Vallecas-Atleti-Rayo, a retro link

Vallecas, athletic territory. The official link between the neighborhood and the Madrid club turned 91 years old on December 14. On such date of 1930 the rojiblanco team played their first match in the Second Division at the Vallecas stadium at home, then an independent municipality, and built on exactly the same land as the current one, dating from 1976. The National Football Committee had disabled the Metropolitan Stadium, where Athletic club de Madrid used to play. Question of incompatibilities. In its facilities, in addition to playing football, other sports such as athletics, rugby, dir-track races (motorcycles) were held and it was also used as a dog track.

With no land to play on, the rojiblancos had to emigrate to the then new Vallecas stadium, with a capacity of 18,000 fans and that a few months before, in March of that same year, had been inaugurated in a big way, its first owner being the Racing club of Madrid, also a Second Division club. In that enclosure, Athletic played their home games, always in the Second Division, until the 1934-35 season, when he returned to the Metropolitan, coinciding with his promotion to First Division.

The civil war forced the already merged Athletic Aviation to return to exile. His ‘house’ had been totally destroyed by the bombings and its reconstruction was going to be much more expensive, in all respects, than expected at first. The 39-40 season had already been played in Chamartín, the Real Madrid stadium, with the exception of the last match, where the league title was played, which was played in Vallecas. That April 28, 1940, the men led by the mythical Ricardo Zamora beat Valencia with so many from Campos and Elícegui and were proclaimed champions thanks also to the fact that Sevilla did not go beyond the draw against Hercules (3-3).

The rojiblancos felt so comfortable in Vallecas that they leased the stadium to be permanent locals until February 1943 when they returned to the Metropolitan to face Real Madrid (2-1). In the 40-41 season they turned it into a fortress and renewed the title thanks to their home strength where they only yielded three draws. In the last match they defeated Oviedo (3-0) with two goals from Manín and another from Campos.

The red stripe. Founded in 1924, the Rayo Vallecano Sports Group was promoted to Third in the 1948-49 season and One of his first steps was to sign a collaboration agreement with the already Atlético de Madrid. The link went through the transfer of twelve players, including Campos, Callejo, Oreja, Ramón Melcón … and coach Ramón Lafuente, who had been the substitute for Ricardo Zamora in the two seasons that the rojiblancos won their first two league titles and the coach with political problems could not practice as such. In return, Rayo, who started to play at the Vallecas stadium, lent Rodival’s facilities so that the athletic quarry could train and the other sections that the club had (hockey, baseball, basketball…) could play.

As Rayo until then wore all white and black socks, Atlético asked Rayo president, Miguel Rodríguez Alzola, to introduce some red detail in his uniform and thus the diagonal stripe on the front of the shirt was born. According to the documentation of the time, its original layout was inspired by River Plate, which at the end of the 1940s was the great Argentine club and which in May 1949 had traveled to Europe to play a friendly in Turin for the benefit of the relatives of the victims of the Superga plane crash where the 18 Torino players died, as well as assistants, journalists and the crew.

The agreement with Atlético only lasted one season and was resolved amicably, to the point that Rayo kept the red stripe on his jersey, already ahead and behind, in the 50-51 season. At the beginning of the next game, Rayo, always in need of players, reached another collaboration agreement with Plus Ultra, a Real Madrid subsidiary, and decided to remove the red stripe from his shirt and wear all white again with red socks and white.

It was in December of that year (1951) that River Plate played two friendlies in Madrid, beat Real Madrid (3-4) and drew (3-3) with Atlético., and they say that Vallecano managers visited the River Plate expedition at their hotel to inform them that their club had been inspired by River Plate clothing and they gave them a photo … from the previous season with the strip on the shirt and signed by all the players and technicians. Despite the fact that the agreement with the Plus Ultra remained in force in the following season (52-53) the Rayo board of directors decided to put the diagonal red stripe back on his shirt permanently.

Antonio Guzmán, a half World Cup player. Historical statistics consider that since the middle of the last century a long thirty footballers wore both shirts and indistinctly went from one club to another, but there is a very special case, that of Antonio Guzman (Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, 68 years old) that in the summer of 1978 he jumped from Vallecas to Vicente Calderón and on the way he played the World Cup in Argentina with Spain.

After five seasons at Rayo, one of them on loan to Talavera, his only year in Primera (1977-78) allowed the Torrejón midfielder to make the big leap to Atlético accompanied by Argentine striker Palín González and the coach himself, Héctor Núñez. At its premiere in the category, that team was called the giant killer. because in his stadium, as it happens this season, he was invincible. He only gave up a draw and beat the seven clubs that until then had been proclaimed League champions: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético, Athletic, Valencia, Sevilla and Betis.

Although he now admits that he is a bit far from football and that his link continues to be Rayo and Atlético, Antonio Guzmán keeps alive the memory of what happened in that season that changed his life. “It is said soon, play the World Cup and sign for Atlético. All at once. If Kubala called me to the National Team it was because of my great season at Rayo. I knew they were following me. My coach, Héctor, told me so. Núñez. “Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous,” he told me. But the truth is that I was not aware of the final list. How could I be if they had never called me? It was our first year in Primera and no Rayo player had been to a world championship. The news came from my mother. He heard it on the radio. I didn’t believe it, but it was true. “

He made his debut in a preparatory friendly against Uruguay and then played 10 minutes against Brazil in that 0-0 of Cardeñosa’s no-goal. Kubala did not have him again, but took refuge in his signing for Atlético. “I get the impression that Vallecas has always been more athletic than Real Madrid. I know they paid a dough for me but how it was in the package with Palín was not officially known. I went from winning 300 or 400 thousand pesetas to a contract of two , three and four million. This current Rayo reminds me of our giant killer, it is a forceful team. So physically we were like bulls and this one also plays well. It seems to me a team of all for all. No small groups. This is how teams are made winners “.

He recognizes that during the game played today his heart will be broken. “A point for each does not mean anything and now Atlético needs the points more and I would not mind if they won them. The Ray with that current fourth place is close to its goal, which is salvation. Thinking of Europe would be a feat. That Rayo of my time finished third the first round “.