My favourite Valladolid player of all time

During the time I was in Valladolid I was lucky enough to see some quality players and some not so quality. Close contenders for my favourite include:

Henok Goitom — A 6’5” Swedish striker of Eritrean descent,  he scored one of the two goals I was there to witness. Absolutely terrible footballer but the fans loved him for his comedy name. The most notable moment for him would be in a game against Real Betis, there was a long ball over the top which he brought down expertly six yards out, he lashed the laces of his left boot through the ball, fans and players alike watched in awe as the ball sailed nearly 20 metres over the bar. He made 29 appearances for Valladolid scoring 10 goals. He now plays for Almeria.

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Bartholomew Ogbeche — This man would come out with some of the most skilled footwork I have ever seen. His only drawback was that he couldn’t hit a barn door. The young Nigerian made 35 appearances for Valladolid between 2007-2009 scoring 3 goals. He now plays for Middlesbrough.

Sergio Asenjo — I consider it a privilege to have seen this man play. He was no doubt responsible for Valladolid avoiding relegation in the 2008-09 season with some lightning quick reflex saves, game after game. I would love to see him in the Valladolid shirt again at some point in the future. He currently plays for Atletico de Madrid.

However, the winner is:

Borja — My all-time favourite. An absolute hard-bastard of a holding midfielder. Always ran the risk of getting sent off due to his love of a crunching tackle that left his opponents in agony. He was also partial to a long range effort that never ever went in. I remember Valladolid’s pre-season tour of England a couple of years ago where he scored an absolute screamer in a 2-2 draw with Stoke City. He made 128 appearances between 2006 and 2010, scoring thrice. He now plays for Deportivo La Coruña. In his 12 year professional career he has scored 7 goals.

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So there you go. A quick(ish) summary of Real Valladolid and their current situation. A lot of you may ask, ‘well what’s the point, why would it interest anybody?’ Well, whats the point in anything? In my own small way I want to raise the profile of a small club who have fallen on hard times while simultaneously point out that there is more to Spanish football that Real Madrid and Barcelona. That being said, altogether now…..

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