The Pride of Vallekas

On the second match-day of the 2009-10 season, an 18-year-old warmed up to step onto the pitch of the Estadio Vicente Calderón for the last 27 minutes of the match. Racing Santander were playing for the win, despite a 1-1 scoreline being historic enough. The most exciting canterano from the Atléti youth system, the hard-working right midfielder, was on. He was calm. And he did wait for what the coach would decide. Unfortunately, he would never played for the first team again. He was farmed out - six-months to each of Valladolid, Cartagena and Girona - until in the summer of 2011 when his contract was up. He was never valued for his defensive industry - teams wanted him to create, to score. To lead. He decided to try the shores of Italy, signing for Catania. But the scenario was no different - in three seasons he played just 26 times and even a loan move to second division side Grosseto didn’t help. Yet again, his hard work was never fully appreciated. Last summer, Albacete sign...

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...

Jeremy Beren is a journalism student who writes about Atlético on IntoTheCalderon.com . Follow him on Twitter here . Also, follow  Into the Calderón on Twitter here , like them on Facebook here , and check out their podcast Colchonero Chat  here  on iTunes. A bit about yourself and your background I'm Jeremy! I'm a journalism student at Arizona State University, just completed my first year there. I manage Into the Calderón, SB Nation's Atlético Madrid blog. I began writing there in Sept. 2015, and it's been great to have an outlet to write about Atlético and experiment with different types of articles - columns, ratings, reports, tactical analyses and especially our Colchonero Chat podcast, which I host on the site (find it on iTunes!). How long have you been a fan of Atlético Madrid and what made you support them in the first place? I became an Atlético fan during the 2012-13 season. I was relatively new to following football, and I was mesmerized by Radame...