The Pride of Vallekas

Sometimes a blog entry becomes less about the subject matter and how it came about. I was going to publish this piece a week ago, and it started it like this: "This weekend, Rayo Vallecano will face Córdoba, coached by Juan Merino. The former center-back, and Real Betis and Recreativo legend, was born in La Línea de la Concepción, in Andalusia, and is one of its most famous sons. But there is another, lesser known, face of the city. He is no Betis legend, or even a Recreativo one. Heck, he hasn't even played professional football so far." But on the 4th of December, Juan Merino was sacked. Nevertheless, he has been replaced by Jorge Romero, and this piece remains hanging in the air. Oh well... "The very name La Línea de la Concepción is a reminder of Gibraltar's proximity. The town derives its name firstly from the línea or boundary line separating Spain from Gibraltar, and secondly from the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The town...

This is a continuation of yesterday's blog post ... The joint record holder for most clubs played at in the Segunda currently plays at Hércules - and his record is 10 clubs. Striker Óscar Díaz González started out in the Segunda B with hometown club Alcorcón in the 2004-05 season. And the 33-year-old returned to the Segunda B this summer by signing for Hércules. But the 12 seasons in between have been full of ups and downs in the top two tiers. His strong performances with Alcorcón, scoring six goals that season, earned him a move to a small neighboring team by the name of Real Madrid Castilla, in the second division. After just 559 minutes of action all season, in July 2006, Díaz signed with fellow league club Elche. After being a regular in his first season, he lost his first-choice status in his second year, and he joined Mallorca in July 2008, being immediately loaned to Celta de Vigo also in the second level. Díaz eventually returned to the Balearic Islands in Ju...

If you read the piece on Javi Lara , you would see that Eibar gave a La Liga chance to a 28-year-old who had just finished his first successful Segunda season. But seven years earlier, Eibar gave a Segunda chance to a 31-year-old player who had never played in the professional leagues. This is a story of perseverance, dedication, and the rarity of opportunity. This is the story of Raúl García Fernández. He is one of the Segunda B's greatest ever players. The third best, some would say - he has played 42539 minutes in the third tier, the third most in the league. It all started in the 1994-95 season, in the ranks of Real Unión de Irún in the Segunda B. Gonzalo Arconada gave him his debut, and at the age of just 18 he was already a regular starter. After three seasons at Real Unión and a season at Racing Ferrol he landed in Barakaldo. For four seasons, between 1998 and 2002, Barakaldo were coached by Alfonso Del Barrio and Peio Aguirreoa. And for all four of them Raúl Ga...

Last season, I repeatedly sung the praises of Ernesto Galán. He is a former center-back and current right-back - quick, defensively excellent and surprisingly adept going forward and covering for players. However, and quite surprisingly, I never actually wrote about him - his career and his story. Which is a shame, but better late than never I guess. Here it is. Ernesto Galán was struggling. His youth career had started with Villaviciosa de Odón releasing him and ended with Getafe releasing him too. His senior career had started with Segunda B side Móstoles in the 2005-06 season, playing 32 games under four different managers, but the team was relegated. Having played in Madrid all his life, and with his career in jeopardy, the decision to leave was a huge gamble. But he did - in 2006 he signed for Lleida. It was a risk - and it certainly felt like one at the beginning. Felipe Miñambres gave him just three league games in six months, and he had to pack his bags once again f...

Yesterday was part 1 of the Pride of Vallekas End of Season Awards! This is part 2... Best goal So many contenders - Fran Beltrán goal against Tenerife was shocking. If you hear closely, you can hear the Tenerife stadium go "woah!". It was his only goal of the season. Embarba's goal against Gimnàstic was perfectly threaded - it went through four players and somehow hit none of them. This one by Javi Guerra at UCAM Murcia was vital - Rayo didn't deserve the three points - and harder than it looks - Patrick Ebert's cross was amazingly precise. But this pass by Pablo Íñiguez, along with Embarba's run, makes it the winner . No contest. Best player Any one of Patrick Ebert, Embarba and Javi Guerra could take the plaudits here. I'm going to give it to Ebert though - in many games, everything went through him. Which leads me to award... Best performance Patrick Ebert. Against Oviedo no less . Best save by a goalkeeper Gazzaniga's save...

Rumors here, rumors there, rumors everyw...CAN WE PLEASE HAVE LESS RUMORS! As you can guess,  I hate silly season. It's just rumors and rumors - all talk and no action. So welcome to my new series, called the Silly Season Accumulator. Where I list all the rumors that have ever been mentioned on the internet about Rayo.  Yes - all of them. Just to show you how ridiculous this machine is - a machine that creates meaningless content masquerading as journalism. If that's harsh, that's because the irony is that more rumors gives me more material. And that material gets in the way of the stories that matter. Here's all the rumors so far: Marco Sangalli from Mirandés is interested in joining Rayo, who is also linked to Valladolid, Numancia and Reus.  Embarba is being courted by Granada, Sporting and Pumas in Mexico.  Alberto Martín from Leganés has his contract expiring this summer, and has been linked too. Córdoba are also interested. Rayo...

A player who we all love at the club. Fran has more maturity than his age says -Paco Jémez, in 2015 I was wrong. Fran Beltrán has been linked with Barcelona many times. His talent is unquestionable and his desire to make it at Rayo undeniable. But his desire to stay at Rayo was always in doubt. Despite signing a new contract that kept him at the club till 2020, a eight million euro release clause seemed like the board were looking to make a quick buck. It's important to know his history - at the tender age of 16, Fran made his Rayo B debut against CD San Fernando in December 2015. A tireless midfielder with excellent technique and ball-winning capabilities, he has also been called up for the U-17 Spanish national football team, and regularly plays for the first team. But in an interview with Marca this week, Fran said this: "I  was clear that if another team came, Madrid or Barça, I wanted to stay here. I can not think of a better place than Rayo" Obvio...

Follow Ian M on Twitter here . This isn’t his account but @RCDMallorcaUK on Twitter is great, with very honest views. He has spoken to a lot of local Mallorca fans on Twitter and has also met up with a couple at the stadium, and there are a lot of British and European RCDM supporters, who he's connected with as a result. A bit about yourself and your background Family man with grown up kids and a dog, Reading supporter since 1981, loves holidaying in Mallorca and Ibiza. Addicted to mojitos, Spanish beer and tapas. How long have you been a fan of Mallorca and what made you support them in the first place? We’ve been holidaying on the island for the last 20 years or so, it just seemed the right thing to do, support both my local teams; but I’ve only been supporting the club properly over the last 4-5 years. I stream most matches on my phone but I do try and get to 2-3 games a season, and I’ll be there for our last match this year against Getafe. Given the transfer windo...

Follow Jonathan Mullin on Twitter here . There is a new Racing UK Supporters club! Follow them on Twitter here . On that note, follow the official club Twitter account here . How long have you been a fan of Racing Santander and what made you support them in the first place? I've followed Racing since I was young, the first game I went to was in 1993 so I'd have been 9 years old and ten years later, by chance, I found myself in Santander for a year as part of my degree so I think it was just meant to be. Given the transfer windows and the squad that was assembled at the start of the season, is Racing Santander where you want it to be? It is important that Racing get promoted this year, given all of the well documented financial and ownership problems the club has had over the last seven years or so it is nice to at least have some stability back but Racing is a club that belongs in Primera. It will be a long road back there but promotion this season would certainly be...

A huge thanks to Ignasi Torné for designing the official new logo for this blog! Follow him on Twitter:  @groundhopperbcn Sometimes, you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were. Born in Madrid, Campillo graduated with Atlético Madrid's youth setup, and made his debuts as a senior with the C-team in 2008, in Tercera División. In the 2009 summer he was promoted to the reserves in Segunda División B. In July 2010 Campillo moved to another reserve team, Getafe CF B also in the third level. But, in January 2012 he signed for fellow league team UD Melilla, after being rarely used by Getafe. He had been touted as the next big thing for years. But the opportunity never came. So he went down to the Tercera. In July 2012 Campillo joined CU Collado Villalba, in the fourth division. After scoring nine goals for the side he agreed to a two-year deal with Rayo Vallecano, being assigned to the B-side in the thi...