that it gave me something to write about the next day - something that is amazing in its counterproductive nature. Today's post features the games against Numancia and Espanyol, the teams that the men's and women's teams played respectively. It also features what was supposed to go up yesterday ...

Rubén Baraja has been sacked. Surprise. This has insane parallels to the 2003-04 season, where Rayo were relegated from La Liga the season before and ended up being relegated again. Then, and now, Rayo were in 16th place after 26 games, but then it was 31 points compared to 28 now. Then, Julen Lopetegui (sacked 2nd November), Jorge D'Alessandro (sacked 15th February) and Txetxu Rojo were unable to save Rayo from a second successive relegation. Now, José Ramón Sandoval (sacked 6th November), Rubén Baraja (sacked 20th February) and whoever comes in now (rumoured to be Rayo legend Míchel) might be unable to save Rayo from the same fate. All signs point in that direction though... It's funny how history seems to repeat itself. In other news, a bit of politics - Alberto Garzón, the leader of Izquierda Unida (United Left, a coalition of left-wing political parties), came to Vallekas to show support for the 10 fans who are being shoved with criminal com...