In the middle of the last century, Madrid and Atlأ©tico relied respectively on Plus Ultra and Rayo Vallecano to give the final blow to their promises or to recover injuries. Zأ،rraga, Mateos, Casado, Gento’s brothers, Marsal, Villa of the Magnificent Five… passed through the Plus; by Rayo, Callejo, Rivilla, San Romأ،n, Hollaus, Rives…. These transfers enriched their squads and served Madrid and Atlético to follow the boys very closely. Why each person threw more at one than another had their reasons. Plus Ultra (insurance company) played in Arturo Soria, near the Bernabأ©u, on a field that belonged to Madrid. The Rayo, of course, in the Vallecas field, where Atlأ©tico Aviaciأ³ won the first two post-war Leagues because the Metropolitano, in the front zone, was destroyed. In the neighborhood there were mostly athletic people. In fact, Rayo was born dressed in white but adopted the red stripe in 1949, inspired by River Plate, when it became a subsidiary of Atlético.
In 1961, Rayo was relegated to Tercera and Atlético, which already had Cuatro Caminos in that category, was no longer interested. Bernabأ©u, who wanted to colonize Vallecas, gave it successively to Velأ،zquez and De Felipe. And by the time in 1963, Plus Ultra decided to opt decisively for Rayo. The amateur Madrid, the last step of the quarry, had just proclaimed itself champion of Spain again and on that basis it proposed to Juan Roiz Morante, Rayista president, an agreement that includes in the form of a dialogue the History of Rayo Vallecano from Rosa de la Vega:
-Juan, do you want to move up?
-For God’s sake, Don Santiago, what things are you saying, you are the doctor and I am the sick person. Of course I want the promotion!
-Then you are going to do what I tell you. I’m going to give you several players, but the coach has to be the one I send you. When our amateur plays in Vallecas, we give you 10% of the box office and when Rayo plays, you give us 30%, but, yes, the Real Madrid club will take care of all the expenses: employees, electricity, water, coach, players, etcأ©tera, let them all come and collect money from Chamartأn.
That’s how it was done. The champion squad went almost entirely to Rayo (only Grosso was reserved for the Plus), which in turn had just signed a small but great winger from Carabanchel called Felines. Among the white promises, Manuel Lasheras stood out, whom Bernabأ©u saw as Di Stأ©fano’s successor. José Luis Lأ³pez Peinado was also there. The coach was Pedro Eguiluz. This is how Rayo faced 64-65.
It was an overwhelming success: 26 wins, 4 draws, 0 losses, 102-14 in goals. In the promotion they eliminated Jerez and Ferrol. The only shadow was the disappearance of the Lasheras phenomenon. He fainted after finishing off a corner taken by Felines. The cause never appeared. It was the time when Martínez, that Betis midfielder signed by Atlأ©tico, was in a coma, and the doctors did not dare to discharge him.
Promotion to the Second Division was celebrated with a friendly against Girondins, runners-up in the French League. Madrid reinforced Rayo with six players: De Felipe, Sanchأs, Santos Bedoya, Serena, Puskas and Gento. The crowd was colossal. Rayo won 2-0, the first goal was scored by Puskas. Unforgettable day for Vallecas. Bernabأ©u received the club’s gold and diamond insignia.
Every year a new batch of amateurs entered. For example, Benito and Antonio Grande passed by there. That Rayo contributed more players than anyone to the amateur team that qualified for the Mexico Games, our return to Olympic football, which we had been missing since 1928.
But Juan Roiz was replaced by his cousin, Pedro Roiz, whose relationship with Bernabأ©u was not so close. He in turn noticed that neither the amateur team was wanted there (Rayo had its own amateur, in which Potele was sweeping at the time) nor did Madrid recruit partners in Vallecas. Roiz, for his part, aspired to an independent Rayo and with 70% of the blockbusters he made good signings on his own.
So after ’67-68, just the summer of the Mexico Olympics, it dissolved. Bernabأ©u said a friendly goodbye to Pedro Roiz: “There is nothing to do. Vallecas is from Atletiâ€. He returned to Plus Ultra, which he completely absorbed, renamed in 1971 as Castilla and began playing in the Ciudad Deportiva. It will bear great fruit and even play in the Cup Winners’ Cup. For its part, Rayo continued its independent life and in 1977, with Felines still in its ranks, it achieved the dream of reaching Primera.
