Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano is a football (soccer) club from Spain.

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Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D., often abbreviated to Rayo, is a Spain Segunda División football (soccer) club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. They play at the 15,000-seater Estadio Teresa Rivero.

History

One of the perennial yo-yo clubs of Spanish football, Rayo Vallecano spent many years during the 1980s and 1990s moving back and forth between La Liga and Segunda División. Having appeared to consolidate its top flight status with promotion in Segunda División 1998-99, the team's most successful season came in La Liga 2000-01, having a UEFA Cup 2000-01, going out only to the eventual runners-up Deportivo Alavés (Rayo finished ninth, but UEFA awarded the side a spot for fair play).

Since then, Rayo Vallecano fell on hard times, with successive relegations from the first (in La Liga 2002-03) and the second levels (Segunda División 2003-04). In Segunda División B - Group 1 - 2005-06 season, Rayo Vallecano hired José Miguel González Martín, a legend for Real Madrid in the 80's/90's, as team manager.

Rayo Vallecano finished the Segunda División B - Group 1 - 2006-07 season in second place, in Segunda División B, winning the Segunda División Play-Off 2006/07 semifinal, but losing in the final to SD Eibar (1-2 aggregate). The next season, Rayo returned to the second division after a four-year absence, winning the Segunda División Play-Off 2007-08, disposing of Benidorm CD in the semifinal, and Zamora CF in the last game (2-1 aggregate).

In Segunda División 2008-09, Rayo finished the season comfortably, and even had chances of promotion during the last month of competition. On the other hand, its Rayo Vallecano Femenino won the Superliga Femenina 2008-09 for the first time.

Club names

- Agrupación Deportiva El Rayo (May 29, 1924 - November 13, 1947)
- Agrupación Deportiva Rayo Vallecano (November 13, 1947-1995)
- Rayo Vallecano de Madrid (1995-present)

N.B. Affiliate of Atlético Madrid in 1949-50

As of 28th July 2009, according to combined sources on the official website.

Seasons

- 32 seasons in Segunda División
- 5 seasons in Segunda División B
- 11 seasons in Tercera División

- Federación Regional Castellana de Fútbol (1928-30; 1939-49)
- - 7 seasons in Primera Categoría
- - 3 seasons in Segunda Categoría

- Federación Obrera de Fútbol (1931-36)
- - 5 seasons

Famous players

- Joaquim Silva (footballer)
- Horacio Ameli
- Daniel Aquino
- Mariano Armentano
- Gustavo Bartelt
- Leonardo Angel Biagini
- Rubén Cano
- Ezequiel Castillo
- Juan Ramón Comas
- Rubén Favret
- Daniel Óscar Flores
- Patricio Graff
- Darío Alberto Gigena
- Óscar Raúl González
- Diego Klimowicz
- Martín Mandra
- Hugo Maradona
- Diego Sebastián Saja
- Anton Polster
- Elvir Baljić
- Elvir Bolić
- Emir Granov
- Rafael Jacques

- Gláucio de Jesus Carvalho
- Iriney Santos da Silva
- Guilherme de Cássio Alves
- Fabrice Moreau
- Jorge Valdivia
- Hernán Medford
- Stjepan Andrijasevic
- Søren Andersen
- Laurie Cunningham
- Mark Draper
- Francisco Salvador Elà
- Iván Zarandona
- Jean-François Hernandez
- Eric Roy (footballer)
- Gerhard Poschner
- Idan Tal
- Hugo Sánchez
- Guillermo Mendizábal
- Yassine Abdellaoui
- Dave van den Bergh
- Robert Gehring
- Henry Makinwa
- Wilfred Agbonavbare

- Tiago César Moreira Pereira
- Hélder Manuel Elias Domingo Batista
- Gheorghe Viscreanu
- Viktor Onopko
- Dmitri Radchenko
- Ivan Tomic
- Milos Drizic
- Josip Visnjic
- Ismael Urzaiz
- Jesus Diego Cota
- Paco (footballer)
- Abel Resino
- Alfonso Cortijo
- Rafael García Cortés
- Juan Ramón López Muñiz
- Pedro Contreras
- Juan Manuel Rosado
- Kasey Keller
- Josemir Lujambio
- Fernando Morena
- Eduardo Belza
- Ricardo Perdomo
- Alvaro Felscher
- Daniel Noriega (football)
's last club – he was killed in a car crash just outside of Madrid in 1989, after a sole season. He also had represented neighbours Real Madrid four years.

- Spanish antifascist band (music) Ska-P are outspoken supporters of Rayo Vallecano (and the whole Vallecas neighbourhood) and have dedicated a song to it, named Ska-P (album).

Algeciras, Arenas Club de Guecho, Burgos CF, CA Tetuán, Cádiz, CD Alcoyano, CD Condal, CD Europa, CD Leganés, CD Logroñes, CD Sabadell, CF Extremadura, CG Tarragona, Ciudad Murcia, CP Mérida, Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, Ejido, Granada CF, Lorca, Ponferradina, Pontevedra CF, Racing Ferrol, Rayo Vallecano, Real Jaén CF, Real Madrid B, Real Oviedo, Real Unión de Irún, SD Compostela, Terrassa, UE Lleida, Vecindario