The Pride of Vallekas

Five years apart, two defenders made the journey from Mérida to Madrid, from the capital of Extremadura to the capital of España. Here are their stories. It's a national record - a record of how unlucky a player can be. Ramón de Quintana , a center-back, holds the record for the most number of relegations as a player. Eight, to be exact - and one of them wasn't even a sporting relegation. It's a painful reminder of the player and his legacy - a calm, composed, tall, strong center-back who stood calm, composed, tall and strong through numerous team disappointments. The Girona native graduated from Damm and made his first team debut with Figueres in the Segunda in 1991. In 1992, the team came 3rd - a record high for the club, qualifying for the promotion playoffs but losing to Cádiz. But it is there where the heroics end. In 1993, Figueres went down on goal difference, tied with Eibar on head-to-head. Subsequently, Quintana went to La Liga club Osasuna, but was re...

Recently, I wrote a piece about Rayo's 2014 summer transfer window, and the sheer number of signings that were made. Today's piece is similar - it talks about Rayo's 2001-02 squad, a squad that ended up saving itself from relegation by picking up 15 points in their last 5 games - after a horrendous start that saw them pick up a solitary point in seven games... Argentina He was one of 13 players who stayed with the team when they got relegated in 2003. For some fans, Patricio "Pato" Graff was one of Rayo's worst signings - terribly expensive and played 88 league games (over three seasons), but he never really impressed or dazzled the imagination of Vallekas. Despite that, it is worth noting that in the 2001-02 season, he played 32 games, and picked up 14 yellow cards and one red. He even played the most minutes (2977, even more than Míchel who played 2931. In the league only, Míchel played 2871, Graff 2797). Switzerland Guess the player: He was b...

Yep, yet again, this is one of those days. It's about Ramón de Quintana, a former Rayo center-back who suffered a record eight relegations. It was published on my other blog 19spains.com ( here ) and on Barcablaugranes.com ( here ).