Rayo Vallecano

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Rayo Vallecano was founded on 29 May 1924, in the town of Prudencia Priego, the wife of the club's founder President Julian Huerta. Inspiring by River Plate (a Football club that is based in Argentina) In 1949, following the signing of an agreement with Atletico Madrid the Red diagonal stripe appeared on the team's uniform and the club entered Tercera Division for the first time in its history.

One of the club yo-yos of Spanish football. Always located in shadow of two top clubs in The city (Real Madrid as well as Atletico Madrid), Rayo Vallecano spent several years in the 1980s and 1990s , moving from La Liga and Segunda Division. Its 1983-1984 campaign was one of the worst of the 1980s. The club was in the final position of Segunda Division and was relegated to Segunda Division B.

A tragic incident at Rayo Vallecano turned out to be Laurie Cunningham's final club and he died in a crash with a car just from Madrid in 1989, following just one season. He was recently awarded an F.A. Cup winner's medal in association with Wimbledon F.C. in England the previous year . They was also a part of neighbors Real Madrid for four years.

They appeared to have solidified their status in the top flight following their promotion in 1999. The team's most successful campaign came in 2000-01, when they made the quarterfinals of UEFA Cup, going out at the end to eventual winners Alaves; Rayo finished ninth in their previous season however, they were able to enter the competition through the fair play draw.

However, the club afterwards was in the grip of financial hardship and was relegated several times between the years 2003 and 2004. In 2005-06, manager Michel the legendary Real Madrid legend in the 1980s and 1990s was appointed.

Rayo finished the 2006-07 campaign with a second-place finish at the bottom of Segunda Division B, winning the promotion play-off semifinals, however losing the final to Eibar (1-2 total). In the following season was a return to Division Two after a gap of four years, following an impressive run in the playoffs, defeating Benidorm in the semi-finals, in the semi-final and Zamora in the final game, 2-1 in aggregate.

In its initial seasons in the second division in Spanish soccer, Rayo did well, typically in or out of the promotion positions. In 2010-11, the club was in the second spot and was promoted back to the top tier after a gap of eight years, only lagging behind the champions Real Betis in spite of extremely serious financial problems.

On March 14, 2014 Huawei was able to sign a deal with Rayo Vallecano for two league games with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

In August of 2015, Rayo Vallecano purchased the majority of Oklahoma City FC, a NASL expansion franchise, which was yet to play a match, renaming the team to Rayo OKC, despite the stadium's need to be renovated. This was the first introduction of an Spanish club to the American market for sports and was a reversal of an agreement to sponsor the club in 2013 with Qbao to increase the brand's visibility overseas. Rayo OKC folded after a year because of Rayo Vallecano's demotion out of La Liga and a dispute between the owners resulted in lower funding to Rayo OKC's U.S. side.

In May of 2016, Rayo Vallecano were relegated to the Segunda Division, finishing 18th in the 2015-16 La Liga season. They ended their five-year stint of La Liga, their longest ever stint in the top league. Their return to the 2nd division turned out to be a disappointing one, with issues both on and off the field the field, and they ended up at 12th place. Rayo had three manager during the course of 2016-17's Segunda Division season before finally choosing legendary club manager Michel. Michel brought the club back from the bottom of the relegation piles up to 12th place, and almost made the playoffs.

In the beginning in the 2017-18 Segunda Division season, the club named their ex-goalkeeper David Cobeno as the sporting director of the club. They were promoted with the score of 1-0 against CD Lugo with one game remaining. The team took the title of Segunda Division with 76 points in 42 games.

On the 20th of March, 2019 the team was appointed Paco Jemez as their head coach. Then on 4 May Rayo was dropped into the Segunda Division after losing 4-1 to Levante UD, eventually finishing last.

In August of 2020 the club hired Andoni Iraola as head coach. They placed sixth and gained promotion in the playoffs , beating Girona FC; despite losing the first game at home 1-1, the team bounced back and won the second match 2-0 to secure the right to play in La Liga for 2021-22. The team won the Copa del Rey in February of 2022. Iraola's team won a 2-0 victory over RCD Mallorca to make the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey; it was only the second time the club had made it to the semi-finals and the first since 1982.

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

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• Segunda División
  • Winners (1): 2017–18
  • Runners-up: 1988–89, 1991–92, 1994–95, 2010–11
• Segunda División B
  • Winners (4): 1955-56, 1964–65, 1984–85, 2007–08

• Workers Federation of Soccer (1): 1931-1932
• First Regional Division (1): 1948-1949
• Second Regional Division (1): 1940-1941
• Copa de Castilla (5): 1952-1953, 1967-1968, 1970-1971, 1972-1973, 1981-1982
• Madrid Cup (2): 1952-1953, 1966-1967
• Copa Ramón Triana (2): 1971-1972, 1973-1974

• 20 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)

As of 2 September 2022

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

Campo of Futbol de Vallecas is a football stadium that is located in Calle Payaso Fofo 1, Vallecas. It was inaugurated on May 10, 1976 initially, it was named "New Stadium Vallecas" However, in January of the year 2004 thirteen years after its arrival by the family Ruiz-Mateos in 1991, the stadium changed designations. The wife was named after her husband, a businessman Jose Maria, the first woman to be the president of a top football team.

It is able to accommodate 14,708 people in a seated configuration with dimensions of 102x64m. In addition One of the lines has no grandstand, but a large wall that has information panels.

As of June 9, 2009, the team made public plans to build the new stadium.

Many people are familiar with the music of the Ska-punk group Ska-P (Rayo Vallecano, and Como un rayo), Rayo Vallecano has an official tune that they is played in their home stadium prior to matches.

It is famous for its chants of "La Vida Pirata" (English: "The Pirate Life") which is a song about pirates. Bukaneros are named after. Bukaneros have been named for.

Spanish:

La vida pirata es la vida mejor (bis)

sin trabajar (bis)

Sin estudiar (bis)

Con la botella de ron (bis)

Soy capitan (bis)

del Santa Ines (bis)

Y en cada puerto tengo una mujer (bis)

La rubia es (bis)

Fenomenal (bis)

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 mas (bis).

English:

The pirate life is the most fulfilling (bis)

that are not working (bis)

without having studied (bis)

In the bottles of Rum (bis)

I am captain (bis)

of of "Santa Ines"' (bis)

In each port and in each port, I have one woman (bis)

The blonde (bis)

phenomenal (bis)

and brunettes aren't too bad either. (bis)

The English women are serious and serious. (bis)

And then there are the French women who offer everything (bis)

If ever (bis)

I must get married (bis)

I am required to get married (bis)

With Rayo, the same as Rayo One only one (bis ).''

Rayo's ultrasor the Bukaneros are renowned for their left-wing views . They often show political messages and other demonstrations, mostly against the commercialization of football. Rayo's ultras are known for their anti-racism and anti-fascist statements, however, they are often disregarded by the government for this.

The club is famous as one of the few neighborhood clubs that are local to Spain and the club representing the barrio as well as its status as a working class club.

The Spanish anti-fascist group Ska-P have been vocal supporter of this club, and have set aside two songs for it and named Como un Rayo and Rayo Vallecano.

Rayo's players are frequently involved in charitable activities. An example is the captain of the club at the time Roberto Trashorras, amongst other players, is often a volunteer in a shelter for homeless.

In March 2012, as a result for the 2011-12 Spanish demonstrations in Spain, the group chose to take a day off of training to take part in the protests. In 2014 the 85-year-old Vallecas residents Carmen Martinez Ayuso was evicted from her home after having lived in the area from the early 1960s. Rayo Vallecano and particularly coach Paco Jemez were moved by her story and offered to finance Martinez for the duration of the next few years.