It has been a massive year for Arsenal and Spain goalkeeper David Raya. The 30-year-old has played a pivotal role in Arsenal winning their first Premier League title since 2004 and also helped the Gunners reach the Champions League final.
The 2025/26 season also saw Raya claim the Premier League Golden Glove award for the third consecutive season.
It could get even better for the 30-year-old, as he will take part in this summer’s World Cup with his national team.
His career in England started in non-league
Although Raya first arrived in English football in 2012, when he joined Blackburn Rovers at 16, he was sent out on loan to Conference Premier (Now National League) Southport for the first half of the 2014/15 campaign.
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He went on to make 26 appearances for the Merseyside outfit, including 16 in the league and six in various cup competitions, including the FA Cup. The experience gave Raya his first taste of senior men’s football.
The Spaniard made his Southport debut in a 3-0 loss against Macclesfield at Moss Rose on 20th September 2014, just after his 19th birthday. It was a baptism of fire for the youngster, who had never even trained with his teammates, let alone played with them.
The loan spell changed his life
Raya himself has admitted that the four-month loan spell changed his life. He played against grown men after coming from the academy, a major culture shock that made him grow as a person.
The Spaniard also discovered that football meant much more to the players in the non-league game, as they often relied on win bonuses to pay their mortgages and survive financially.
Having conceded three goals on his debut, he conceded five a few weeks later, and the loan spell was not going particularly well.
However, he persevered, worked hard to bulk up and became more accustomed to the aggression of the non-league game.
Arguably, the highlight of his Southport career was keeping a clean sheet against Dagenham and Redbridge to set up a third-round tie with Derby County in January 2015.
Played a crucial role in who he is today
David Raya is now considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, if not the world. However, he may not have made it to the elite game without his short spell in the non-league English game.
He talks fondly about his time with Southport. The four-month spell taught the goalkeeper some lessons he may not have learned had he stayed playing academy football. He has taken those lessons into his game, and they have helped make him the goalkeeper he is today.