Madrid has two football giants, Real and Atlético. But there is also a third club whose shirt is instantly recognisable: Rayo Vallecano, with its white shirt and red diagonal sash across the chest. The story of that sash runs through a working-class neighbourhood, a deal with Atlético and a love affair that reached all the way to Argentina.

A club born in a house in Vallecas

Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924 in Vallecas, a working-class district of Madrid. The founding took place in the house of Prudencia Priego, wife of Julián Huerta, the club's first president.

The original name was Agrupación Deportiva El Rayo. The word "rayo" means "lightning bolt" in Spanish. In 1947 the club became Agrupación Deportiva Rayo Vallecano, and since 1995 it has been called Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.

From the start, Rayo was more than a football club. It was the voice of a neighbourhood with a strong social identity, and it keeps that spirit to this day.

The early years: an all-white shirt

For its first 25 years, Rayo played in a white shirt, white shorts and black socks. A simple kit, but one that looked a lot like Real Madrid's. For a small club that wanted to stand out in the city, that was not enough.

1949: the year of the red sash

The big change came in 1949, through two paths that met.

The first was a cooperation agreement with Atlético Madrid, known as the "Mutual Aid Agreement". Atlético would loan players to Rayo, on condition that a red detail be added to Rayo's shirt in its honour, so that it would not look like Real. As a result, the white and red of the shirt essentially combine the colours of the city's two big clubs.

The second path was River Plate. Rayo's directors admired the Argentine club, which was touring Europe at the time and enjoyed great fame. River already wore the white shirt with the red diagonal sash. That was the design Rayo chose.

The sash runs from the left shoulder down to the right. Since then, the club's players and fans have been called "Franjirrojos", "the ones with the red sash". That same year, Rayo was promoted to the Tercera División for the first time.

Two clubs, one sash

The bond with River did not stop at the shirt. The "twinning" of the two clubs was sealed in 1953, when River visited Madrid. Rayo gave the Argentines a shirt, and they sent back two sets of shirts, which the Spaniards wore in official matches.

The two teams met on the pitch in 1978, at the Villa de Madrid tournament, where River won 1-0. Years later, in 2012, Argentine Alejandro "Chori" Domínguez, a former River player, said at his unveiling at Rayo that the red sash was one of the reasons he joined the club.

The shirt today

Rayo's shirt has changed manufacturers and details over the years, but the white base with the red diagonal sash has stayed the same. In this shirt the club played in La Liga for the first time in 1977 and in the UEFA Cup in the 2000-01 season, at the Vallecas ground opened in 1956.

In 2024, for its centenary, Rayo released a commemorative Umbro shirt with a classic collar and the traditional red sash, a shirt already considered a collector's item.

A shirt with character

The Rayo Vallecano shirt is one of the most distinctive in Europe. Behind it lie a working-class neighbourhood, a clever agreement and a friendship that unites two continents. That is why it is loved not only by its fans but also by anyone who collects shirts with a story.

See our Rayo Vallecano jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: the Vallecas ground at half-time of Rayo Vallecano v Real Betis (2023-24) – Davicilio20, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0.