Rayo Vallecano
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Infobox football club
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (Template:IPA),Template:Efn often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. 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 have been played at the 14,708-capacity Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas stadium since 1976.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During its history, Rayo has spent 22 seasons in the top-flight, and has 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.
History
Establishment and early years
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Yo-yo years
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rayo finished ninth in the previous campaign, but entered the competition via the fair play draw.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2003–11: Segunda División and below
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Dona Teresa takes off mask Template:Webarchive; Football Scouting, 1 March 2011</ref><ref>Unpaid Rayo have sights set on La Liga payday Template:Webarchive; Reuters, 30 March 2011</ref><ref>Los jugadores del Rayo Vallecano seguirán sin cobrar (Rayo Vallecano players will still not be paid) Template:Webarchive; El Correo Gallego, 26 February 2011 Template:In lang</ref>
2011–: La Liga and Segunda División yo-yo
In March 2014, Huawei agreed to sponsor Rayo Vallecano for two league matches against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They secured their promotion with a 1–0 over CD Lugo with one game remaining.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That season the club won Segunda División with 76 points in 42 games.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 20 March 2019, the club appointed Paco Jémez as head coach,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and on 4 May, Rayo was relegated back to the Segunda División after losing 4–1 to Levante UD, eventually finishing last.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In August 2020, the club appointed Andoni Iraola as head coach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They once again qualified for European football after 24 years, entering into the UEFA Conference League play-offs by finishing 8th in 2024-25 season. They went on to make their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase by reaching the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League league phase.
Previous names
- 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
Honours
League
Regional Titles
- Workers Federation of Soccer: 1931–32
- First Regional Division: 1948–49
- Second Regional Division: 1940–41
- Copa de Castilla: 1952–53, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1981–82
- Madrid Cup: 1952–53, 1966–67
- Copa Ramón Triana: 1971–72, 1973–74
Season to season
|
|
|
- 23 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)
European history
| Season | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 UEFA Cup | Qualifying round | Template:Flagicon Constel·lació Esportiva | 6–0 | 10–0 | 16–0 |
| First round | Template:Flagicon Molde | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |
| Second round | Template:Flagicon Viborg | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 (a) | |
| Third round | Template:Flagicon Lokomotiv Moscow | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| Fourth round | Template:Flagicon Bordeaux | 4–1 | 2–1 | 6–2 | |
| Quarter-finals | Template:Flagicon Alavés | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | |
| 2025–26 UEFA Conference League | Play-off round | Template:Flagicon Neman Grodno | 4–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| League phase | Template:Flagicon Shkëndija | 2–0 | Template:N/a | ||
| Template:Flagicon BK Häcken | Template:N/a | 2–2 | |||
| Template:Flagicon Lech Poznań | 3–2 | Template:N/a | |||
| Template:Flagicon Slovan Bratislava | Template:N/a | ||||
| Template:Flagicon Jagiellonia Białystok | Template:N/a | ||||
| Template:Flagicon Drita | Template:N/a |
Current squad
Template:Updated Template:Fs start Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs mid Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs end
Reserve team
Template:Main Template:Fs start Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs mid Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs end
Out on loan
Template:Fs start Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs mid Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs end
Current technical staff
Template:Fb cs header Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs staff Template:Fb cs footer
Notable players
Note: this list includes players that have played at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status. Template:Div col
- Template:Flagicon Ildefons Lima
- Template:Flagicon Francisco Cerro
- Template:Flagicon Franco Di Santo
- Template:Flagicon Alejandro Domínguez
- Template:Flagicon Leonel Galeano
- Template:Flagicon Paulo Gazzaniga
- Template:Flagicon Sebastián Saja
- Template:Flagicon Óscar Trejo
- Template:Flagicon Aras Özbiliz
- Template:Flagicon Manucho
- Template:Flagicon Toni Polster
- Template:Flagicon Elvir Baljić
- Template:Flagicon Elvir Bolić
- Template:Flagicon Guilherme
- Template:Flagicon Jorge Valdivia
- Template:Flagicon Fernando Vergara
- Template:Flagicon Zhang Chengdong
- Template:Flagicon Johan Mojica
- Template:Flagicon Hernán Medford
- Template:Flagicon Stjepan Andrijašević
- Template:Flagicon Gaël Kakuta
- Template:Flagicon Søren Andersen
- Template:Flagicon Nicki Bille
- Template:Flagicon Laurie Cunningham
- Template:Flagicon Sergio Akieme
- Template:Flagicon Iván Zarandona
- Template:Flagicon Derek Boateng
- Template:Flagicon Lass Bangoura
- Template:Flagicon Jordi Amat
- Template:Flagicon Idan Tal
- Template:Flagicon Ousseynou Cissé
- Template:Flagicon Javier Aquino
- Template:Flagicon Nery Castillo
- Template:Flagicon Guillermo Mendizábal
- Template:Flagicon Hugo Sánchez
- Template:Flagicon Andrija Delibašić
- Template:Flagicon Dave van den Bergh
- Template:Flagicon Uche Agbo
- Template:Flagicon Wilfred Agbonavbare
- Template:Flagicon Stole Dimitrievski
- Template:Flagicon Jan Berg
- Template:Flagicon Luis Advíncula
- Template:Flagicon Christian Cueva
- Template:Flagicon Licá
- Template:Flagicon Paulo Torres
- Template:Flagicon Zé Castro
- Template:Flagicon Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem
- Template:Flagicon Răzvan Raț
- Template:Flagicon Viktor Onopko
- Template:Flagicon Abdoulaye Ba
- Template:Flagicon Mohamed Diamé
- Template:Flagicon Ivan Tomić
- Template:Flagicon Josip Višnjić
- Template:Flagicon Miguel Albiol
- Template:Flagicon Antonio Amaya
- Template:Flagicon Gregorio Benito
- Template:Flagicon Bolo
- Template:Flagicon Raúl Bravo
- Template:Flagicon Antonio Calderón
- Template:Flagicon Rubén Cano
- Template:Flagicon Luis Cembranos
- Template:Flagicon David Cobeño
- Template:Flagicon Coke
- Template:Flagicon Juan José Collantes
- Template:Flagicon Pedro Contreras
- Template:Flagicon Diego Costa
- Template:Flagicon Cota
- Template:Flagicon Ramón de Quintana
- Template:Flagicon Adri Embarba
- Template:Flagicon Felines
- Template:Flagicon Patxi Ferreira
- Template:Flagicon Javi Fuego
- Template:Flagicon Ricardo Gallego
- Template:Flagicon Antonio García Navajas
- Template:Flagicon Antonio Guzmán
- Template:Flagicon Pablo Hernández
- Template:Flagicon Carlos Llorens
- Template:Flagicon Diego Llorente
- Template:Flagicon Julen Lopetegui
- Template:Flagicon Míchel
- Template:Flagicon Michu
- Template:Flagicon José María Movilla
- Template:Flagicon Juan Muñiz
- Template:Flagicon Álvaro Negredo
- Template:Flagicon Saúl Ñíguez
- Template:Flagicon Pepín
- Template:Flagicon Roberto Peragón
- Template:Flagicon Piti
- Template:Flagicon Abel Resino
- Template:Flagicon Onésimo Sánchez
- Template:Flagicon Pablo Sanz
- Template:Flagicon Mario Suárez
- Template:Flagicon Raúl Tamudo
- Template:Flagicon Roberto Trashorras
- Template:Flagicon Toni Jiménez
- Template:Flagicon José Luis Veloso
- Template:Flagicon Roman Zozulya
- Template:Flagicon Kasey Keller
- Template:Flagicon Sebastián Fernández
- Template:Flagicon Álvaro Gutiérrez
- Template:Flagicon Josemir Lujambio
- Template:Flagicon Fernando Morena
- Template:Flagicon Emiliano Velázquez
- Template:Flagicon Julio Álvarez
- Template:Flagicon Dani Hernández
- Template:Flagicon Miku
- Template:Flagicon Daniel Noriega
Coaches
|
|
|
Club presidents
|
|
|
|
Stadium
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.
Club culture and supporters
In 2024, Jason Stockwood, writing for the Guardian, described Rayo Vallecano and its supporters as being associated with left-wing politics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Rayo Vallecano's fans do not have a good relationship with the current owner Raúl Martín Presa and regularly chant for him to leave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Anthems and songs
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" (Template:Langx), 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)''
Notes
References
External links
- Template:Official website Template:In lang
- Official Radio website Template:In lang
- Futbolme team profile Template:In lang
- BDFutbol team profile
- Pasión por el Rayo – Non-official website – Rayo Vallecano news Template:In lang
- Rayo Herald – Updated club info Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
Template:Rayo Vallecano Template:La Liga teamlist Template:Community of Madrid Sports