Musica y Futbol -Rayo Vallecano & Ska-P-

the importance and thoughts of futbol/soccer/football in song

-of RAYO VALLECANO & SKA-P-

I had some idea of Rayo Vallecano due to two songs by Ska-P, a Spanish ska-punk band that hails from a barrio of Madrid, called Vallecas. Rayo Vallecano is the team that belongs to that area, one that has a history of fluctuating between the first and second divisions of the Liga.

Ska-P are known for their political messages; they do not back down from stating their thoughts on the death penalty, abuse of children by priests, abuse of power by politicians and government, and are fervently against the long-standing Spanish tradition of bullfighting; they sing for a united world, without borders, with tolerance. While they have been around since 1994, what they sing about is still very relevant.

"COMO UN RAYO"

Of the two songs in this post, this is the first I heard, and of the two, it is a sweet lyric of being proud of your team.

Son las doce ya, esto va a comenzar // It's already twelve, this (game) is going to begin

...

Romario no esta, aqui no hay capital // Romario is not here, as there is no capital

pero nos da igual, aqui hay calidad // but it's all the same to us, as there is quality

...

Vamos Rayito // Let's go Rayitos

Vallecas esta contigo y todo Madrid // Vallecas is with you and all Madrid

...

Indentificate, quien eres tu? // Identify yourself (Show your colors), who are you (for)?

On 27 February, 2011, 2nd-place Rayo played at 15th-place Huesca, which they lost 1-4 in a game that made it look like Huesca should have been in second, and Rayo in fifteenth.

At half-time the club's presidenta, Maria Teresa Rivero, who had arrived about a half hour into the first half, accused the players on-air of not playing like they wanted to be in the first division of Spanish football. At the end of the game, Rayo captain Michel said "no aguantamos" (we could not hold our own), and that the team is going to keep fighting to get up to the Primera.

"Having watched less than an hour of the Huesca match," says Huw Richards in his article "Rayo Vallecano held back by their owners" in the wonderful When Saturday Comes, "Rivero appeared affronted that her workforce should believe they were entitled to be paid on time."

Thanks to Richards' article, I learned more of the background of Rayo Vallecano, which I had a glimpse of in the two songs by Ska-P, from the same article as linked above:

"It is the latest, potentially terminal, twist in one of football’s odder pairings of club and owner. Rivero’s husband and predecessor as club president Jose Maria Ruiz Mateos is the classic Spanish business magnate who did very nicely under Franco and was happy with the way things were then. His original Rumasa company was the centre of the first great financial scandal following the restoration of democracy in Spain. It was declared insolvent and nationalised in 1983. He was a member, until expelled, of hard-right Catholic sect Opus Dei and has made huge donations to the still more fundamentalist Legion de Cristo.

Rayo are deeply rooted in the working-class, left-voting district of Vallecas. When Spain had a general strike last year, Rayo’s players took part – not least because they were disinclined to cross a picket line formed by supporters. The Ruiz Mateos clan has left its mark. Rayo’s atmospheric ground, the Estadio Vallecas, has been renamed the Estadio Teresa Rivero. The apparent carousel of shirt sponsors, including such memorable names as Dhul and one logo in the form of a giant bee, is in fact a rotation of Ruiz Mateos brand names. Their plans for Rayo have included moving the ground elsewhere and building a giant office block on the site."

On March 13, 2011, Rayo played Granada in their home stadium, which ended in a one-all tie. The fans waved white towels/scarves/flags/materials once presidenta Rivero arrived, which, the commentators said, she noticed (and probably chose to ignore). The picture above was at one end of the stadium, with a picture of Rivero's husband, "La Familia" written in white and a the image together alluding to the movie "The Godfather", with "Ruiz Mateos" underneath "La Familia", as if anyone did not know who the sign referenced. Underneath this, in red, is "Fuera de Vallekas" (Out of Vallecas!).

Another sign: "Rayo si, Rumasa no".

At halftime Rayo's manager Sandoval asked for calm from the fans. They never stopped chanting the whole game.

Another banner: "Ahora mas que nunca: Rayo o muerte" --Now more than ever: Rayo or death

In Tim Stannard's "The Rebirth and Near Death of Rayo Vallecano" for FourFourTwo, he describes his experience at Rayo vs Betis, as well as reveals actions players and fans have taken to get paid or rid of the club's owners.

"Using the national coverage of the game, the players walked out onto the pitch on Sunday night carrying a “Rayo Vallecano Solutions Now!” banner with the fans backing their campaign with a red card protest on the 15th minute and 60th minute mark."

Stannard also says, that

"...the atmosphere inside the three-sided stadium was electric, with the Rayo Ultra group showing their rare-in-Spain Marxist leanings by unfurling a banner condemning the “imperialist war in Libya.”

Which leads perfectly to Ska-P's other song about their club

"RAYO VALLECANO"

I admire the lyrics to this song, and now that I have learned more about the club itself, the lyrics by a group such as Ska-P plus the actions of the (rest of the) fans and players no longer surprise me, especially in light of the actions of their owners

example:

Somos los hinchas mas anarquistas // We're the most anarchistic fans

los mas borrachos, los mas antifascistas // the most drunk, the most anti-fascist

nuestro Rayito revolucionario // our revolutionary Rayito

todos los fachas.. fuera de mi barrio! // all the fascists.. get out of my barrio!

both "Como un Rayo" and "Rayo Vallecano" in a 1997 concert by Ska-P