Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano

Full name	Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, SAD
Nickname(s)	Los Franjirrojos (The Red Sashes) Rayito (Little Thunderbolt) Orgullo de la clase obrera (The Pride of the Working class)
Founded	29 May 1924; 100 years ago (1924-05-29) as Agrupación Deportiva El Rayo
Ground	El Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas
Capacity	14,708[1]
Owner	Raúl Martín Presa
President	Raúl Martín Presa
Head coach	Iñigo Pérez
League	La Liga
2023–24	La Liga, 17th of 20
Website	rayovallecano.es
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈraʝo βaʎeˈkano ðe maˈðɾið]),^[a] often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.

Founded on 29 May 1924, the club is known for its sociocultural tradition, recognized for representing the barrio-local culture and its working-class status. Its home matches has been played at the 14,708-capacity Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas stadium since 1976.^[2]

During its history, Rayo has spent 19 seasons in the top-flight, and have played in one European competition, the UEFA Cup in the 2000–01 season. The club won the 2017–18 Segunda División. By historical performance, Rayo is the third best club in Community of Madrid, after Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

Rayo Vallecano was founded 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.^[3]

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. The 1983–84 season was the worst during the 1980s. The club finished in the last position in Segunda División and was relegated to Segunda División B.^[4]

Due to a tragedy Rayo Vallecano turned out to be Laurie Cunningham's last club; he was killed in a car crash just outside Madrid in 1989, after a sole season. He had recently won an F.A. Cup winners medal with Wimbledon F.C. in England the previous year and had also represented neighbours Real Madrid for four years.

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 quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, going out only to eventual runners-up Alavés;^[5] Rayo finished ninth in the previous campaign, but entered the competition via the fair play draw.^[6]

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.^[7]

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 Eibar (1–2 aggregate).^[8] The following campaign, the team returned to division two after a four-year absence after a victorious run in the playoffs, disposing of Benidorm in the semi-final and Zamora in the last game 2–1 on aggregate.^[9]

In its first seasons back in the second tier of Spanish football, Rayo finished comfortably, often either in or just outside the promotion places. In 2010–11, the team 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.^[10][11][12]

In March 2014, Huawei agreed to sponsor Rayo Vallecano for two league matches against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.^[13]

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, despite the stadium increasingly needing work. 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.^[14][15] Rayo OKC folded after a year due to Rayo Vallecano's relegation from La Liga and a dispute between the co-owners led to less finance for the U.S. side.

In May 2016, Rayo Vallecano were 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.^[16] Their first season back in the second division was a poor one, with both problems on the field and off, and they finished in 12th position. Rayo went through three managers in the 2016–17 Segunda División season before finally settling on club legend Míchel.^[17] He revived the club from the relegation places to 12th, almost making the playoffs.

At the start of the 2017–18 Segunda División season, the club appointed their recently retired goalkeeper David Cobeño as the sporting director of the club.^[18] They secured their promotion with a 1–0 over CD Lugo with one game remaining.^[19] That season the club won Segunda División with 76 points in 42 games.^[20]

On 20 March 2019, the club appointed Paco Jémez as head coach,^[21] and on 4 May, Rayo was relegated back to the Segunda División after losing 4–1 to Levante UD, eventually finishing last.^[22][23]

In August 2020, the club appointed Andoni Iraola as head coach.^[24] They finished sixth and won promotion in the playoffs against Girona FC; despite losing the first leg at home 1–2, the team came back to win the second leg 2–0 away to claim a place in La Liga for 2021–22.^[25] In February 2022, Iraola's side defeated RCD Mallorca to make the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey; it was the second time in club history and first since 1982.^[26] The club finished 12th in La Liga. This was a big achievement as they were by far the league's smallest team, and most had predicted that they would be relegated.^[27]

• 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 Atlético Madrid in 1949–50

• Segunda División
  • Winners: 2017–18
  • Runners-up: 1988–89, 1991–92, 1994–95, 2010–11
• Segunda División B
  • Winners: 1955–56, 1964–65, 1984–85, 2007–08

Regional Titles

• Workers Federation of Soccer: 1931–1932
• First Regional Division: 1948–1949
• Second Regional Division: 1940–1941
• Copa de Castilla: 1952–1953, 1967–1968, 1970–1971, 1972–1973, 1981–1982
• Madrid Cup: 1952–1953, 1966–1967
• Copa Ramón Triana: 1971–1972, 1973–1974

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

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

As of 9 September 2024^[28]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Dani Cárdenas 2 DF  ROU Andrei Rațiu 3 DF  ESP Pep Chavarría 4 MF  ESP Pedro Díaz 5 DF  ESP Aridane Hernández 6 MF  SEN Pathé Ciss 7 MF  ESP Isi Palazón (4th captain) 8 MF  ARG Óscar Trejo (3rd captain) 9 FW  ESP Raúl de Tomás 10 MF  COL James Rodríguez 11 FW  ANG Randy Nteka 12 FW  ESP Sergi Guardiola 13 GK  ARG Augusto Batalla (on loan from River Plate) 14 FW  ESP Sergio Camello

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  ESP Gerard Gumbau (on loan from Granada) 16 DF  GHA Abdul Mumin 17 MF  ESP Unai López 18 MF  ESP Álvaro García 19 FW  ESP Jorge de Frutos 20 DF  ALB Iván Balliu 21 FW  ESP Adrián Embarba (on loan from Almería) 22 DF  URU Alfonso Espino 23 MF  ESP Óscar Valentín (captain) 24 DF  FRA Florian Lejeune 25 MF  ESP Joni Montiel 27 DF  ESP Pelayo Fernández 29 MF  ESP Diego Méndez

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  ESP Marco de las Sías 28 FW  CMR Etienne Eto'o

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ESP Miguel Ángel Morro (at Vizela until 30 June 2025)

Position	Staff
Head coach	Iñigo Pérez
Assistant coach	Adrián López
Kit man	José Vargas Kiko Jiménez
Delegate	Miguel Ortiz
Goalkeeping coach	Pedro Moncayo
Analyst	Óscar Díaz
Rehab fitness coach	Sergio Vázquez
Physiotherapist	Marcos Marín Miguel Ángel Martín
Doctor	Carlos Beceiro Giovanni Mazzocca

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

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 1969 José Antonio Olmedo July 1969 – Feb 1971 Manuel Peñalva Feb 1971 – Jun 1972 Enrique Orizaola

Dates Name Jul 1972 – Jan 1973 Manuel Vences Jan 1973 – Jun 1974 José Antonio Olmedo Jun 1974 – Jun 1975 Héctor Núñez Jun 1975 – Feb 1976 Alfredo Di Stéfano Feb – Jun 1976 José Antonio Olmedo Jul 1976 – Jun 1977 García Verdugo Jun 1977 – Jun 1978 Héctor Núñez Jul 1978 – Jun 1979 Eduardo González Jun 1979 – Feb 1980 Héctor Núñez Feb – Jun 1980 Rafael Iriondo Jun 1980 – Dec 1981 Eduardo González Dec 1981 – Jun 1982 Manuel Peñalva Jun 1982 – Jun 1983 Juanjo García Jul – Nov 1983 Máximo Hernández Nov 1983 – Jun 1984 Antonio Ruiz 1984–85 Eduardo Caturla 1985–87 Héctor Núñez Jul 1987 – Jan 1990 Felines Jan – Jun 1990 Emilio Cruz Jul 1990 – Feb 1992 Eusebio Ríos Feb 1992 – Jun 1993 José Antonio Camacho Jul – Nov 1993 Felines Nov 1993 – Feb 1994 Fernando Zambrano Feb – Nov 1994 David Vidal Nov 1994 – Jun 1995 Paquito Jun – Oct 1995 Pedro Mari Zabalza

Dates Name Oct 1995 – Apr 1996 Marcos Alonso July 1996 – Feb 1997 Paquito Feb – Mar 1997 Fernando Zambrano Mar – Jun 1997 Máximo Hernández 1997–98 Josu Ortuondo Jul 1998 – Jun 2001 Juande Ramos Jul – Oct 2001 Andoni Goikoetxea Oct 2001 – Jun 2002 Gregorio Manzano July 2002 – Jan 2003 Fernando Vázquez Feb – Apr 2003 Gustavo Benítez Apr – Jun 2003 Antonio Iriondo Jun – Nov 2003 Julen Lopetegui Nov 2003 – Feb 2004 Jorge D'Alessandro Feb – Jun 2004 Txetxu Rojo Jun 2004 – Jun 2005 Carlos Orúe Jul 2005 – Jun 2006 Míchel Jun 2006 – Feb 2010 Pepe Mel Feb – Jun 2010 Felipe Miñambres Jul 2010 – Jun 2012 José Ramón Sandoval Jul 2012 – May 2016 Paco Jémez Jun – Nov 2016 José Ramón Sandoval Nov 2016 – Feb 2017 Rubén Baraja Feb 2017 – Mar 2019 Míchel Mar 2019 – Aug 2020 Paco Jémez Aug 2020 – Jun 2023 Andoni Iraola Jul 2023 – Francisco

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, businessman 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 100×67 m. after the enlargement of the width and the reduction of the length of the pitch after the remodelling of the grandstands, compulsory due to the elimination of the fences surrounding the pitch. The pitch is one the smallest in La Liga. Additionally, one of the goal ends does not have a grandstand, just a big wall with information panels.^[29]

In June 2009, the club announced plans for the construction of a new stadium. Nevertheless, the Autonomous Community of Madrid, owner of the stadium, has not any plan as far as it is known in 2023.

The fans do not have a good relationship with the current owner Raúl Martín Presa and regularly chant for him to leave.^[30][31]

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.^[32] 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.^[33]

In February 2017, Ukrainian player Roman Zozulya left the club after one training session due to chants of "Nazi" by Rayo fans accusing him of belonging to far-right groups; Zozulya denied ever belonging to any far-right groups, and immediately returned to his parent club Real Betis. In 2019, when Zozulya was playing for Albacete, a match was called off at half-time after fans once again sang "Zozulya you are a Nazi".^[34]

Although most people recognise the supporting songs by ska-punk band Ska-P (Rayo Vallecano and Como un rayo), Rayo Vallecano has an official anthem which played at their home stadium before matches.

The club is also known for chanting the song "La Vida Pirata" (English: "The Pirate Life"), a song about pirates, which the Bukaneros are named after.

Spanish:

La vida pirata es la vida mejor (bis)

sin trabajar (bis)

Sin estudiar (bis)

Con la botella de ron (bis)

Soy capitán (bis)

del Santa Inés (bis)

Y en cada puerto tengo una mujer (bis)

La rubia es (bis)

Fenomenal (bis)

Y la morena tampoco esta mal (bis)

Las inglesas con su seriedad (bis)

Y las francesas que todo lo dan (bis)

Si alguna vez (bis)

Me he de casar (bis)

Me he de casar (bis)

Con la del Rayo, una, una y nada más (bis).

English:

''The pirate life is the best life (bis)

without working (bis)

without studying (bis)

With the bottle of rum (bis)

I am captain (bis)

of the "Santa Inés"' (bis)

and in each port, I have a woman (bis)

the blonde is (bis)

phenomenal (bis)

and the brunette is not bad either (bis)

The English women with their seriousness (bis)

And the French women who give everything (bis)

If ever (bis)

I have to marry (bis)

I have to marry (bis)

with the one of Rayo, one, one and no more (bis)''

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rayo Vallecano.

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Official Radio website (in Spanish)
• Official Community VK (in Russian)
• Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)
• BDFutbol team profile
• Pasión por el Rayo – Non-official website – Rayo Vallecano news (in Spanish)
• Rayo Herald – Updated club info (in Spanish)