The Pride of Vallekas

Donning the number 9 shirt, José Carlos had the ball at his feet on the right wing. He dribbled the ball infield towards the edge of the box, faked a shot and fooled the entire defense - all with his left foot. He then shifted the ball to his right and took a shot from outside the box that goalkeeper Manu Herrera saved at the near post. His left foot was deadly. A Recreativo academy player and Sevilla graduate, he was ousted - despite his value to the Sevilla team, and despite his speed and trickery making him the perfect impact sub - by new coach Gregorio Manzano. Cartagena in the second division took him for six months, before AEK Athens signed him permanently - along with Juan Cala - in the summer of 2011; another new coach, Marcelino, refused to put his faith in him. Reuniting with Sevilla coach Manuel Jiménez, José Carlos gained his form, and some versatility too - whether in central midfield, the wings or just behind the striker, José Carlos was playing with a renewed vigor. ...

The Rayo aficionado project continues! This is the story of a Rayo fan, one that involves a transformation from being a Real Madrid fan to being a Rayo Vallecano one... A bit about yourself and your background I grew up in the north of Madrid as the smallest of three brothers and as far as I remember I got my brothers taste for Real Madrid. My mother took the opposite position of supporting Atlético Madrid and my father has been a proud supporter of Sporting de Gijón since he was a child. Anyway, I was the one who loved football the most - my brothers chose basketball as their favorite sport. I lived really close to the old training field of Real Madrid, and to the stadium, so for me everything revolved around this club, including my first match at the Santiago Bernabéu. It was February of 1998 and my father took me to watch the game against Sporting, who were already set for relegation to the 2nd division (they won just two games all season) and I can remember two things: th...

When Spain was internationally isolated under Franco, Real Madrid's European Cup titles provided political capital for the dictator - a way of showing success and prosperity. One minister even went on to say "Real Madrid are the best ambassadors we've ever had". Talk about out-of-touch with the country. It was Atlético - the team of the working class at the time, that regularly chanted that Real was "el equipo del gobierno, la vergüenza del país". The team of the government, the shame of the country. It's amazing to think that were it not for the rise of the modern ultra movement, and Rayo Vallecano's rise into professional football which meant they became known as the "true" left-wing club in Madrid, Atlético would have been the sole symbol of resistance in Madrid. But they are an important symbol nevertheless, perhaps undercut by Atlético moving stadiums. The location of the Vicente Calderón symbolized local engagement, being near...

Travel blogs have always fascinated me. These are people who take time out of their lives to travel, explore, and then document the various corners of the world that many will never see. Being a travel blogger, therefore, is even more important in a world where information is accessible but experiences are not. This is an interview with football travel blogger Roddy Cons, founder of the travel blog The Team on Tour, or TTOT. You can follow this amazing blog on YouTube here , Facebook here , Twitter here and Instagram here . A little bit about yourself and your background I'm a Scot who has been living in Madrid for the best part of eight years now. Since finishing uni, I've done some English teaching and also worked as a freelance football writer, writing previews and match reports for a host of leagues across the world, including the Spanish Second Division. What made you become interested in visiting football stadiums around Spain and Europe in general? My writin...

And yet again, this is one of those days. I wrote a history article - on a blog whose name is We Ain't Got No History. The blog post was about Marcos Alonso and his family of footballers. You may recall, Marcos Alonso's father was a manager of Rayo, and coached them to a historic 1-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu. Read it here .