By Karl Coppack

“Madrid is a suburb of Vallecas” – José González De la Vieja (Potele) – Rayo Vallecano 1967-1978

Sport and politics should not mix, claims the adage. One is about enjoyment and competitiveness while the other is about everything else. Football should be a release from life’s problems, not an addition to them.

This has been the view of many over the years. A small row erupted in Liverpool last season when a flag bearing an image of Labour leader of Jeremy Corbyn was waved on the Kop while Robbie Fowler was fined by UEFA for showing his support for sacked dockers in 1997. More recently, American football fans saw their sport politicised when several NFL players protested about police brutality against ethnic minorities. Journalist Stephen Moore wrote of the ‘taking a knee’ debate in The Washington Times:

“One of the most amazing revelations about the shameful and unpatriotic antics by NFL players who are taking the knee or even lying on the ground stretching during the national anthem, has been the near-universal approval by sports journalists. The left has infiltrated the locker room, and sports commentators now all think they are social reformers and muckrakers. Fake news is now endemic on the sports pages too.”

Around this time, Radio Five Live broadcasted a documentary about the controversy in which a fan expressed a similar view albeit with less reactionary language:

“I’m fine with them exercising their right. I just don’t want to see it in my stadium when I’m trying to enjoy a game.”

This would not be a welcome view in the Madrid barrio or district of Vallecas or of the embodiment of its local pride – Rayo Vallecano de Madrid. Here, football and politics are one and the same thing.

Vallecas lies to the south-east of central Madrid and is divided into two areas – Villa de Vallecas and Puente de Vallecas. In the latter area at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas play Spain’s last true neighbourhood club. El Rayo.

There’s something fascinating about the third club in large cities and districts. Partick Thistle are dwarfed in terms of resources by their Glaswegian neighbours Rangers and Celtic while Tranmere Rovers sit many divisions away from Liverpool and Everton across the River Mersey. El Rayo have little in common with Atletico Madrid and practically nothing at all with the commercial might of Real.

Agrupacion Deportiva El Rayo were formed in 1924 in the home of Mrs Prudencia Priego. Mrs Priego had four sons. Julian became the club’s first ever president while Juan would be their first captain. The club changed its name to Apgrupacion Deportiva Rayo Vallecano in 1947 and have been known by its current name since 1995.

Those family ties have never really been broken in Vallecas. There can’t be any club in the world so tied to its community. Vallecas is a working class suburb and one proud of its roots. In the 1960s it became a hotbed for Spanish immigration into the capital city and, subsequently, an area of passionate Franco resistance during the Generalissimo’s reign. Nowadays, it is opposed to the gentrification of its city and fervently left-wing in its outlook.

It is difficult to find the correct term for what Rayo represent in the community, but it is certainly the place where the locals congregate. As one former player said: ‘Rayo is Vallecas, Vallecas is Rayo.’ The two are practically synonymous and the inhabitants of the barrio seek social and political change there as much as any official chamber. Rayo is a club run on the basis of a socialist ethos.

The largest element of the Rayo support are known as Los Bukaneros, named after “the Batalla Naval of Vallekas” which is celebrated every year by the people of Vallekas. They are unlike most fan groups.

There is a difference between an ultra and a hooligan, though the distinction is seldom made. There is a lazy stereotype attached to the term. The British press paint ultras as violent by nature with racist and homophobic leanings. This is particularly the case in Italy where some groups have a huge amount of power and have to be appeased by the club’s management against the threat of vicious demonstration. Los Bukaneros are anything but. They are fervently anti-fascist and often hold anti-racist days on the terraces, which have since been adopted by the club.

Furthermore, this is not a club which lauds its successes and superiority over rival. Their identity is more important than any score-line. One banner at the ground sums up their principles in just three words: ‘Poor, but proud.’

Peaceful protests are common place at the ground, but so is humour. When the local police insisted on filming the ultras and confiscated their political banners, some came to the ground wearing orange – a reference to the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay – at the perceived criminalisation of football fans.

(Image from Marca)

When they were forced to play against Levante at 11am, the ultras refused to take their seats for the first half hour, leaving only a banner with pictures of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street and the words ‘Please keep the noise down. It’s sleep time, not football time.’

Some fans protest through aggression, El Rayo fans use Sesame Street characters and, on one occasion, The Simpsons.

This humanitarian support was given a global audience in the case of Carmen Martinez Ayudo.

Carmen was an 85-year-old widow who had been evicted from her home on Calle Sierra de Palomeras, Vallecas. Her son had used her flat as a guarantee on a loan which he was unable to repay. The lender, along with a heavy and unnecessary police presence, put her on the streets.

News of this reached the club and the then manager Paco Jemez decided to do something about it. He later said:

“We couldn’t just stand there; we will help her so that she can live somewhere with dignity and not feel alone.”

Obviously the fans were in full support and, in their next match; they unfurled a long banner which read:

“The evictions of a sick state, the solidarity of a working-class neighbourhood”

The club found her new premises and paid her rent.

This is just one story about the devotion of the club and its fans to its community. What is significant is that they are still humble in their endeavours. The team itself regularly yoyo between the top tiers of Spanish football and have been known to drop further, but, in many ways the football is only of secondary significance. What is important to the fans is that El Rayo are honest. They want the players to be either from Vallecas or be its adoptive sons. Everything serves their ethos. Poor but proud. People over profits. That ideology comes before everything else including success on the pitch.

This came to a head last January when the club signed Ukrainian forward Roman Zozulya on loan from Real Betis. Zozulya was alleged to have hard-right sympathies which stood in direct opposition to the Vallecano support. The signing sparked outrage. On his first day of training at his new club, fans turned up with a banner reading ‘Vallekas no es lugar para Nazis’ – ‘Vallecas is not the place for Nazi’s.’ The club subsequently cancelled his contract and Zozulya returned to Betis, As Spanish Football Federation rules state that a player cannot sign for two teams in the same campaign, Zozulya was unable to play for the rest of the season.

Zozulya wrote a letter to the fans denying that he was right-wing. He is a founder member of Narodna Armiya (the People’s Army) in Ukraine which provides clothes and equipment for the Ukrainian Army in its war in Donbass against pro-Russian forces. This was misinterpreted by many as supporting the right against the left. Zozulya now plays for Albacete.

On the pitch, El Rayo have one of the greatest kits in Spain. Borrowing heavily from River Plate model, the home strip has a red sash across a white shirt while the away kit features a reversal of those colours. In 2015, the club launched a third kit which was black with a rainbow stripe, celebrating ‘the unsung heroes of society.’ Each colour represented a different struggle. The red stripe is for those tackling cancer, orange for disability rights, yellow was for “those who have lost hope”, green for the environment, blue for those fighting against child abuse and pink for the victims of domestic violence – a huge issue in Spain. The combination has obvious links with LGBT causes. In an age where club simply choose shirt designs by who can donate the most sponsorship, this is refreshing to say the least.

As for the current team, El Rayo currently sit on top of the Segunda Division though they have just been beaten by third place Sporting Gijon and second place Huesca have a game in hand. Managed by former player Michel, their top scorer is Raul de Tomas who is on loan from Real Madrid. They also have former Manchester United misfit Bebe in the team.

Notable former players include local born Alvaro Negredo, known as The Beast of Vallecas, Michu and Diego Costa, who scored ten goals in sixteen appearances while on loan from Atletico in 2012.

Rayo Vallecano was the final club of the late Laurie Cunningham. The former West Bromwich Albion and England international played scored the goal which confirmed El Rayo’s promotion to the Primera Liga in 1989. Two months later he was killed in a crash in Madrid.

The top division has often been cruel to the club as their 10-2 demolition by Barcelona in 2015 proved, but it would be quite something to see such a small club, brimming with integrity in the top flight. If they miss out though it won’t be the end of the world. After all, football is only a secondary consideration for El Rayo.

(I’d recommend ‘Working Class Heroes’ by Robbie Dunne should you be interested in learning more about El Rayo. Available here. https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/working-class-heroes )