THEY SHALL NOT TAPAS
I learned when I came to England that it was a man’s game... I love roast dinners and the fact that if you live in Exeter you support Exeter. That doesn’t happen in Spain
Premier League: 5.30pm
EXCLUSIVE BY TONY BANKS THE first thing you notice about David Raya is the broad Lancashire accent with a hint of Spanish. Born in Barcelona... forged in Blackburn.
It is nearly 10 years ago since the callow 16-year-old made his way on a scholarship from humble UE Cornella in Catalonia to Ewood Park to join up with Rovers’ youth scheme.
Now, the honorary Englishman loves living by the Thames in west London, has fallen in love with a Sunday roast – and become one of the stars of this Premier League season.
The Brentford keeper’s performance against Liverpool at the end of last month was sensational.
And this evening he faces another of the most formidable attacks in world football as Chelsea arrive at the Brentford Community Stadium – Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and the rest.
“They are world-class players, we know,” Raya grinned. “They won the Champions League last season. But we don’t fear them and want the three points. We have to play our game, be confident, and fight for each other. We know we can get the result.”
Not much has fazed Raya, 26, or the Bees so far this season, back in the top flight after 74 years.
Ask Arsenal, Wolves and West Ham (right), all beaten in a run of only one defeat in their opening seven games which has Thomas Frank’s side in seventh, just four points off Chelsea at the top.
Raya is ready for another big night with the kind of confidence that comes from leaving home as he did in 2012, creating a career, and making his first-team debut in the Conference on loan at part-time Southport in a 3-0 thumping at Macclesfield.
“I was there for three months,” said Raya (in action for Southport in 2015, right). “I only have good memories. I owe a lot
to them for letting me play men’s football. The Conference Premier was a very tough league.
“We got into the third round of the FA Cup against Derby and only lost to a last-minute penalty.
“My first game, though, we lost 3-0, and I was thinking, ‘What is this?’. I only met them for the first time that night.
“The players were parttime. They would train in the morning, get changed, go to work. How did they do it? Working Friday night before a game, playing twice a week. We stayed in a hotel just once or twice for away games. All of that makes you grow up very quickly.”
Brentford spotted Raya in 2019 at Blackburn (bottom centre) and brought him south for a bargain £3million. He said: “When I came it was a massive project. They told me about the new stadium, there to be ready for the Premier League.
“But we don’t think too much into the future. We have competed against everybody. We have not been scared, maybe some other teams are. It’s a good start, but we have to build.
“We don’t have much top-flight experience but are a mature team. We have an identity and won’t change that for anybody.”
The Bees’ promotion from the Championship (Raya and Ivan Toney celebrate, far right) was particularly impressive after their playoff final defeat by Fulham the previous season, when Joe Bryan’s long-range free-kick deceived Raya.
“I didn’t dwell on that,” he said. “Afterwards the boss said he wanted me to play even higher up the pitch! We had a 13-day break, then came back. We had to pick ourselves up and go again – and we did it.”
There is so much he likes about England.
“If you live in Exeter, you support Exeter,” he said. “When I was at Blackburn in League One, we had 12-15,000 watching. You don’t get that in Spain.
“I love a Sunday roast – beef or chicken. And I like living by the Thames.”
And as for the accent. “It’s unique!” added Raya. “A mix of Spanish with Lancashire.”