David Raya has to compete with Unai Simón and Joan Garcia for a place in Spain’s goal. The Arsenal goalkeeper recently opened up about his career journey, from playing in the English fifth tier to the Champions League final.
From Southport to the World Cup
Raya’s first senior competitive game was away at Macclesfield in the Conference in front of 1,405 people. His last was the Champions League final in Budapest in front of 61,035. He is only the third footballer to have played non-league football and the biggest club game of all, alongside Steve Finnan and Chris Smalling. Four days after the final, he joined the favourites to win the World Cup after an open-topped bus parade with the Premier League trophy.
“That time took me where I am now,” Raya says. He joined Southport at 18. “I was with the Under-21s [at Blackburn] and there were no demands, no pressure, no sense that the three points really mattered. I told the club I needed minutes in professional football to experience what it means to have to win. I couldn’t go to League One obviously – I didn’t have the level – but going to the fifth tier shaped me.”
Learning in the Fifth Tier
The opportunity to play came when Liam Roberts got injured. It didn’t go well initially. “If you talk to the chairman or anyone else on the board at Southport they would tell you they were thinking: ‘who have we signed here?!’” Raya recalls. “I was 18, 19 years old, playing in a league that was so, so physical. I had been used to playing in the Under-21s where it was all on the floor, playing nicely, and suddenly you’re being crashed into by 30, 35-year-old men who instead of going for the ball are going for the goalkeeper.”
“But once I got used to the league, earned my teammates’ trust, those were the three or four best months of my career in terms of learning.” At the end of the season he returned to Blackburn. Playing at Ewood Park was still uncertain – behind Jason Steele, Raya played only five games the following season – but he had changed mentally and physically.
Reality of Football
“You learn that it’s not as easy as when you are used to things being done for you. It’s people trying to make it to the end of the month. You have teammates who need the win bonus to pay the mortgage. You play midweek, five or six hours away, and they’re up at 6am to go to work. You see the reality, what football is, and it shapes you; you take nothing for granted. And I enjoyed it a lot, a lot – even if they did smack me all over the place. I had black eyes, pain everywhere, but I liked it and I’m so grateful. And here I am.”
Champions League Final Heartbreak
Raya’s Arsenal lost the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties. “The thing is that when you lose a Champions League final, when you get there for the first time in 20 years and then you lose on penalties, it destroys you inside,” the goalkeeper admits. “I left there with my head held high because of the work we had done all year but I was broken inside because we were so, so, so, so close …”
“You don’t know when you’ll play another one or even if you will play another one. When I went home, I was broken. We stayed [in Budapest] over night and travelled the next morning. That night is very, very hard. The following morning too. [But] then you reach the Emirates stadium, you see the fans and that lifts you. When you come out on the bus with the Premier League trophy and see all the people, what it means to them, you realise what you’ve done.”
Competition for Spain
Despite being the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and arguably Europe last season, a Golden Glove winner for a third year running, Raya did not start Spain’s first game against Cape Verde. Instead, Unai Simón played. Luis de la Fuente, Spain’s coach, said: “Why aren’t we talking about David Raya? It’s unbelievable. It’s terrifying.” Raya appreciated the support. “It’s natural with Joan and Unai being in Spain. I’ve been away a very long time. I remember the first time I came to selección, people asked who I was.”
Raya has spent his whole professional career in England since leaving Cornella at 16. He could have played for England but never considered it. “The idea never crossed my mind. I always wanted to play for Spain and never thought about [England]: I wouldn’t have felt it, I would have felt an outsider. However long I was in England, I feel Spanish.”
Dealing with Debate
“Some look for a debate or a headline, but competition is good,” Raya says. He keeps coming back to the word “naturally” when discussing how he deals with not being first choice. “Sure, it’s different with goalkeepers: only one can play. But we work together every day and we’re close. We help each other. The position is in very good hands, whoever plays. You come with an open mind, try to help – whatever your role. I’m very competitive but I always respect what the manager asks.”
“You treat everyone the same way. When you’re first choice you can’t treat anyone badly; when you are second or third choice you can’t treat anyone badly either. I have a good relationship with Kepa [Arrizabalaga], with Unai, with Tommy Setford, and with Joan, just as I had with [Álex] Remi[ro]. If a teammate’s down, it’s up to you to pick him up. They do the same for you. People say [competing] goalkeepers don’t get on well: I have always got on well with my teammates and I hope I always will. If the atmosphere wasn’t good, it would be very hard to work.”
World Cup Dream
“It’s joy to be here. It’s my second World Cup and it’s a dream. I’ve had a successful year at Arsenal: I won my third Golden Glove and the Premier League. When you’re little you think about the World Cup. I was 15 when Spain won it in 2010 and I live this with total happiness and enthusiasm. It’s not every day you can be at a World Cup.”
