Nickname Taronjas (Oranges) Team colors Orange, Black, White Team captain Rafa Martínez Head coach Pedro Martínez Color Orange, Black, White | Arena Capacity 8,500 President Vicent J. Solá Location Valencia, Spain Founded 1986 | |
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History Valencia Basket Club
(1986–Present) Arena Pavelló Municipal Font de San Lluís Leagues Liga ACB, EuroCup Basketball Profiles | ||
Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket ([baˈlenθja basˈket]), is a professional basketball team that is based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. It plays their home games at the Fuente de San Luis.
Contents
History
Valencia Basket was founded on 27 September 1986, after Valencia CF decided to fold its basketball section.
On 4 May 1988, while in its second season in the Primera División B, which was the second tier league of Spanish basketball at that time, the team won its first promotion to the Spanish top-tier level ACB, where the team remained until the 1994–95 season. In 1995, Valencia was relegated to the Spanish 2nd-tier level EBA League, after falling in the league's relegation playoff against Somontano Huesca. In the next season, after being the runner-up in Liga EBA, in a non-promoting season, Valencia BC bought Amway Zaragoza's ACB place to join the top league, where is has remained until nowadays.
On 2 February 1998, Pamesa Valencia won its first Spanish national title, after beating Pinturas Bruguer Badalona, by a score of 89–75, in the final of the 1998 Copa del Rey, which was played in Valladolid. One year later, on 13 April 1999, the club played in the final of the 1998–99 FIBA Saporta Cup, but was defeated by Benetton Treviso, 64–60, in the final played in Zaragoza. The years later, the club repeated the same success, but Montepaschi Siena won the final of the 2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup, by a score of 81–71, in Lyon, France.
Continuing the club's best years, the 2001–02 ACB season was historic for the club, as it reached the Spanish ACB League finals, where they could not win any game in their series against FC Barcelona. Before this first success in reaching the finals of the Spanish league's playoffs, Pamesa Valencia won its first European-wide title, by defeating Krka Novo Mesto in the 2002–03 ULEB Cup, which would then also allow the club to make its debut in the European top-tier level EuroLeague.
In its first EuroLeague participation, Pamesa Valencia qualified for the Top 16, but was eliminated there, after not contesting its game at Nokia Arena against Maccabi Elite, adducing security issues in Israel.
On 18 April 2010, Power Electronics Valencia won its second European title, by beating Alba Berlin, 67–44, in the 2010 Eurocup Finals, which was played in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This allowed the club to come back to the top level EuroLeague, seven years after its first participation in the tournament. This time, Valencia reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals, where it was eliminated by Real Madrid, who won the playoff series by a 3–2 margin.
The club's third European-wide 2nd-tier level EuroCup title arrived on 7 May 2014, when Valencia beat UNICS Kazan in the double-legged finals.
Arena
Valencia Basket plays its home games at the 8,500 seat Fuente de San Luis arena, however the arena is more known as La Fonteta.
Sponsorship naming
Valencia Basket has received diverse sponsorship names over the years:
Trophies
Notable players
To appear in this section a player must have either:Women's team
Since 2014, Valencia BC has also a women's team. It was created after integrating the youth system of Ros Casares Valencia, former EuroLeague Women champion club which dissolved its senior squad in 2012.
In its first season, Valencia BC plays in Primera División, the third tier of Spanish women's basketball.