The Pride of Vallekas

When I sent Elizabeth the questions via email, she responded: "Good grief. Are you doing a PhD in Rayo fans?" Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new subtitle of the Rayo aficionado project. She is @LizzieCarrEllis on Twitter - give her a follow! A bit about yourself and your background I’m a journalist living and working in south-east England, but I’m originally from Newcastle. I lived eight years in Scotland, where I supported Hibs (Hibernian), and then eight years in Madrid. How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? I thought I’d be an Atléti fan at first but they never grabbed me. My husband was reading up about Rayo and we both really liked the ethos: anti-fascista, etc. and the strong sense of community. Plus the tickets were affordable - and you could get them - and one day we just really wanted to see a live football game so we went, we won and that was it. Describe your first visit ever to Vallecas and the sta...

Follow Mark Rickling on Twitter: @mrickling A bit about yourself and your background I'm an American living in the nation's capital, Washington DC. In addition to supporting Rayo, I'm a season ticket holder for the local MLS team, D.C. United. ¡Vamos United! How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? Good question. I first started supporting Rayo in the 2011-12 season. As fan of soccer in a country where this sport is an also-ran in relation to other, more popular, team sports like American football and baseball, you're constantly told by the soccer media that you need to pick a foreign side to support. There are innumerable articles and even books devoted to this very subject -- what non-U.S. team is for you the American fan. Invariably the suggestion turns out to be some Premier League side, and as a result the streets of DC are littered every Saturday and Sunday morning with people walking to their local soccer b...

Juan Sánchez is a lifelong Rayo fan...and is @MitaADRV24 on Twitter, give him a follow! A bit about yourself and your background I am a rayista through and through, I have tattooed the shield of Rayo on my skin, am very eager to see Rayo at all times...if you ever have the chance to travel to Spain and Madrid, I invite you to go and see a match in Vallecas. It is incredible, you will really like it! I am a subscriber of the club and I love it. How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? I supported the club since I was 5, since Rayo was in the Segunda B (similar to the English 3rd division), my father took me from a very young age, and I loved to go and enjoy the team play. Describe your first visit ever to Vallecas and the stadium? How would you describe the fans in the stadium, and how intimidating is the stadium for opposition fans and players? It was great! As I said, it was when I was very small and I saw so much madness for...

The picture of Sandoval's star player hung dangerously in his office. He was the face of a Rayo Vallecano side that was poor but proud - hardworking, humble, hungry, hopeful. Miguel Pérez Cuesta, the player that no one had ever paid for and no one had heard of, was the highest scoring midfielder in La Liga with 15 goals. Michu was born and raised in the proud confines of the city of Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. A city known for being the birthplace of Fernando Alonso and Juan Mata, for the University of Oviedo - whose list of graduates include Sid Lowe - and for its unwavering dedication to art, culture, and dance. Michu debuted in 2003 - at the age of 17 - and played for Real Oviedo for four years, a club he saw move from the Tercera to the Segunda B and back again. He was the main player, the fulcrum of the team. Unfortunately, the club’s main concern was not how they were playing, but rather if they were playing. With financial problems and a relegation to the fourth t...

13th May, 2012. 7:00pm. The league table reads 15th Granada (42 points), 16th Villarreal (41), 17th Rayo Vallecano (40), 18th Zaragoza (40). As Villarreal entertain Atlético Madrid at El Madrigal and Zaragoza visit Getafe, Rayo Vallecano play Granada at the Vallekas, arguably the crunch game; both know that most probably, the loser will go down to play in La Segunda. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Rayo Vallecano were in eighth place after match day 27, and were two points off a Europa League place. Four points off a Champions League place. But a poor record of three points - a solitary, albeit impressive, 6-0 win over Osasuna - from nine games, left them relegation candidates and needing a win. Only a win could save them. On the polar opposite side were Zaragoza, who had given up mid-season, but an impressive run of six wins and a draw in nine had helped them remain in 18th, needing a win. Granada had been in poor form all along - five points in their last six games hadn’...

David Méndez grew up in Vallecas, is 39 and has been a member of Rayo since he was 17. You can follow him on Twitter: @davidvk78 . How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? I was always keen about Rayo since my childhood, but because of my father I also supported Real Madrid when I was a child. He is a Real Madrid fan and he used to take my brothers and I to the Santiago Bernabéu. Later when I was a teenager I lost my interest in Real Madrid while my interest in Rayo increased more and more. Describe your first visit ever to Vallecas and the stadium? How would you describe the fans in the stadium, and how intimidating is the stadium for opposition fans and players? I don’t remember which it was my first visit to Vallecas’ stadium exactly. I guess it would be when I was at school and I was about 8 or 9 years old, by that time Rayo used to distribute tickets in the schools of the neighborhood and I got several tickets because other ki...

@DonDiegoVaula is a 30 year old Norwegian who lives in Oslo and has been passionate about football since the age of six. His local team is SK Brann from his hometown Bergen. Go ahead and follow him on Twitter! How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? I've been a proper fan of Rayo for four years now. I used to write for a Norwegian football site, and because everyone else supported either Real Madrid or Barca I chose to write about the other teams. I had my own section where I would write previews and summaries every round about a match not involving the two "big" clubs. I watched an enormous amount of games that year, and I was intrigued by Rayo both because of the fans and the style of play. One of my first special features was on Rayo and I read up on the club and its history, and that was it. I decided they would be my club from then on - it all just appealed to me. Describe your first visit ever to Vallecas and t...

In the 2006-07 Segunda B season, Real Oviedo were relegated to the Tercera - the fourth tier of Spanish football. Predictably so - three different managers (José Antonio Velázquez, Ramiro Solís, Ismael Díaz) took over that season, the squad's top goalscorer, Jon Carrera, had a tally of four goals, and the team didn't win a single game away from home. As it turns out, the turmoil wasn't contained on the pitch - in 2006 Alberto González took a controlling share in the club. He did not pay social security or tax to the inland revenue and then disappeared - perhaps Cuba, possibly Panama - and is now wanted on two counts of fraud. But there was another Oviedo team that was relegated from the Segunda B that year too. AD Universidad de Oviedo, the team that represents the University of Oviedo, also went down in only their fourth year in the Segunda B. They have never come back up, and seven consecutive top 10 finishes were followed by a disastrous 2014-15 Tercera campaign...

Yesterday, on the 26th of May, 2017, was the 100-day-anniversary of this blog. Over three months ago, I started a daily blog on Rayo Vallecano (my favorite team) and Spanish football in general. After months of doing nothing I decided to get off my arse and do something. Thank God I did. Since then, I have published 122 blog posts in 100 days, including a 19 day project called Hinchas y Jugadores where I interview 45 fans, footballers, coaches and staff who share this crazy bond with something as silly as a game where 22 people kick a ball around. I look forward to sharing the progress I make in the next 100 days. Over three months ago, I started a daily blog on #Rayo Vallecano (my favorite team) and Spanish football in general. After months of doing nothing I decided to get off my arse and do something. Thank God I did. Since then, I have published 122 blog posts in 100 days, including a 19 day project called Hinchas y Jugadores where I interview 45 fans, footballers...

In Rayo's attack, a dizzying array of white and red, it is typically the player who plays "in the hole" who ends up scoring most of the goals, often playing as a deep striker. In modern times, Emiliano Armenteros will be credited as the first to perform admirably well at this role. His 20 goals in the 2010-11 season proved critical to Rayo's promotion to La Liga. The next season, it was Michu (15 goals). The season after, it was Piti (18) and for another two seasons it was Alberto Bueno (11 and then 17).  And while And while Michu, Piti and Bueno were already Segunda caliber players, immediately making an impact on La Liga outfit (Rayo), it was Emilio's story that really stood out. Emilio Armenteros, after having played as a starter from ages 19 to 21 at Independiente, was signed by Sevilla but largely played for the reserves. At 23, in 2009, Armenteros moved to Xerez on loan but only played 1560 minutes as the Andalucians were relegated. He would then ...

Four. There were four ex-Rayistas in the Oviedo squad. Néstor Susaeta, who oversaw Rayo's return to La Liga after eight years; David Fernández, Vallekas born-and-bred, who became a legend with Real Oviedo by guiding them to the Segunda, and did the same with Guadalajara for the first time in their history; Michu, who was La Liga's highest scoring midfielder and would later on become the bargain of the Premier League, costing Swansea £2 million; and Jonathan Pereira, who scored the goal to secure Villarreal's swift return to La Liga. All four of them played against Rayo yesterday. And none of them turned up. Rayo Vallecano played against a team and won convincingly - a sentence that has not been said for a long, long time. The pairing of Trashorras and Fran Beltrán was a revelation. Fran was hustling and bustling while Trashorras kept the game ticking. Lass terrorized the right flank, while Álex Moreno terrorized the left. Embarba kept popping into space, and Javi G...

John Mothershaw of oviedofans.blogspot.com  and I collaborated on a preview of the upcoming fixture. It was published on his blog here  and also on OviedistaNorthWest  here . And it's right here on this blog too. But before you read it, send John some love on Twitter here . And while you're at it, to me here  too. Thanks. I love you. Sarthak Given the summer window and the squad that was assembled at the start of the season, is Rayo where you want it to be? Not even close. Rayo managed to keep all their La Liga starters, save right-back Tito and midfielder Jozabed - and even then Rayo brought in adequate replacements. Maybe Rayo fans underestimated their losses, but even then being joint-bottom is quite unexpected. Currently, Rayo are joint-bottom in 21st - do you think they have what it takes to survive in the Segunda? Given that even if you don't count Real Oviedo they still have to play six of the top ten, my money is not on them staying up. The l...