“Why am I from Rayo? For the same reason that you fall in love and you don't know why …”

For

Why am I from the Ray? Well, for the same reason that you fall in love and you don't know why … “. Francisco Caro García (Madrid, October 16, 1929) is subscriber number 1 and the author of a reflection felt and shared by thousands of redhead fans. More if possible, on a day as important as this, May 29. 97 years ago the El Rayo Sports Group was founded and today it is its oldest partner who blows the candles on the cake, making a wish: “See him again in First and playing well. I would follow him on TV, though I will be a subscriber of the Ray until I clap“.

Francisco's story starts at number 3 of the Plaza de Canalejas, in the heart of Madrid, but they were his studies at “the School of Arts and Crafts on Avenida de la Albufera” those who discovered him Vallecas and the team. There was feeling and appointment by appointment, match by match, a love emerged that has lasted almost 70 years. It was paid on September 12, 1951 and until now. “I have never lived in the neighborhood, but I fell in love with it. I was educated here, I made friends … In the stadium, Atlético Aviación trained and played and there were days when they made balls to see it. I really liked soccer. I became fond of Rayo and I continued, I continued, I continued… ”, he narrates.

Slowly, snapshots are revealed in his memory. One: “The field of Rodival! Now they are houses. “Another:”The transfer of Lolo and the milkman to the Plus Ultra! They were just taken away when they were emerging. “And another:”How good was Peñalva! He was a forward and I think he had an alfalfa shop. “For Francisco, to speak of the Ray is to make it of his life, since they have been intertwined at each stage: “I worked in a party room, Pasapoga, and how I had the mornings free I used to come to football with my wife, at that time my girlfriend. Once, during a winter, with a horrible cold, we made some bonfires with newspapers in the side stand, in which we were standing. And she, approaching, the crystal stockings burned“.

He sighs longingly when he looks back and verbalize how things have changed: “Before the footballers came running from work, but then they became professional. Felines, Potele, Wilfred, Cota came… Cota gave me two invitations to watch a game against Sevilla, water started to fall and it was suspended, so I was left with the desire. I also fed them several times at the Hotel Alameda, where the team passed when they traveled”. And it is that Francisco did not stop, even reaching act as an extra in movies like '55 in Beijing 'or' Robbery at three '. Precisely, in the middle of the pit, he was caught by Rayo's first promotion to First (76-77). “I still celebrated with champagne and everything”, apostille.

The hero of that clash is the player who has captivated him the most of those who have seen defend the Strip: “Felines was a phenomenon, he was not loud and they gave him a lot of firewood because he was so good that he made them every break …”. And if the later 'Giant slayer' made him enjoy himself in a big way (“We won them all. We didn't believe it”), he lived the UEFA adventure as a source of tremendous pride. “Man, we were captains general. We did a good job and I was going to work more stretched… ”, he laughs.

Francisco did not witness the 'Tamudazo' in the stadium, but suffered a great deal since “Ray is not suitable for the faint of heart”. And that he, with age, has managed to temper his nerves. “Before, for my own sake, my equipment always seemed good to me. Now, I do not look at it with the euphoria with which my son or my grandson do. At that time it was all screaming, I was hoarse. I didn't see them doing anything wrong and if one of my people kicked another, it was fine.“, exposes, before counting between laughs:” Once we played against a Catalan team and the referee whistled us fatal, so many we jump to the field to recriminate him. I had to go alone and a little lighting; if not, I don't shoot. The just nonsense. And as soon as I got off, I got on again“.

That love for the Strip was instilled in his entire family, in which there are four generations of rayistas, from Francisco to his great-grandchildren. They are his wife María Luisa, his children Ignacio and Pilar, his grandson Nacho, his great-nephews David and Adrián … At his appointment with AS, he is accompanied by the 'Ignacios', with whom he continues to share his moments at the stadium, although at 91 years of age they are less and less. “My grandson brings me on occasion. Sight fails me. I don't even see the ball on TV. I usually go to bed and put the transistor because I find out better”, He argues, before going back to how he lived the games in the past:” There was a great atmosphere. We got together with our sandwich, the wine boot … And then, when we went out, we made a tour of the bars on Avenida de la Albufera, taking the aperitif, until catching the metro in Puente de Vallecas”.

Stay true to your colors and watch out for the Ray of Iraola, even if it is not captivating you. “Except for these last two games they have played so badly … I am not liking anything this year, but I will follow him and he will always be my team“, he corroborates. Of the current squad he feels a weakness for a footballer:”Baby. He gave some boots to my great-grandson and he has them in his room“. He also gets excited talking about Paco Jémez, cicerone in the tribute that the club paid to Francisco for his 90th birthday. “He has been a terrific coach and with Rayo, a gentleman. Apparently with the directive he shouldn't be doing very well, I think they weren't talking to each other … ”, he whispers.

Then, They gave him a shirt signed by all the players. One of the treasures it keeps, such as your old cards or the entity's gold and shiny insignia. “I have taken it to pawn and they have not taken it,” he says with a mischievous smile, between the laughter of all. “It's a joke, it's a joke,” he insists before resuming the story: “Teresa Rivero gave it to us at a meal to the first five subscribers. We got to know each other more at some awards from the Peña Rayista 2004 and with the current number 2 —Rafael Garrido— he is the one with whom I chatted the most.“. They embody memory, roots, origin, as they were. Rafael Sanjuán, Antonio Sánchez Berenguer and José García Council, his predecessors as partners number 1 and deceased throughout these last two years. His memory was present at this meeting.

“It would seem like a great idea to make a museum. I want everything that is good for the club, “says Francisco, as he takes out a pass from the 80s, which has his photo printed on the back.” Look how handsome he was! And here you put a coupon … I gave some old cards, from the fifties, to a neighbor of mine who was from Rayo. I have sat in almost every area of ​​the stadium, although the Albufera side is where the most and the numbers that I had the longest were one hundred and thirteen“, he comments without giving too much importance:”They are history, but look, I had them stored in the drawer of the table …“.

For Francisco, what has traveled accompanying the team since its stage in Third (“I was going to El Escorial, Aranjuez, Alcalá … In Toledo they gave us a spanking, but with stones and that, do not see what bad milk they used. Later, with the family, I was in San Sebastián, Zaragoza, Valladolid… ”), tomorrow's Sunday meeting will be special. He will be aware of the Strip, which is at stake in the playoff against Lugo. He will suffer again. To want. Because there are loves that time cannot erase and that of Francisco by his Ray is eternal …