It is a story that has become a legend. Real Madrid dominated the game on every front but still President Santiago Bernabeu wanted his players to remain grounded. He knew that supporters were struggling to make ends meet and so demanded that players not show up for training or football matches in fancy cars.
Bernabeu felt that such an action would alienate the players from the fans and show that the players didn’t understand the common man, the man that was paying to watch them. He was applauded for it but what would he think of the modern game? Yes, football has come a long way but has it all been for the better?
It’s now a game that sees players not only judged by their talent on the pitch but also by the cars they drive, the girls they date and the clothes they wear. A game where players play out theatrical stunts in the Press so they can receive a few extra noughts on their already bulging pay cheque whilst the rest of the world face recession, a recession that some have claimed is the worst since the Great Depression.
That is not to say that footballers are to blame for their actions but the fact that most appear to fail to understand the plight of the majority outside the game says a lot. Would players complain as much about being unhappy if they spent a week with a family struggling to survive on less than €800 a month? It is fair to say that they would probably not.
Whilst football’s popularity continues to grow and the growth shows no signs of halting, long-time supporters and followers are becoming further and further dismayed with the sport. But just when many thought that the game had turned a corner too many and football needed someone to remind us that players and clubs are human and in touch with people’s real problems, Rayo Vallecano stepped up.
Not all clubs and players are blind to the struggles of their fans and there are many examples of generosity from those in the game that goes unreported. But, one story that really captured attention was that of Carmen Martinez Ayudo. Ayudo, 85, was evicted from her apartment in Vallecas last week after her son had used her house as security for a loan, a loan that Ayudo knew nothing about.
As her son failed to pay the loan and the debt rose, the lender evicted Ayudo from her home of more than 40 years. Seeing the images of the eviction caused one man to sit up and do something. That man was Rayo Coach, Paco Jemez.
The Rayo Vallecano boss declared a day after the eviction that the players and technical staff of the club would be paying for an apartment for Ayudo for the rest of her life. It has been said a number of times that clubs need to wake up and realise that supporters who had stood by their clubs through thick and thin were in trouble and now it was the turn of clubs to help fans.
Jemez noted that football clubs and players can’t save everyone but that in the case of Ayudo, it was a local woman who needed help. The club couldn’t turn a blind eye and that maybe clubs could do a little more.
Whilst other football clubs have famously donated money to charity, what makes the action taken by Rayo so remarkable is that it is the players and the staff who will pay for Ayudo out of their own pockets. Already amongst the lowest paid players in the League and unable to use this as a write-off against tax, it is a gesture that shows that some footballers do still care. Yet, Rayo have always been different.
Players arriving to games on the Metro, fans giving money to unpaid players and a huge ant- racism agenda, it is fair to say that Rayo aren’t your typical club. Their Ultras divide many in football. Their political protests have won plenty of praise but sometimes the fact they have to resort to violence taints their image. Rayo has always sold itself as a club of the people but this has become somewhat of a cliché in the modern game. But, at Vallecas it hasn’t.
Whenever a general strike has been called in Spain, Rayo have been amongst the few clubs that have gone out on strike too. It is a club that know fully well what is happening in the real world, with many players having gone months in the past without payment and having to depend on other family members to survive.
After games, some players meet fans in bars to discuss the game or life in general. This image is in stark contrast to what can be seen at other grounds where footballers wear oversized head-phones to block out supporters comments and the act of lifting a hand to acknowledge fans is greeted with as much enthusiasm as a random drug test.
Football is supposed to be considered a gentleman’s game. As the sport grows, the traditional values of the game seem to disappear more and more. Santiago Bernabeu knew the game well and also knew that it was much more than getting the right results. He believed that players should conduct themselves in a chivalrous fashion, both on and off the pitch. What he would think of the current way the game is played and acted out, nobody will ever know.
But, it would be fair to believe that although he would have approved of Rayo Vallecano’s actions last week, he would have been further dismayed that more clubs were failing to understand their supporters’ plight.
Image source: rayovallecano.es
