Skip to main content

The A-Z guide to Rayo Vallecano (Addition edition): A is for Alcorcón (14th December, 2017)

Alcorcón is one of Rayo's most underrated shop windows - and the players who've signed for Rayo aren't highly heralded but quietly significant.

So here it is - a run down of players who've signed for Rayo from Alcorcón.

Carlos de la Vega is one of them. After emerging through Rayo Vallecano's youth system, the right-back went on to play with amateur sides Alcalá and Alcorcón, also from his hometown of Madrid, until well into his 20's.

He did not have his first taste of full professional football until the 2008-09 season (he had only played one match with Rayo's first team in 2002-03's La Liga, two minutes) when, after returning to Rayo in the previous year, he was fairly used as the club easily retained its Segunda status.

In late December 2009, de la Vega was loaned to another side in the second level, Huesca, until the end of the season. In July 2012, after more than one year out of football, the 32-year-old signed for two seasons with Leganés in the Segunda B.

He retired in 2014, aged 34.



Right-winger Néstor Susaeta began his career with Real Sociedad, but only appeared for the reserves during his spell with the Txuri-urdin, also being loaned to Eibar and Salamanca - both clubs in the Segunda - and being released in 2007.

In that summer, he joined Basque neighbors Athletic Bilbao, but again only featured with the B-side, in the Segunda B. After a sole season in which he received little playing time, Susaeta signed for another team in that level, Alcorcón, being one of the most important players as they reached the promotion playoffs, ultimately falling short.

Susaeta moved to Rayo Vallecano in division two in 2009, appearing in 31 games in his first year but in only 14 in the following (three starts), as the club returned to La Liga after an eight-year absence. In January 2012, he terminated his contract and signed with Lausanne-Sport of the Swiss Super League; he left at the end of the season, and moved to Guadalajara.

He has since played for Real Oviedo in the third and second tiers between 2013-17, and now plays for Albacete after cutting ties with the Carbayones.



Madrid-born Tito spent his first six years as a senior player in lowly clubs in his native region, such as Alcalá and Alcorcón, also representing Mallorca B in the third and fourth divisions.

In August 2009, due to a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave for free if any second level team required his services, the right-back left Alcorcón for another team from the capital, Rayo Vallecano, for two seasons. He only appeared in ten games in his second year as the club returned to La Liga after an eight-year absence, but subsequently became an undisputed starter.

In July 2016, after Rayo's top level relegation, the former signed a two-year deal with Granada; the following January he was loaned to fellow league side Leganés, being bought outright in June.



Finally, a center back who rarely gets any mention, and probably won't, is Salvador Funet Sardina, aka Salva. After playing for Leganés, Alicante and Alcorcón, he joined Rayo at the age of 26 in 2007, playing as backup in the 2007-08 season but starting in Rayo's overachieved 5th place in 2008-09 and their subsequent 11th place slump in 2009-10. However, at the young age of 30, he retired due to chronic problems in the right knee which saw him miss the whole 2010-11 season.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ismael Urzaiz and Salamanca. A 22 team La Liga. Trust and Víctor Casadesús (9th June, 2017)

Salamanca traveled to Albacete to compete for promotion to La Liga with an impossible task on their hands. They had to overturn a 2-0 deficit away from home, against a side that entered La Liga's relegation playoff spots on the final day, and who had scored 44 goals in the league - just four less than Salamanca themselves. As the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, Salamanca were winning 1-0 yet in danger of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Born in Tudela, Navarre, Urzaiz began his professional career at Real Madrid's B-side, making his debut in Segunda División in 1989. Despite being a successful youth international, he did not make any La Liga appearances for the first team (however, he did play one game against Odense BK, in the 1990–91 European Cup). Urzaiz spent the 1991–92 season on loan at Albacete Balompié, making his top flight debut when he came on as a substitute against Athletic Bilbao in October 1991. In early 1993, he was loaned to Celta de Vigo

Non-league Incider: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers

Last game: 8th August: Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 East Thurrock United The previous day, I was blown away by my first ever football match experience. Dulwich Hamlet impressed me, but what impressed me more was the journey. The travel to the stadium was just as enjoyable as the football itself. I had caught the groundhopping bug. There were no games scheduled for the 9th of August. There was one, near Wigan, and all I had booked earlier was a refundable bus ticket from Manchester Airport leaving at quarter past midnight. I should have refunded it. This was a mistake. This whole day was a mistake. I was only slightly hungover from the previous night, but that was nothing compared to this feeling of loss - I couldn't handle the fact that there was a game happening. And I wasn't too far away. Just three hours and a bit. They'll fly by , I thought. I was in autopilot. Something within me made me get up, grab a bag, and get out the door. This wasn't me. I wasn't trave

Non-league Incider: Cray Valley Paper Mills 4-4 Punjab United Gravesend

Last game: 9th August: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers After ripping up my groundhopping calendar, mostly because I was determined to avoid overnight travel, and partly due to other commitments, there was a period of time where non-league football took a backseat. But that period did not last long. Because of course it didn't. Secretly, I'd loved travelling over ten hours back-and-forth to watch some 10th division football. And this was 9th division football in London. When I had gone to East Dulwich exactly a week back , I had commented on how the amount of graffiti struck me as I watched from on board a southeastern train. I was going the exact same way, but much further this time - then I had stopped at Denmark Hill, now I would have to go six stations further. The graffiti I had thought was so emblematic of south London quickly disappeared, as did the tall buildings desperately cluttered together. We, and by we I mean me, were going to the suburb