Since the Millennium, every time Real have won La Liga, the Mancs have won the Prem. Whilst Barca have been on top, so have the Chavs

(I wrote this article a few weeks ago, but with all the rumours about David Villa I thought that this would be the perfect time to make it public):

Recently, I went on a lads weekend to Valencia. Now I won’t bore/titillate you with all the gory details, but one thing I will say is that we went for a walk around Valencia’s stadium, the Mestalla. Although it is pretty big from the outside, it is fairly dingy to boot. But the stadium and the club do have its charms, and I certainly fell for them. Read on…

Now I can you hear screaming at me: “YOU WANT US TO START SUPPORTING VALENCIA AFTER THEY KNOCKED US OUT OF EUROPE TWICE IN THREE YEARS?! ESPECIALLY WITH THAT C*NT JOHN CAREW WHO NEARLY MAIMED ALEX HLEB EARLIER THIS SEASON?! HAVE YOU GONE LOOPY MATE?!”

Those were my exact sentiments before my trip. I hated them. Knocking us out of Europe in 2003 in the second group stage and more pointedly in 2001 when a semi-final with Leeds was at stake. And especially that c*nt John Carew. The fact that he hasn’t scored against us this season astounds me, he’s the kind of player who has an affinity for haunting certain clubs.

But when I was in their club shop, I had the following conversation with my mate:

“When were their last title victories?” says I.

“2001/02 and 2003/04” he replied.

A big smile broke across my face. “Good times” I remarked, for they were the years of our last two title victories as well.

So after the weekend I came home and did a bit of investigating, and here’s what I found:

Season – Spanish/English champions:
2000/01 – Real/Mancs
2001/02 – Valencia/Arsenal (yay!)
2002/03 – Real/Mancs
2003/04 – Valencia/Arsenal (yay!)
2004/05 – Barca/Chavs
2005/06 – Barca/Chavs
2006/07 – Real/Mancs
2007/08 – Real?/Mancs? (it’s certainly looking that way)

And there you have it. Since the Millennium, every time Real have won La Liga, the Mancs have won the Prem. Whilst Barca have been on top, so have the Chavs. And in two glorious seasons it has been a Valencia-Arsenal combo. Add to the fact that Valencia also won the title in 1971 – which of course is the year of our first double – well, it really rams the point home.

Another enduring factor with “Los Che” is that they, like us, lost in their first Champions League final (1999/00). However, they did return to the grandest stage soon thereafter (only a season later), so it would be nice if we could repeat the feat. It would be an oversight if I didn’t mention the fact they also lost on their return to the final, so if/when we do reach our second final, let’s hope that we can go one better.

Interesting to note is that the man in charge of Valencia during their two title reigns was none other than a certain Mr. Rafael Benitez. So hopefully all the boardroom unrest at Anfield sends him back to his spiritual home!

Of course this is all tongue-in-cheek stuff and that Valencia winning the Primera Liga has absolutely no bearing on us doing the same in the Prem. But for the superstitious Gooners amongst you who have yet to emotionally attach yourselves to a Spanish club, you could do far worse than lending your support to Valencia.

We don’t like Real because of all the tapping up c*ntishness of Paddy and the impending one of Cesc. The fact that they had to sell their training ground a few years ago to the local government to raise funds was one thing. To have the local government return it to them free of charge smacks of underhand behaviour. And another reason is that their success always mirrors itself in Manchester (or should I say Surrey?)

Nor Barca because they defeated us in 2006 and turned our skipper’s head whilst also continuing to make thinly-veiled overtures towards Cesc. They also seem very self-righteous with all their “Mes Que Un Club” bollocks. And that when they are top dogs in Spain, the Chavs are here.

So Valencia it is. They haven’t engaged in any tapping-up of our players. Like us, they haven’t spent megabucks trying to succeed (unlike Real/Barca/Mancs/Chavs). Hell, the lovable Claudio Ranieri has even had two spells at their helm. And of course, they do have our old boy Edu as well!!!! But most important of all…when they win the league, so do we 🙂