The Pride of Vallekas

These examples are countless. These examples of perseverance and dedication are inspiring. This is the story of a player who made his professional debut at the age of 30 - and yet, on the way, dropped a division to help his local club to promotion. And he's still going strong - and is about to turn 33. This is the story of a tireless career, and the tireless midfielder behind it. Cáceres, in Extremadura, is no ordinary town. This town was the birthplace of Spain's tourism industry - in 1846 the bullring of Cáceres ( Plaza de Toros de Cáceres ) was inaugurated and brought in tourists from near and far. Franco established his headquarters here in August 1936, before starting his advance to Madrid. In July 1937, Republican forces bombed this town. Caught up in the Civil War, a town that became the symbol of a local, self-sufficient service sector and tourism economy also became the town symbolized with the construction industry. With hard work. He is cacereño thr...

Years have passed but his record remains. And it will remain for many more years. Santi Castillejo took his first steps in senior football in the ranks of Tudelano, but would be soon recruited by Osasuna to play for the Promesas for the 1991-92 season. In his first year in Segunda B and only 20 years old, the Valtierra native would score ten goals. He would double that tally the following season, scoring 20 goals with Osasuna's B team, and earned himself a debut with the first team in La Liga. It was to be his only appearance for the first team that season - 17 minutes against Real Zaragoza in a 1-0 victory. In the 1993-94 season Santi would alternate between the first and second teams, but - uncertain of the relevance of the role he had carved for himself at the club, he would go our on loan to Segunda B side Deportivo Alavés. He would, once again, show that he may be playing in the Segunda B but he was in a league of his own, scoring 21 goals and helping the Basque side earn...

This picture below encapsulates Spanish football, and all its dichotomies, perfectly. The player on the left played for an Andalusian, is from Columbia, and cost 7 million euros. The one on the right played for a Basque club, is from the Basque Country, and cost nothing. Today's story, naturally, is about the story on the right. Txema Añibarro, a 6'2" rugged defensive midfielder, is very much the definition of the stereotypical Basque player....This is the story of a man who rose up the league system, from the fifth tier to the first, via only Basque clubs. He started out with the juvenil sides of Padura (1997-98) and Indartsu (1998-99), before making his first team debut with fifth tier (Preferente) side Galdakao. He would go on to play in the fifth tier for three seasons, one with Galdakao and two with Arratia (2000-02), before being signed by Tercera side Lemona in 2002, at the age of 23. After one season each with Lemona, Aurrerá Ondarroa and Gernika, he...

When he started for Segunda B side Olímpic de Xàtiva shy of his 37th birthday, he had previously played just two seasons in the Segunda B. His first had come shy of his 26th birthday; his second had come shy of his 30th. He has played in just three leagues his entire life - the Preferente Valenciana, the Tercera Group 6 and the Segunda B Group 3. Yes, that's right, every club he has played for has been in the Valencian Community. It all started at Acero, in the fifth tier in 1994, with whom he won promotion. After one season in the Tercera with the club, he moved to Valencia C for a season, and then to Burjassot for three seasons - all in the same tier. In 2000, Alzira, in the Segunda B, gave him a chance; however, despite being an undisputed first team player, the side were relegated and his Segunda B chances looked all but dashed - he would spend another season at Alzira, before signing for Alcoyano in the Tercera in 2002. What followed was a second Segunda B shot - Alcoyan...

In 2012, a defender, a midfielder and a striker, all playing for Levante, made the bold leap to a country no Spaniard had ever been before. In late January, 2012, center-back Nano Rivas was sold to Guizhou Renhe. Two months later, in March, striker Rafael Jordà was on his way. And three months later still, in June, diminutive midfielder Rubén Suárez was on his way.... You can read part 1, featuring Nano Rivas, here . And part 2, featuring Rafael Jordà, here . His father was a legend. Secundino Suárez, aka Cundi, was a Sporting Gijón legend and spent his professional career almost entirely with his local team, save for a one-year loan spell with Poblense (1976-77) due to compulsory military service. From the age of 20 onwards, he was an undisputed starter for the La Liga club, appearing in nearly 400 competitive games during his 15-year spell (1975-90). And yet, the left-back did not receive one single red card during his career. He too started out in Sporting Gijón's...

You can follow @SomosBurgosCF on Twitter. A bit about yourself and your background I was born in Burgos, but I'm not living there now - I'm studying at secondary school now. How long have you been a fan of Burgos and what made you support them in the first place? I've been fan of Burgos since I was 11 years old. I support the club because it's the team of my city and because I like to watch to football matches inside the stadium, not in front of the TV. Describe your first experience of watching Burgos play? It was a match in Segunda B, years ago, Immediately I fell in love with the stadium and the matches atmosphere. To an outsider - how would you describe Burgos' playing style, what it means to be a fan of the club, and what it means to be a player of the club? Our playing style is what I like to call "de garra" (of talons) - where we fight for every ball. Being a fan of Burgos means going to see your team at El Plantío every Sunday, w...

You might be wondering why there is a #clickbait in the title. Well, titles are supposed to intrigue but not mislead, and sometimes it is hard to know where the line lies. I don't know where that line is - what I do know is that I'm definitely not far from it today.... His name is Rayo. Rubén Rayos, to be exact. He is an attacking midfielder who can play on the wing, with a left* foot capable of powerful shots, creating chances, scoring free-kicks and penalties, dribbling past players with ease, and even crossing. What he is not is particularly quick, or defensively astute. Rafi Dahan found out in March 2014. Rayo was playing for Maccabi Haifa, and Dahan was playing for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. As Rayo slid in and took Rafi out, both his soles crashing into Rafi's right leg, the brutality of the tackle was clear. An infamous image - Rubén Rayos sliding into Rafi Dahan Rayo knew what he had done was wrong. He didn't protest the red card - the first ever in ...

11 minutes. 11 minutes decided the fate of three teams, who had competed over the entire season with ferocity and were all set for a nail-biting finish. In third, fourth, and fifth, heading into the final game of the season, Fuenlabrada, Rayo Majadahonda and Leioa were all on 60 points. The head-to-head records of the teams were pretty clear - Fuenlabrada would win any hypothetical matchup, and Rayo would win in a matchup against Leioa. Entering the 78th minute, Leioa were 2-0 down at Arenas, Rayo were 1-0 down at Barakaldo, and Fuenlabrada were winning 2-0 at already relegated Sestao River. Then all hell broke lose. Arenas scored in the 78th minute. Almost in unison, Leioa scored in the next minute, but so did Rayo - which meant Leioa had to win. In the 81st minute, Leioa scored and then four minutes later Leioa scored again. But it wasn't over. Aitor Córdoba was sent off, exposing the Leioa back line, and Arenas' Nacho Pérez scored to kill all hopes of a comeback....

Ahead of Rayo B's game against Internacional de Madrid CF, this piece is dedicated to the team that formed just 15 years ago, and has played at four stadiums. International de Madrid was founded in 2002 by a group of businessmen. In its first season, the club joined the Tercera Regional, eighth tier, and played their home games at Orcasitas, at the ground of the Polideportivo de la Asociación de Vecinos de Orcasitas . Internacional finished its first season with promotion, by winning all the games played, scoring 187 goals and conceding only 25. They achieved a second consecutive promotion in its second season, again leading their group, with 128 goals for and only 17 against. They played the next two seasons at La Dehesa de la Villa . Internacional de Madrid continued the following seasons playing in Regional Preferente - the fifth tier. In 2006, the club moved again, this time to Moraleja de Enmedio . In 2010 they achieved - for the first time - the promotion to Tercera Div...

Thomas is the founder of bilbaogroundguide.wordpress.com - a blog dedicated to the stadiums in the Bilbao (and surrounding) regions. You can follow Thomas himself on Twitter: @nousrembobinons A bit about yourself and your background I'm Thomas Sargent, I'm 31 and I'm originally from Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire. I am a Grimsby Town supporter but I have had the good fortune to live abroad in France, Ireland and the Basque Country where I have been able to follow some other sides. How long have you been a fan of Santutxu and what made you support them in the first place? I first went to a Santutxu game in the 2015/16 season when I first moved to Bilbao. Santutxu is the area of Bilbao I found a place to live and so I decided to support them as they were in the Spanish league's fourth tier. Describe your first experience of watching Santutxu play? I thought, during that first game, "oh dear, I've chosen the only long ball team in the S...

Yesterday, I talked about Granada taking Rayo players away, but I actually didn't mention one of Granada's biggest signings from the club - Paco Jémez. So here it is. Paco refused to hear the scores when Rayo were 1-0 down. Nor when Rayo were 2-0 down. Nor when Rayo were 2-1 down. He turned to his bench, to the coaches who had supported him all season when criticism was at its zenith, to the coaches who had seen their players pull out for the season one by one, to the coaches who couldn’t hide their emotions as they responded. Granada? Safe. Getafe-Sporting? Draw. His head hung low, his eyes lost - searching for reason in a season that has been unreasonable to Rayo - his mind made up: "We are dead". We were dead. There was no hope - Sporting were playing Villarreal, who were coached by a Sporting fan, and Getafe were playing Betis, a team whose fan base has been friendly to Sporting for years. Out of Getafe, Rayo and Sporting, only Sporting were goi...

Estadio El Collao. A stadium that has been in operation since 1929, and has hosted matches for Alcoyano in La Liga, Segunda, Segunda B, Tercera and even the Regional Preferente. It has seen Alcoyano thrash Sporting Gijon 6-1 in the first division and beaten 9-1 in the third (then the Tercera). And it has seen it’s pitch being initially made by soldiers from Alcoy, covered by snow every winter and became the symbol of socialism and anarcho-syndicalism during the Spanish Civil War. But through all those times - the sporting success and failure, the destruction of Alcoy during the war and it’s rebuilding, the balance between industrial success in textiles, paper and metal and the immediate threat of desertification - one thing has remained intact. Untouched. Non-negotiable. CD Alcoyano’s philosophy. They are a team that will never lose their attacking mentality. A team that will never stop fighting. A team that, almost senselessly, will throw men forward from the first minute to th...

When did you make the decision to pursue football coaching and what motivated you to do so? I’ve been playing all my live and I love this sport. When I was playing I realized that I liked to lead my team in the field, so when I finished my career as a player, I decided to lead teams from outside the field. It’s amazing! What were the first thoughts in your mind when CF Pardinyes offered you a position as a General Manager in 2009? I thought that it was the perfect chance to make a club just like I thought. I could change traditional methods, train coaches to get the whole club working in the same direction... but over time it wasn’t possible. What were your responsibilities there and how would you describe your three year stint there? I was responsible for the sports organization and I was in charge of 16 teams, with all their technical staffs, players, their families, their problems... a lot of work. This is why, nowadays, it’s very difficult to improve football because ...

When did you make the decision to pursue football and what motivated you to do so? It has always been a dream for me to became a footballer since a I was a little boy.  When I was called by the national team at the age of 15 I realized that my dream could be true. What was the experience like when you played for Celta Vigo for the first time? I remember that I was very excited because I was only 16 years old and it was a very happy moment. How would you describe your time at Celta, and do you think your experiences on loan at Numancia and Recreativo helped shape you as a player? I was very young, everything passed by very fast. It was the moment when finally my dream of being a footballer came true. It was a learning experience. At Numancia and Recre was my first time away from home and family, for a 18 year old boy it could be difficult but that made me grow as a person and made me realize that that is the life of a professional footballer. You helped the Spain unde...

Heath Chesters runs the official Granada English Twitter account, which has over 10,000 followers! You can check it out here . On that note, Granada has an English website too, which you can check out here . Finally, I would highly recommend following Heath on his personal Twitter account here . A bit about yourself and your background... I moved to Granada province in Spain at the end of 2005, so this is my 12 th year living in this marvelous area and as far as I’m concerned, I’m here for good. It’s a fantastic location to live and the people are very welcoming. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I’ve always been a keen follower of football and with a particular interest in the European game. Living here offered me a great opportunity to watch games at all different levels locally in Andalusia, helping me to develop a rich knowledge and understanding of Spanish football. Obviously, this has been useful for the various freelance content I’ve produc...

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...