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Happy New Year! (1st January, 2018)

It's been quite the year.

This blog started in a dorm room, as a result of an impulsive decision. On the 16th of February, 2016, I clicked the publish button.

Everyone makes impulsive decisions - but I may be the only one who doesn't regret it.

Since then, this blog has featured the likes of the The Hinchas y Jugadores project, which (tried) to bring fans, writers, footballers and coaches together. And it blew up - I ended up interviewing ex-Barcelona players, a footballer with three consecutive league titles, the assistant technical director of Rayo Vallecano, an Ipswich legend, and the nephew of Juan Sabas.

Not to mention the fact that fans of Segunda B clubs came on board - yes, Burgos and Real Jaén have fans, and Ponferradina had more than one! Someone actually wrote over 2,500 words about the Barcelona Femení team. UCAM Murcia, a team that were in the sixth tier a decade ago, had a fan too. And if that surprises you, how about the fact that a Norwegian supports Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Or that Real Madrid's reach is so great that they have fans in Kurdistan.

And all that pales in comparison to the coincidence that my Alavés fan interview was with the cousin of ex-Alavés defender Santiago Martínez.

More importantly, this blog has always tried to delve into the depths of the historical archive, and do things that no one is doing. No one plots player's careers on Google Maps. And no one talks about university clubs. So this blog did it - twice, and counting. Not to mention that this blog went to Westfields, and at WHSmith picked up every Madrid travel guide and searched for Vallecas - finding no mention of Vallecas - just to prove the point that Vallecas is under-the-radar.

Because why not.

But this blog has always been about fans. So to all those who contributed to the Hinchas y Jugadores project, or the live projects such as the Rayo aficionado or Las Perspectivas....thank you. This blog doesn't survive without you - and it helps assuage the effects of the impulsive decision I made.

Finally, given that this is the new year, I've attached below a compilation of some pieces that I think went under-the-radar - yes, even on this under-the-radar blog.

This is blog post number 345 on day number 320.

Over and out.

Links:

And some under-the-radar pieces

Javi and Emilio Guerra - twins divided by opportunity
From Catalonia to Heybridge - the story of an eighth division club
Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain 
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