I Moved to England at 16 to Chase My Football Dream…

David Raya reveals how he moved to England at just 16 years old to chase his dream of becoming a professional footballer. From training on grass for the very first time in England to wearing spare clothes at Southport, this is how David Raya started his journey to become who he is today!

Now Arsenal’s number one and a European champion with Spain — what a rise 🇪🇸🧤

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just want to let you lot know that if you’re watching this clip on the FOcast YouTube channel the full episode is now available to watch exclusively on Spotify and it’s free Come on Did you do your research on Blackburn like as in the town the area Talk to us about I went I went twice before signing I went in 2011 on Easter week for four days Uh used to train and we played two games We played against Liverpool on a Saturday and against Man City on a Sunday for the and the 15th and the 16th There was more more players There were It was like a trial game Yeah Yeah Yes Kind of thing There were from my old team there were we were about eight or nine kids different ages and I went there for 4 days just to to train because we had we had the the opportunity to train there to see to see the Premier League of course because Blackp was still in the Premier League Um and I really really enjoyed it like training I was training on the 16s with with the keepers and and everything All like the first time I train in grass cuz back back home we we train a Oh really first time like properly training on grass training Yeah Wow Like first time training grass wet like proper proper grass mud No it was it was like good It was proper pitch Yeah Proper pitch Like training there for a 15 year old kids training like that is is a dream Like when you come where where I come from that we at corna we used to share a full pitch between maybe eight or nine teams Wow So changing that to for the first time seeing and training in a facility academy where is amazing It was like a shock of reality of how football was seen here and how is is done you know So I think Blackburn have been quite clever here cuz you said it was Easter weekend so the weather would have been all right wouldn’t it yeah the weather the weather was fine It didn’t rain Yeah This is what it’s like up here in Blackburn all year round Honestly it’s like this all year round You’ll have a lovely time It’s just like Barca basically So I went I went there for 4 days and I think I they liked me but obviously I was 15 so I couldn’t do anything uh by myself if I was signing there um I had to bring my family over because I was 15 So they said “Okay come back in October when you were 16.” So my birthday is in September So in England it goes September to September In my in Spain it goes January to January So I I was a year younger here Okay So I was a year younger For me I was a year younger cuz I I used to be with a 95s in in Spain but here I was 95 96 Oh okay You’re at a disadvantage almost It’s an advantage Yeah Yeah It’s an advantage That’s interesting So that’s why you referenced earlier on you cas you were like 92 So because it goes calendar 92 Sorry Yeah Okay So it’s it’s calendar age group Got you So I went back in October for two weeks and really really enjoyed I was training with under 18s as well Uh and the goalie coach really really liked me and they just decided to sign me for for June for for July next next season And two two weeks later they said “Oh we won day before January.” So his adaptation is quicker and he’s better and he starts learning English and and all the stuff So I spoke to my parents and my parents said “Listen you can always come back home.” And as you decided to go in January 9th of January 2012 So that was that football league debut So you moved away Sorry You move moved away for home forever Incredible 16 years old The bravery of that Can you imagine our kids my my daughter’s 16 my son’s 15 Can you imagine you Well imagine you are living in Spain and you send him to Blackburn I think it might do him some good My lad’s 15 He can barely butter a piece of bread I might send him to Blackburn anyway Eckles cake And just see how you get on Do you know what Eckles cakes are what else what else is it eckles cakes Black pudding Lancasher hot pot Black pudding I know what it is Have you had black pudding before Oh it’s world class mate Fry it up with a little bit of butter The Spanish one is much much What’s What’s the Spanish one called mortia I like the sound of it though Pigs blood We talking Yeah Pigs blood Yeah Yes They’re bigger aren’t they like they’re like they’re proper sausages They don’t slice them And um sorry Anyway we’re going off topic So um yeah your your you went out on loan at Blackburn to Southport Uh and your English football league debut was away at Mackersfield Town Um a Luke Waterfall brace either side of a Paul Turbo free kick was the difference on the day 3-0 turbo turbo turbo Um but do you think all of these experiences do you think they all just sort of have helped sort of mold you into what you are now yeah I think so I think I always said the three months at Southport they have been the best three months footballing wise and the best three months of learning in my career Incredible Like for me I I look back I was 18 turning 19 and I was used to playing for the 21s and without being cocky I just felt that on was too small Like it was no pressure There was just tikit taka with no pressure no fans no like no no goal at the end of the season kind of thing because you couldn’t get relegated you couldn’t get promoted So during the summer I tried to speak with the goalie coach saying that I want to go on loan no matter the league I wanted to go on loan I didn’t care where And the opportunity the opportunity came because the goalie I think they got injured and Southport just wanted me to go on loan for for one month So at the start it was only one month and the reality was the first three games I said to myself what the It was so hard for me to adapt the first three games It was if it was like I was like a fish outward water to like I I didn’t know cuz obviously that adaptation from under 21s to proper football men’s football men’s football it was very very difficult but then I knew my what I was capable of doing in goal so I never gave up and I started to play more because you say three games and people think oh that’s three weeks out of the month No no no Saturday Tuesday Saturday So that was a week That’s true Yeah that’s true Good point Good point That was a week So I had three weeks three weeks left on my loan So after after the first week I I started to integrate a little bit more with the group With the group obviously the first game against Marcusfield I just got chucked in into a dressing room Never met anyone Was your English good at this point though yeah Yeah it was good It was good Uh yeah been that was to Yeah Nearly was three years Nearly three years I’ve been in in the UK Uh yeah it was no 2014 15 So yeah two years two years and a bit two years and a half more or less So my English was all right Not as good as as it is now So I got chucked in into the dressing room not not knowing anyone the way we play uh the name of the lads which you know is really really important at least the back four So I was trying to memorize the name and second game the same It was like very very difficult for me to that ad that after the third game I just got used to it to play with these players and and everything and then from there it was just a massive massive change Thanks everybody for watching We hope you enjoyed this clip of the Foscast If you would like to watch the full episode it is now available exclusively on Spotify for free [Music]