Ten curiosities to discover the history of Rayo Vallecano

Maite Martín

Ninety-six candles on the cake and the same illusion for blowing them that was breathed in that founding meeting of May 29, 1924 . That day, at six in the afternoon, in the home of the Huerta, El Rayo was born. Back then, few foreshadowed the magnitude of that project. The club grew out of the dream of a group of teenagers who lived on Calle del Carmen (now, Puerto del Monasterio) and the complicity of the Huerta family , especially the matriarch, Doña Prudencia Priego, who offered them their address as headquarters. social, wardrobe, storage of the material ... At the same time that his hands washed and mending the equipments.

El Rayo took his first steps disputing trophies at neighborhood parties and grew with his participation in the 'Workers' Championship' (31-36). After the Civil War, the club registered with the Castilian Federation. Then came his stage in Regional, Third ... In 55-56, the Vallecanos ascended to Second and in 76-77, to First . And they were able to walk the Strip through Europe, thanks to their participation in UEFA (00-01). All in all, the economic situation has put the entity on the ropes several times throughout its life.

To blow those 96 candles, the Ray will have the fans' lungs . The one that sustains and encourages you in good times and bad. Heir to that first rock that emerged in 1951 and an example of solidarity both in the recent coronavirus pandemic and in many other causes (fight against racism, evictions, gender violence ...). The staff for a Lightning, on the way to the Centennial and with thousands of battles that make it a unique club. Next, we reel in ten of his best curiosities to discover him a little more on this birthday ...

Its first president: a civil guard

The Ray would not be understood without Vallecas, nor Vallecas without the Ray. The club endorsed the neighborhood's idiosyncrasy from its cradle, breathing and internalizing attributes such as humility, work, solidarity ... That aura of team and working-class neighborhood makes the profession of its first president more striking : Julián Huerta Priego was a guard civil.

It was not easy for him to combine both tasks. His new destinations and his wedding led to his replacement at the head of the Ray in 1926

That founding meeting of May 29, 1924 determined the mandate of Julián, who was 27 years old. He was a second-rate civil guard , after having completed his training for the post during the previous year, and had previously been an Army soldier - at the Escuela de Equitación Militar and later at the Treviño Hunter Regiment, Burgos.

It was not easy to combine Rayo's presidency with his profession . Many times it was impossible for him to sign the documents and the contacts had to be made through the secretary or other managers. Far from improving, things got complicated with their new destinations (Girona, Santander, San Sebastián ...) and their wedding in July 1926 . That same year he was replaced at the head of the club by José Montoya Arribas, owner of a small bricklaying business.

Vallecas: witness of the first Atleti titles

The newly built Vallecas stadium (also called Stadium de Vallecas) hosted the Racing Club de Madrid matches in the early 1930s. The field, initially covered in charcoal grass, was located in the same place as the current one, just next to the Plaza de Toros de Vallecas, which collapsed that year. That stadium, with a capacity of 18,000 spectators, cost 800,000 pesetas and had changing rooms, an infirmary, a press room, a bar ... For months - from September to November - Racing shared facilities with Athletic de Madrid (today Atlético).

Atlético won their first two leagues and the 1940 Generalisimo Cup final was held

That Racing ended up disappearing, but Atlético continued playing at home —sometimes, occasionally and sometimes, for entire seasons— until February 1943, due to some reforms undertaken in the Metropolitano. After the Civil War, it was reopened on April 28, 1940. Athletic Aviation, then led by Ricardo Zamora, won (2-0) against Valencia and won their first league title . The following year, on March 2, 1941, the rojiblancos proclaimed themselves, again in Vallecas, league champions when they beat Oviedo (3-0).

They were not the only titles that Vallecas saw, since the field also served as the setting for the final of the 1940 Copa del Generalissimo . The Spanish knocked down Real Madrid (3-2), after the extension. The expectation was contagious throughout the neighborhood, more if possible due to the presence of a Vallecano youth squad, midfielder Villita, in the meringues ranks.

Concentration camp after the Civil War

The official competitions were paralyzed with the outbreak of the Civil War , although soccer did continue. Meetings were organized in which teams such as Madrid FC (Real Madrid) and Athletic de Madrid (Atlético) participated, in addition to regional teams, battalion teams or even neighborhoods. The Vallecas stadium was the place chosen to play several charity matches in the summer of 1936, a year in which a few more sporting events were dusted. Later, its use would have little to do with what had been lived up to that moment.

Phalangist soldiers controlled these facilities, which were used as a concentration camp for about a month.

On March 28, 1939 the Francoist troops entered Madrid and on April 1 the War ended. Then, the winning army used the facilities of the Vallecas stadium as a concentration camp for about a month . These facilities, with capacity for hundreds (not more than a thousand or, at most, 2,000) of people, were controlled by Falangist soldiers belonging to the 25th Infantry Regiment San Quintín. Thanks to the official documents of the time, there is evidence of transfer of 320 prisoners, on April 3, to the concentration camp of the Cuartel de la Montaña.

The testimonies of the relatives still overwhelm. Food and warm clothing were brought to them through the gate, given that the prisoners - mostly from Madrid and Valle del Cauca - were out in the open, enduring terrible conditions of cold, hunger, dirt ... At the beginning of May 1939 there was no more No one was held there and a new conditioning was carried out (the grass was planted and the stands, accesses were reformed ...) to be used again in sports practice.

This is how the Red Strip was born

For many years there was a popular belief that the birth of the Strip had its origin in River Plate. However, another team was to blame: Atlético de Madrid . Atlético and Rayo signed an agreement, in the 49-50 season, in which the Vallecano team was even discussed as a subsidiary of the mattress. Until then, Rayo was dressed entirely in white, which is why Atleti asked him to incorporate some visual element that related both entities and, incidentally, differentiated him from the eternal rival, Real Madrid. A condition that, despite not having been registered, could be included as a clause in these agreements.

Rayo was dressed in white and Atlético asked him to incorporate an element that related them both and set him apart from Madrid

The rojiblancos put on the table the option of wearing the same shirt, but Rayo opted for his red and diagonal stripe inspired, now, by River . The fashion team in Europe at the time. The fact that both shared symbol reached the ears of the Argentine entity, during a tour that brought him to Spain and faced Real Madrid. When it concluded in 1952, River decided to give Rayo a box of shirts.

For some, as a symbol of gratitude for having loaned him the Vallecas facilities to train. For others, as a sign of brotherhood and solidarity , after a visit by the rayista directive to the Ritz hotel, where the Argentine expedition was staying, in which they were shown a photograph of their equipment with the Strip and they were told of the economic difficulties they were experiencing . Of course, whether for one reason or another, all the testimonies agree that the size of the shirts was so small that some players had to put them on each other.

One official hymn and another, 'ska'

RAFA APARICIO

The importance of hymns in soccer is enormous. It is a way to express a feeling of identity and, also, an emotional stimulus in optimal or adverse situations. The Rayo anthem was conceived in late 1952, with music by the Cuban maestro Rafael Guillén Sánchez . Regarding the authorship of the lyrics, there are certain unknowns. It has always been affirmed that the journalist and novelist Francisco Hernández Castanedo wrote it, but the franjirrojo president of the time, Miguel Rodríguez Alzola, assured that it was the poet Manuel Fernández Sanz, alias 'el pollero', who made it . This confession took place in an interview for the newspaper 'La Cantera', directed - to make matters worse - by Hernández Castanedo.

Ska P's dream is to play 'Como un Rayo' in Vallecas, where Bob Dylan, Deep Purple, Queen, Scorpions, Metallica ...

This enigma is kept alive because the hymn does not appear either in the General Society of Authors or in the Registry of Intellectual Property . Rafael Guillén and Francisco Hernández Castanedo composed together the chotis 'Vallecas City' and 'Vallecas Villa' and the origin of the rayista hymn could be in a gathering at Café Gijón at the proposal of other friends. The teacher Guillén also collects other football-themed works , since he made the hymn 'Aúpa, Atleti', which dates from the 40-50s.

As famous as the official hymn is the 'unofficial'. Ska P made the song 'Como un Rayo' to his team in 1994 - it belongs to his first album - and, more than 25 years later, it continues playing at the Vallecas stadium. " When we started going, Wilfred, Onésimo, Calderón played ... ", remember the singer Pulpul and the entertainer Pipi, to which they add: "Cota is our friend, but we will never forget when Míchel II scored and when he lifted his shirt he wore another Ska P . They also came to our concerts, threw balls… ”. His dream? Play it in Vallecas. A stadium where the biggest ones have performed in the 80s and 90s: Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan (with Santana as opening act), Deep Purple, Queen, Scorpions or Metallica .

Lightning also played baseball

There was a time when football clubs also bet on seeking glory in other sections. Real Madrid and Atlético had their own baseball team and Rayo followed suit, launching into this new adventure in 1966 . President Pedro Roiz Cossío was the great promoter of a project that, in seven seasons, won a National League title (1970) and participated in a European competition. Impossible to do more in less time.

The baseball section only lived seven years, but in that time it conquered a League and reached the quarterfinals of the European Cup

Piratas, a club located on Calle Narváez, fed players to this newborn Rayo. A team that only needed two campaigns to ascend to the First , in a match against the Torch of Valencia, and another two, to assault the national title, against El Corte Inglés. Although it is true that to get it he prepared himself thoroughly. The redheads trained by competing with the American soldiers from the Torrejon base .

Rayo celebrated his five-year life by playing in the European Cup, which he savored until the moment to meet the Italian champion, Milano Baseball 1946, in the quarterfinals. This goodbye served as a prelude to the definitive closure of the section back in 1973. The arrival of Marcelino Gil to the presidency supposed the abandonment of the team that, ironies of fate, ended up being absorbed by El Corte Inglés. The Lightning had a fleeting but brilliant step.

To the Casa de Campo to train!

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ

Many point out that the key to Rayo's success in the late 1970s was his prodigious physique . Few teams had, then, the figure of a physical trainer. The pioneer Carlos Álvarez del Villar crushed them in the Casa de Campo and that ended up paying off: they got promoted to First (76-77) and built the legend of 'Matagigantes' (77-78). "On Sunday I had fun, but during the week I wanted to die, " says Nieto, giving rise to a whole carousel of anecdotes. " I remember the processionaries who bit us when we threw ourselves to the ground, " laughs goalkeeper Alcázar. To which Felines adds: "Some of us hid to run less." Potele nods, after giving him a knowing look.

El Rayo was a pioneer in physical training with Álvarez del Villar and his work at Casa de Campo. There Di Stéfano got lost

Both were among the most veteran of the squad and had their little tricks to mitigate the harshness of those training sessions at Casa de Campo. “We knew each other absolutely every corner. We knew where the potholes were and we both looked for hiding places so as not to run as much as the rest ”, Felines openly confesses. His inseparable Potele takes the witness: " The others went up and we cut down the back of the mountain, there were many rabbits ." They had to do slopes, continuous running, multi-jumps and flexibility in this Madrid lung of almost 1,800 hectares. Of course, the great work of Álvarez del Villar - INEF professor and a student of athletics - at Rayo opened the doors of the National Team.

But talking about the Casa de Campo forces us to talk about him, about Di Stéfano. The Argentine coach did not like anything and had his reasons. “ One day we got lost there . We went for a run, he wanted to follow us and on the hour the Police appeared. We didn't know what was going on. He came out of the back of the jeep blurting out to us: 'Che, where did they go?' Felines and Potele manage to relate between loud laughter. Di Stéfano's animosity for that place motivated different conflicts with Álvarez de Villar (75-76), his most fierce defender. "The coach and the teacher did not understand each other. It was night and day and that was chewed in the atmosphere. Di Stéfano was very theoretical, he did not like us to pound ourselves for fear of injury. The teacher was more severe ”, analyze the players. The technician ended up being dismissed and Olmedo returned to work in that environment. To which years later templates such as those directed by Juande would return.

'Mom, I want to be an artist… or a soccer player?'

Culture and football are not at odds. In fact, there are times when they do feed back and Rayo is a good example to defeat some cliches. In the late 1970s, the 'Gayo Vallecano' was born, an independent theater company led by Juan Margallo and Jesús Sastre. This neighborhood (more specifically, a room at the Raimundo Lulio School) became the epicenter and they found their inspiration in the name of the team . His commitment to culture was strong: not only with the representation of works and concerts but also promoting training for all. “We had a minibus to go to the representations and on the side it said 'Gayo Vallecano'. Once, when we arrived in a town, people would look out and say: 'Damn, the Vallecas team is coming! Recalls Margallo.

Alfredo Landa and José Bódalo were going to see Rayo, who had two other great actors in their ranks: Aldo Sambrell and Pep Munné

Throughout history, many great characters have looked out to see the Lightning. Not only sports legends such as Ángel Nieto, Pedro Carrasco or Pepe Durán, but also from the entertainment world such as Manolo Escobar, Alfredo Landa and José Bódalo . Precisely, the latter was a regular at Sunday's games in Vallehermoso. “Before I started I would go down to the locker room to wish us luck. He looked like the technical secretary ”, jokes Felines. He had a closer relationship with Potele: “ Bódalo said he liked Amancio from Madrid; del Atleti, Ufarte and del Rayo, me . After the games we would go to chat and have a drink at 'Sol y Aire'. We became friends and then I went to see his plays at the Calderón Theater ”.

Two talented actors have also dressed the Strip. Vallecano Alfredo Sánchez Brell played as a defense (two games in the Second Division) in Rayo at 59-60, after playing for Mexican soccer and Alcoyano. From there he devoted himself body and soul to acting, adopting the name of Aldo Sambrell. He has up to 300 movies to his credit and became the regular villain of the spaghetti westerns of the 60s and 70s . He participated in 'For a handful of dollars', 'Death had a price' and 'The good, the ugly and the bad'. His great relationship with Sergio Leone made the director the godfather of his son Alfredo Xavier, born during a shoot.

The other well-known interpreter is Pep Munné. The forward grew up in the Barça youth academy and was loaned to Rayo (73-74). "I was 20 years old. She had long curly hair and studied Philosophy and Letters . I used to carry a carpet-like wallet with my books and they called me 'Kung Fu'. I went to live in a loft in the Plaza Mayor, very hippie . One day I was sick and the doctor came to see me. Olmedo took me and asked me: 'Where the hell do you live? What are you doing there? I went to train every day, I went to bed early… but I dressed very strangely, with a Cordovan hat ”, he recalls. A break in the malleolus and a musical (Godspell) reoriented his life. From there, he has made cinema, theater and television. The last? The Paper House.

The girls are warriors

MACARIO MUÑOZ

No one has given Rayo more titles than Women. It is the most successful section of the club's history and, for a time, it became a benchmark for emerging women's football. It was founded in 2000 by Teresa Rivero, then president of the entity. That original team consisted of fifteen players, between 15 and 20 years old, who came from CD Buen Retiro , the first official school for women's football in Spain.

The Women are the ones who have given Rayo the most titles: a Queen's Cup and three consecutive Super Leagues. In addition, she played Champions.

The project was serious and soon began to bear fruit. It only took three years for the female red-eyed warriors to rise from Preferred to the Super League . At that time, in 2002, Rayo signed Milene Domingues , a partner of Real Madrid's Ronaldo at that time, in what was a perfect marketing operation. He could not play the first year because the Federation did not allow foreign footballers, but he devoted himself to advertising the products of the Ruiz-Mateos companies and playing with FIammamonza on weekends. "Milene came for the Dhul flans, but she was not worth as a player," said Teresa Rivero years later.

However, the key season for the Women's Lightning to take off was 2007-08 . The goalaverage made the Super League fall into the hands of Levante and not in the vallecanas, but they took the thorn out of winning the Copa de la Reina to the granotas . That first title was followed by three consecutive Super Leagues (08-09, 09-10 and 10-11) and their participation in the Champions League . On November 4, 2010, the Vallecas stadium welcomed 8,000 spectators to witness the Strip's victory over Arsenal Ladies (2-0). Although they lost 4-1 on the lap, that feat entered history. The achievements of the Feminine served as an example for the masculine . Something that the president verbalized, in her own way: "They are thugs compared to them." The golden age has passed, but this section remains in the highest category being a true example of bravery, courage and nobility.

His relationship with Atlético and Real Madrid

RAFA APARICIO

Rayo has had collaboration agreements with both Atlético and Real Madrid throughout different stages of its history. Without going any further, Vallecanos and Colchoneros initialed one on July 1, 1949 , consisting of financial support and the transfer of players for some in exchange for the use of the Rodival for hockey, baseball and basketball games for the others. And just a couple of years later, in the summer of 1951 , Rayo signed another agreement with Plus Ultra that would mean the exchange of footballers (in both directions).

Atlético and Madrid have signed collaboration agreements with Rayo, they gave him players ... And Bernabéu was a kind of patron

Beyond these links, the relationship between clubs has always been good. To the point that President Juan Roiz convinced Santiago Bernabéu to take charge of Rayo's poor economy , becoming a kind of patron. A support that his directive did not always see with good eyes and for which he received the gold and brilliant insignia of the franjirroja entity. They say that when Bernabéu met Felines he said: "What about this little boy? Can't we do something to make him grow a little? " He would get to speak to the doctor.

Felines also starred in another anecdote with Vicente Calderón . This offered him to be the substitute for Collar in Atlético and the player from Ávila, already fully convinced that the offer was serious and would not come out on loan, signed his contract as a new Atletico player . The happiness did not last long, the time it took to communicate this decision to the rayista president Pedro Roiz Cossío, also Provincial Head of the Movement. He said no, he feared the reaction of the fans to the loss of one of their flagships . Calderón understood all the arguments of the footballer and did not want to antagonize a friendly club. He tore the document in his face.

As a result of the good relationship between Rayo and Real Madrid, there were arrivals like those of De Tomás, Diego Llorente, Julio Álvarez, Baljic, Canabal, Urzaiz, Miguel Ángel Portugal, Toni Grande, Goyo Benito, José Luis Peinado, Velázquez ... Also Atlético provided reinforcements such as those of Saúl, Diego Costa, Abel, Pizo Gómez, Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Feliciano Rivilla ... That transfer of players was beneficial for all parties, since many players were revalued in Vallecas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Jiménez Mancha, Juan. (2017). The origins of Rayo Vallecano. Of team without federation to Second Division (1924-1956) . Vallecas all Culture.
• Sánchez de la Vega, Rosa. (2012). Vallecas and Rayo Vallecano (1924-2011) . Rayo Vallecano Foundation.
• Luquero, Antonio. (2020). The memory of El Gayo Vallecano will live on in Vallecas forever. Vallecasweb. Recovered from http://vallecasweb.com/reportajes/item/vallecas-la-memoria-de-el-gayo-vallecano-pervivira-para-siempre-presentacion-libro-200122