Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano

Full name	Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, SAD
Nickname(s)	Los Franjirrojos (The Red Sashes) Los Vallecanos (The Vallecans)
Founded	29 May 1924 (1924-05-29)
Ground	Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas, Madrid, Spain
Ground Capacity	14,708
Chairman	Raúl Martín Presa
Manager	Rubén Baraja
League	Segunda División
2015–16	La Liga, 18th (relegated)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈraʝo βaʎeˈkano ðe maˈðɾið]), often abbreviated to Rayo, is a Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Founded on 29 May 1924, the club currently plays in Segunda División, Spain's second tier division. Home games are held at the 14,708-seater Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas stadium.

Rayo has competed in one European competition, the UEFA Cup in the 2000–01 season. The club made it to the quarter-finals before losing to fellow countrymen Deportivo Alavés 4–2 on aggregate.

History

Rayo Vallecano saw the light of day on 29 May 1924 in the hometown of Prudencia Priego, wife of the club's first president Julián Huerta. Greatly inspired by River Plate (a Football club from Argentina), in 1949, after an agreement with Atlético Madrid, a red diagonal stripe was added to the team's kit, and the club reached Tercera División for the first time in its history.^[1]

One of the perennial yo-yo clubs of Spanish football, and always in the shadow of the two biggest clubs in the city (Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid), Rayo Vallecano spent many years during the 1980s and 1990s moving back and forth between La Liga and Segunda División. They appeared to have consolidated their top flight status after gaining promotion in 1999, and the team's most successful season came in 2000–01 when they reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, going out only to eventual runners-up Deportivo Alavés;^[2] Rayo finished ninth in the previous campaign, but entered the competition via the fair play draw.^[3]

However, the club shortly thereafter fell on hard times, enduring successive relegations in 2003 and 2004. For 2005–06 manager Míchel, a Real Madrid legend in the 1980s and 90s, was hired.^[4]

Rayo finished the 2006–07 season in second place in Segunda División B, winning the promotion play-off semifinal but losing in the final to SD Eibar (1–2 aggregate).^[5] The following campaign, the team returned to division two after a four-year absence after a victorious run in the playoffs, disposing of Benidorm CF in the semifinal and Zamora CF in the last game 2–1 on aggregate.^[6]

In the first season back in the second tier of Spanish football, Rayo finished comfortably, often either in or just outside the promotion places. That same year, its women's team was crowned league champions for the first time, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League, but was eliminated 2–5 on aggregate in the round-of-32 by Russia's WFC Rossiyanka.

In 2010–11, Rayo Vallecano ranked in second position and returned to the top flight after an eight-year absence, only trailing champions Real Betis in spite of very serious economic problems.^[7][8][9] In late March 2012, in support of the 2011–12 Spanish protests, the squad decided to take one day off from training to join the demonstrations.^[10]

Deportivo de La Coruña vs. Rayo Vallecano.

In August 2015, Rayo Vallecano purchased the majority of Oklahoma City FC, a NASL expansion franchise which had yet to officially play a game renaming the club to Rayo OKC. It was the first ever entry of a Spanish club into the American sports market, and mirrored a 2013 sponsorship agreement with Qbao in terms of expanding the club's profile overseas.^[11]

In May 2016, Rayo Vallecano was relegated to the Segunda División, finishing 18th in the 2015–16 La Liga season. This ended their five-year streak in La Liga, their longest ever stay in the top-flight.

Club background

• Agrupación Deportiva El Rayo (29 May 1924 – 13 November 1947)
• Agrupación Deportiva Rayo Vallecano (13 November 1947 – 1995)
• Rayo Vallecano de Madrid (1995–present)

N.B. Affiliate of Club Atlético de Madrid in 1949–50

Season to season

• 17 seasons in La Liga
• 35 seasons in Segunda División
• 5 seasons in Segunda División B
• 11 seasons in Tercera División (third level before 1977–78)

European history

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2000–01 UEFA Cup	Qualifying round	Constel·lació Esportiva	6–0	10–0	16–0
	First round	Molde	1–1	1–0	2–1
	Second round	Viborg	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
	Third round	Lokomotiv Moscow	2–0	0–0	2–0
	Fourth round	Bordeaux	4–1	2–1	6–2
	Quarter-finals	Alavés	2–1	0–3	2–4

Current squad

As of 19 August 2016^[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Paulo Gazzaniga (on loan from Southampton) 2 DF Ernesto Galán 3 DF Nacho 4 DF Antonio Amaya 5 DF Chechu Dorado 6 MF Álex Moreno 7 FW Miku 8 MF Raúl Baena 9 FW Manucho 10 MF Roberto Trashorras (Captain) 11 MF Adri Embarba 12 DF Johan Mojica 13 GK Toño 14 DF Pablo Íñiguez (on loan from Villarreal) 15 DF Răzvan Raț

No. Position Player 16 MF Franco Cristaldo (on loan from Boca Juniors) 17 DF Quini 18 DF Zé Castro 19 MF Lass Bangoura 20 MF Patrick Ebert 22 MF Diego Aguirre 23 MF Piti 24 FW Javi Guerra 25 MF Bruno Zuculini (on loan from Manchester City) 26 MF Joni Montiel 27 MF Santi Comesaña 28 MF Pablo Clavería 29 MF Fran Beltrán 30 GK Luis García

Staff

• Head coach:
  • Rubén Baraja

Notable former players

Note: this list includes players that have played at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

Managers

Dates Name 1944–46 Cayetano Sardinero 1946–47 Julián Antón 1947–48 Luis Pérez 1948–49 Tomás Rodríguez Rubio 1949–50 Ramón de la Fuente 1950–51 Anselmo Nogales 1951–52 Félix Huete 1952–53 Lorenzo Sánchez Villar 1954–55 Cándido Machado 1953–54 Patricio Sánchez Calleja 1954–55 Manuel Alepuz 1955–56 Cándido Machado 1956–58 Ramón Colón 1958 Cándido Machado 1958–59 Lino Taioli 1959 Heriberto Herrera 1959–60 Ramón Colón 1960 Alfonso Aparicio 1960–61 Martín Camino 1961 Ramón Cobo 1961 Joseíto 1961–64 Herrero 1964–67 Pedro Eguiluz July 1967–June 69 José Antonio Olmedo

Dates Name July 1969–Feb 71 Manuel Peñalva Feb 1971–June 72 Enrique Orizaola July 1972–Jan 73 Manuel Vences Jan 1973–June 74 José Antonio Olmedo June 1974–June 75 Héctor Núñez June 1975–Feb 76 Alfredo Di Stéfano Feb 1976–June 76 José Antonio Olmedo July 1976–June 77 García Verdugo June 1977–June 78 Héctor Núñez July 1978–June 79 Eduardo González June 1979–Feb 80 Héctor Núñez Feb 1980–June 80 Rafael Iriondo June 1980–Dec 81 Eduardo González Dec 1981–June 82 Manuel Peñalva June 1982–June 83 Juanjo García July 1, 1983–Nov 83 Máximo Hernández Nov 1983–June 84 Antonio Ruiz 1984–85 Eduardo Caturla 1985–87 Héctor Núñez July 1987–Jan 90 Felines Jan 1990–June 90 Emilio Cruz July 1990–Feb 92 Eusebio Ríos Feb 1992–June 93 José Antonio Camacho July 1993–Nov 93 Felines

Dates Name Nov 1993–Feb 94 Fernando Zambrano Feb 1994–Nov 94 David Vidal Nov 1994–June 95 Paquito June 1995–Oct 95 Pedro Mari Zabalza Oct 1995–April 96 Marcos Alonso July 1996–Feb 97 Paquito Feb 1997–March 97 Fernando Zambrano March 1997–June 97 Máximo Hernández 1997–98 Josu Ortuondo July 1, 1998 – June 30, 2001 Juande Ramos July 1, 2001–Oct 1, 2001 Andoni Goikoetxea Oct 1, 2001–June 30, 2002 Gregorio Manzano July 1, 2002–Jan 20, 2003 Fernando Vázquez Feb 2003–April 3 Gustavo Benítez April 2003–June 3 Antonio Iriondo June 2003–Nov 03 Julen Lopetegui Nov 10, 2003–Feb 15, 2004 Jorge D'Alessandro Feb 2004–June 4 Txetxu Rojo June 2004–June 5 Carlos Orúe July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006 Míchel June 16, 2006–Feb 15, 2010 Pepe Mel Feb 15, 2010–June 30, 2010 Felipe Miñambres July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2012 José Ramón Sandoval July 1, 2012– Paco Jémez

Club presidents

Stadium

Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas

Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas is a football stadium located on Calle Payaso Fofó 1, Vallecas. Opened on 10 May 1976, at first it was called "New Stadium Vallecas", but in January 2004, 13 years after the arrival of the Ruiz-Mateos family in 1991, it changed denominations, as the wife was also named by her husband, business man José María, the first woman president of an elite football team.

It has a capacity of 14,708 spectators in an all-seated format, and dimensions of 102x64m. Additionally, one of the goalends does not have a grandstand, just a big wall with information panels.

In June 2009, the club announced plans for the construction of a new stadium.

Hymn

Although most people recognise the supporting songs by ska band Ska-P, Rayo Vallecano has an official hymn played at the stadium in home matches.

Rayo Vallecano always plays

with bravery, courage and nobility.

In every game it gives its heart

and chest and aspire to be the best.

No one can take the triumph from its hand,

when Rayo Vallecano is out to score.

Rayo Vallecano makes a virtue out of its game.

Rayo Vallecano is strength and youth.

To see the clean triumph of your colours

your fans follow you, and don't care where to,

and unanimous trumpet their cheerful voices.

Rayo has the nerve of a champion.

No one can take the triumph from its hand,

when Rayo Vallecano is out to score.

Rayo Vallecano makes a virtue out of its game.

Rayo Vallecano is strength and youth.

Alabi! Alaba!

Rayo Vallecano!

Ra, ra, ra!

Miscellaneous info

• Rayo Vallecano was Laurie Cunningham's last club – he was killed in a car crash just outside Madrid in 1989, after a sole season. He also had represented neighbours Real Madrid for four years.
• Spanish anti-fascist band Ska-P are outspoken supporters of the club and have dedicated two songs to it, named Como un Rayo and Rayo Vallecano.
• In March 2014, Huawei agreed to sponsor Rayo Vallecano for two league matches against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.^[13]
• In 2014, 85-year-old Vallecas resident Carmen Martínez Ayuso was evicted from her house after living there since the 1960s. Rayo Vallecano and particularly coach Paco Jémez were touched by her story, and subsequently offered to fund Martínez for the foreseeable future.^[14]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rayo Vallecano.

• Official website (Spanish)
• Official Radio website (Spanish)
• Official Community VK (Russian)
• Futbolme team profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol team profile
• Rayo Herald – Updated club info (Spanish)