Valencia CF

History

The club was established on 5 March 1919 and officially approved on 18 March 1919, with Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz as its first president; incidentally, the presidency was decided by a coin toss. The club played its first competitive match away from home on 21 May 1919 against Valencia Gimnástico, and lost the match 1–0.

Valencia CF moved into the Mestalla Stadium in 1923, having played its home matches at the Algirós ground since 7 December 1919. The first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellón Castalia and ended a 0–0 draw. In another match the day after, Valencia won against the same opposition, 1–0. Valencia won the Regional Championship in 1923, and was eligible to play in the domestic Copa del Rey cup competition for the first time in its history.

Emergence as a giant in Spanish football

The Spanish Civil War halted the progress of the Valencia team until 1941, when it won the Copa del Rey, beating Espanyol in the final. In the 1941–42 season, the club won its first Spanish La Liga championship title, although winning the Copa del Rey was more reputable than the championship at that time. The club maintained its consistency to capture the league title again in the 1943–44 season, as well as the 1946–47 league edition. In 1995 they lost 2012 they lost 6-1 to CD Binefar

In the 1950s, the club failed to emulate the success of the 1940s, even though it grew as a club. A restructuring of Mestalla resulted in an increase in spectator capacity to 45,000, while the club had a number of Spanish and foreign stars. Players such as Spanish international Antonio Puchades and Dutch forward Faas Wilkes graced the pitch at Mestalla. In the 1952–53 season, the club finished as runners-up in La Liga behind Barcelona. In the following season, the club won its third Copa del Rey, then known as the Copa del Generalísimo. Valencia beat holders Barça 3–0 in the final in front of over 110,000 spectators at the Estadio Chamartín, then the home ground of Real Madrid. The 1950s also saw the retirement of club greats like Salvador Monzó, Vicente Asensi, Amadeo Ibáñez, Antonio Puchades and Pasieguito.

European successes

While managing indifferent league form in the early 1960s, the club had its first European success in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the forerunner to the UEFA Cup). In the 1961–62 season, Valencia beat Barcelona in the final. The 1962–63 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final pitted Valencia against Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, which the Valencians also won. Valencia was again present in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the 1963–64 season, but was defeated 2–1 by Real Zaragoza.

Former two-time European Footballer of the Year award winner Alfredo Di Stéfano was hired as coach in 1970, and immediately inspired his new club to their fourth La Liga championship and first since 1947. This secured Valencia its first qualification for the prestigious European Cup, contested by the various European domestic champions. Valencia reached the third round of the 1971–72 competition before losing both legs to Hungarian champions Újpesti Dózsa. In 1972, the club also finished runners-up both in La Liga and the domestic cup, losing to Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, respectively. The most notable players of the 1970s era include Austrian midfielder Kurt Jara, forward Johnny Rep of the Netherlands, West German midfielder Rainer Bonhof and Argentinian forward Mario Kempes, who became the La Liga topscorer for two consecutive seasons in 1976–77 and 1977–78. Valencia would go on to win the Copa del Rey again in the 1978–79 season, and also capture the European Cup Winners' Cup the next season, after beating English club Arsenal in the final, with Kempes spearheading Valencia's success in Europe.

Stagnation

In 1982, the club appointed Miljan Miljanić as coach. After a disappointing season, Valencia was in 17th place and faced relegation with seven games left to play. Koldo Aguirre replaced Miljanić as coach, with Valencia just barely avoiding relegation, relying on favourable results from other teams to ensure their own survival. In the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons, the club was heavily in debt under the presidency of Vicente Tormo. The club finally hit rock bottom when it was relegated at the end of the 1985–86 season and riven with internal problems, such as unpaid player and staff wages and poor morale. The club was relegated for the first time after 55 years in Spanish top-flight football.

Arturo Tuzón was named the new club president, and he helped steer Valencia back to La Liga. Alfredo Di Stéfano returned as coach in 1986 and Valencia won promotion again following the 1986–87 season. Di Stéfano stayed on as coach until the 1987–88 season, when the team finished 14th in La Liga. Bulgarian forward Luboslav Penev joined the club in 1989, as Valencia aimed to consolidate their place in La Liga. Guus Hiddink was appointed as head coach in the 1991–92 season, and the club finished fourth in the league, also reaching the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In 1992, Valencia CF officially became a Sporting Limited Company, and retained Hiddink as their coach until 1993.

Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, fresh from winning the 1994 FIFA World Cup with the Brazilian national team, became manager at Mestalla in 1994. Parreira immediately signed the Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta and the Russian forward Oleg Salenko, as well as Predrag Mijatović, but failed to produce the results expected of him. He was replaced by new coach José Manuel Rielo. The club's earlier successes continued to elude it, although it was not short of top coaching staff like Luis Aragonés and Jorge Valdano, as well as foreign star forwards like Brazilian Romário, Claudio López, Ariel Ortega from Argentina and Adrian Ilie from Romania.

The 2000s: Return to the top of Spanish and European football

Valencia began the 1999–2000 season by winning another title, the Supercopa de España, beating Barcelona. Valencia finished third in the league, four points behind champions Deportivo de La Coruña and level on points with second-placed Barça. The team's biggest success, however, was in the UEFA Champions League; for the first time in its history, Valencia reached a European Cup final. However, in the Final in Paris on 24 May 2000, Real Madrid beat Los Che 3–0.

It was also Claudio López's farewell, as he had agreed to sign for the Italian side Lazio, also leaving was Javier Farinós for Internazionale and Gerard López for Barcelona. The notable signings of that summer were John Carew, Rubén Baraja, Roberto Ayala, Vicente Rodríguez and Brazilian left back Fábio Aurélio. Also bought that season was Pablo Aimar in January. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente and Ayala would soon become a staple of Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s in La Liga.

Valencia started the championship on the right foot and were top of the league after ten games. After the Christmas break, however, Valencia started to pay for the top demand that such an absorbing competition like the Champions League requires. After passing the two mini-league phases, Héctor Cúper's team eliminated Arsenal in the quarter-finals and Leeds United in the semi-finals, and got ready to face Bayern Munich in the final; Valencia had reached two European Cup finals in a row. This time, the final was played in Milan at the San Siro on 23 May. Gaizka Mendieta gave Valencia the lead by scoring from the penalty spot right at the start of the match. Goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares then stopped a penalty from Mehmet Scholl, but Stefan Effenberg put Bayern level after the break thanks to another penalty. After extra time, it went to penalties, where a Mauricio Pellegrino miss gave Bayern Champions League glory and dealt Valencia a second-straight defeat in the final. Valencia went on to slip to fifth place in La Liga and out of Champions League competition for the 2001–02 season. The final game of the season meant Valencia only needed a draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. Los Che, however, lost 3–2, with a last minute goal from Rivaldo resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League while Valencia missed out.

The president, D. Pedro Cortés, resigned due to personal reasons and left the club in July 2001, with the satisfaction of having won one Copa del Rey, one Supercopa de España and having been runners-up in two successive Champions League finals. D. Jaime Ortí replaced him as president and expressed his intention of maintaining the good form that had made the club so admired on the European circuit. There were also some changes in the team and staff. Rafael Benítez, after helping Tenerife to promotion to La Liga from the Segunda División, replaced Héctor Cúper after the latter became the new coach at Internazionale in Italy. Among the playing squad, Gaizka Mendieta, Didier Deschamps, Luis Milla and Zlatko Zahovič left, while Carlos Marchena, Mista, Curro Torres, Francisco Rufete, Gonzalo de los Santos and Salva Ballesta all arrived.

From 1999 up until the end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of their most successful periods in the club's history. With a total of two La Liga titles, one UEFA Cup, one Copa del Rey, and one UEFA Super Cup in those six years, no less than five first class titles and two Champions League finals had been achieved.

In the 2001–02 season, their first game against title rivals Real Madrid produced a significant and important victory. This was followed by a record of 11 games won consecutively, breaking the existing one set in the 1970–71 season, the season they had last won the La Liga title under Alfredo Di Stéfano.

After a defeat in A Coruña against Deportivo on 9 December 2001, the team had to win against Espanyol at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to prevent falling further behind the league leaders. Valencia were 2–0 down at half time, but a comeback in the second-half saw Valencia win 2–3.

In the second part of the season, Benítez's team suffered a small setback after losing 1–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu to Real Madrid, but they recovered and achieved four victories and two draws in the following six games against Las Palmas, Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo Alavés, Real Zaragoza and Barça.

In one of those crucial games that they would come up against Espanyol, Valencia were trailing 1–0 half-time and a man down after the dismissal of Amadeo Carboni, but after two goals from Rubén Baraja, Valencia achieved a 2–1 victory. Furthermore, Real Madrid's defeat in Anoeta to Real Sociedad left Valencia with a three-point lead at the top of the table.

The final game of the season was at La Rosaleda to face Málaga, on 5 May 2002, a date that has since gone down in Valencia's history. The team shut itself away in Benalmádena, close to the scene of the game, in order to gain focus. An early goal from Roberto Ayala and another close to half-time from Fábio Aurélio assured them their fifth La Liga title, 31 years after their last title win.

The 2002–03 season was a disappointing one for Valencia, as they failed in their attempt to retain the Liga title and ended up outside of the Champions League spots in fifth, behind Celta de Vigo. They were also knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Internazionale on away goals. The 2003–04 season saw Los Che trailing long-time leaders Real Madrid. In February, after 26 games played, Real Madrid were eight points clear. However, the latter's form declined late in the season and they lost their last five games of the campaign, allowing Valencia to overtake them and win the title. The club added the UEFA Cup to this success. Valencia had now been La Liga champions twice in three seasons.

In the summer of 2004, coach Rafael Benítez decided to leave the club, stating he had had problems with the club president; he would soon become manager of Liverpool. He was replaced by former Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri, who had recently been sacked by Chelsea. His second reign at the club was a disappointment, however, as Valencia harboured realistic hopes of retaining their La Liga crown but, by February, found themselves in seventh place. Valencia had also been knocked out of the Champions League group phase, with Ranieri being sacked promptly in February. The 2004–05 season ended with Valencia outside of the UEFA Cup spots.

In the summer of 2005, Getafe coach Quique Sánchez Flores was appointed as the new manager of Valencia and ended the season in third, which earned Valencia a spot in the Champions League after a season away from the competition. The 2006–07 season was a season with many difficulties, a season that began with realistic hopes of challenging for La Liga but was disrupted with a mounting list of injuries to key players and internal quarrelling between Flores and new Sporting Director Amedeo Carboni. Valencia ended the season in fourth place and were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals stage by Chelsea 3–2 on aggregate, after knocking out Italian champions Internazionale in the second round. In the summer of 2007, the internal fight between Flores and Carboni was settled with Carboni being replaced by Ángel Ruiz as the new Sporting Director of Valencia.

On 29 October 2007, the Valencia board of directors fired Flores after a string of disappointing performances and caretaker manager Óscar Rubén Fernández took over on a temporary basis until a full-time manager was found, rumoured to be either Marcello Lippi or José Mourinho. A day later, Dutch manager Ronald Koeman announced he would be leaving PSV to sign for Valencia. But there was still no improvement; in fact, Valencia even went on to drop to the 15th position in the league, just two points above the relegation zone. Although on 16 April 2008, Valencia lifted the Copa del Rey with a 3–1 victory over Getafe at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. This was the club's seventh Copa title. Five days later, one day after a devastating 5–1 league defeat in Bilbao, Valencia fired Koeman and replaced him with Voro, who would guide Valencia as caretaker manager for the rest of the season. He went on to win the first game since the sacking of Koeman, beating Osasuna 3–0 in his first game in charge. Voro would eventually drag Valencia from the relegation battle to a safe mid-table finish in tenth, finally ending a disastrous league campaign for Los Che.

Highly-rated Unai Emery was announced as the new manager of Valencia on 22 May 2008. The start of the young manager's career looked to be promising, with the club winning four out of its first five games, a surge that saw the team rise to the top position of the La Liga table. Despite looking impressive in Europe, Los Che then hit a poor run of form in the league that saw them dip as low as seventh in the standings. Amid the slump reports emerged of massive internal debt at the club, exceeding €400 million, with reports claiming the players had not been paid in weeks. The team's problems were compounded when they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Dynamo Kyiv on away goals. After a run where Valencia took only five points from ten games in La Liga, an announcement was made that the club had secured a loan that would cover the players' expenses until the end of the year. This announcement coincided with an upturn in form, and the club won six of its next eight games to surge back into the critical fourth place Champions' League spot. However, Los Che were then defeated by fourth place contenders Atlético Madrid and Villarreal in two of the last three games of the campaign, subsequently finishing sixth in the table and failing to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The 2010s: Debt issues and stability

No solution had yet been found to address the massive debt Valencia were faced with, and rumours persisted that top talents such as David Villa, Juan Mata and David Silva could leave the club to help resolve the huge debt. In the 2009–10 season, Valencia returned to the Champions League for the first time since the 2007–08 season, as they finished comfortably in third in the 2009–10 La Liga. However, in the summer of 2010, due to financial reasons, David Villa and David Silva were sold to Barcelona and Manchester City, respectively, to reduce the club's massive debt. But, despite the loss of two of the club's most important players, the team was able to finish comfortably in third again in the 2010–11 campaign for the second season running, although they were eliminated from the Champions League by Bundesliga side Schalke 04 in the Round of 16. In the summer of 2011, then-captain Juan Mata was sold to Chelsea to further help Valencia's precarious financial situation. It was announced by President Manuel Llorente that the club's debt had been decreased and that the work on the new stadium would restart as soon as possible, sometime in 2012. During the 2012–13 season, Ernesto Valverde was announced as the new manager but after failing to qualify for the Champions League, he stepped down and was replaced by Miroslav Đukić. On 5 July 2013, Amadeo Salvo was named new president of the club. Almost a month after Salvo was named president, on 1 August 2013, Valencia sold star striker Roberto Soldado to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of €30 million.

Sale of Club to Peter Lim

In May 2014, Singapore businessman Peter Lim was designated by the Fundación Valencia CF as the buyer of 70.4 percent of the shares owned by the club's foundation. After months of negotiations between Lim and Bankia (the main creditor of the club), an agreement was reached in August 2014. Past two years have been very Disappointing for Valencia with 12th Place Finish in 2015/16 season and players like Captain Paco Alcacer, Andre Gomes leaving for Barcelona and Skhodran Mustafi leaving for Arsenal. 2016/17 has also been disappointing for the club with Valencia currently at 13th position as of 2 April.

Stadium

Valencia played its first years at the Algirós stadium but moved to the Mestalla in 1923. In the 1950s, Mestalla was restructured, which resulted in a capacity increase to 45,000 spectators. Today it holds 55,000 seats, making it the fifth largest stadium in Spain. It is also renowned for its steep terracing and for being one of the most intimidating atmospheres in all of Europe to play.

On 20 May 1923, the Mestalla pitch was inaugurated with a friendly match that brought Valencia CF and Levante UD face to face. It was the beginning of a new era that meant farewell to the old place, Algirós, which will always remain in the memories of the Valencians as first home of the club. A long history has taken place on the Mestalla field since its very beginning, when the Valencia team was not yet in the Primera División. Back then, this stadium could hold 17,000 spectators, and in that time the club started to show its potential in regional championships, which led the managers of that time to carry out the first alterations of Mestalla in 1927. The stadium's total capacity increased to 25,000 before it became severely damaged during the Civil War; Mestalla was used as a concentration camp and a junk warehouse. It would only keep its structure, since the rest was a lonely plot of land with no terraces and a stand broken during the war. Once the Valencian pitch was renovated, Mestalla saw how the team managed to bring home their first title, the 1941 Cup. An overwhelming team was playing on the grass of the redesigned Valencian stadium in that decade, team that conquered three Liga titles and two Cups with the legendary "electric forwards" of Epi, Amadeo, Mundo, Asensi and Guillermo Gorostiza. Those years of sporting success also served as support to recover little by little the Mestalla ground.

During the 1950s, the Valencia ground experienced the deepest change in its whole history. That project resulted in a stadium with a capacity of 45,500 spectators. It was a dream that was destroyed by the flood that flooded Valencia in October 1957 after the overflowing of the Turia River. Nevertheless, Mestalla not only returned to normality, but also some more improvements were added, like artificial light, which was inaugurated during the 1959 Fallas festivities. This was the beginning of a new change for the Mestalla.

During the 1960s, the stadium kept the same appearance, whilst the urban view around it was quickly being transformed. Moreover, Mestalla held its first European matches. Nottingham Forest were the first foreign team to play against Valencia at Mestalla. They played on 15 September 1961 and it was the first clash of a golden age full of continental successes, during which Valencia won the Fairs Cup in 1962 and 1963.

From 1969, the expression "Anem a Mestalla" ("Let's go to Mestalla"), so common among the supporters, began to fall into oblivion. The reason was the change of name that meant a big tribute that the club paid to his most symbolic president that lasted for a quarter of a century. Luis Casanova Giner admitted that he was completely overwhelmed by such honour, and the president himself requested in 1994 that his name was again replaced by the name of Mestalla, as it happened.

In 1972, the head office of the club, located in the back of the numbered terraces, was inaugurated. It consisted of an office of avant-garde style with a worth mentioning trophy hall, which held the foundation flag of the club. In the summer of 1973 there was another new thing, the goal seats, which meant the elimination of fourteen rows of standing terraces providing more comfort and an adjustment to the new times. Valencia's management started to consider the possibility of moving Mestalla from its present location to some land in the outskirts of the town, but finally the project was turned down and some years later.

Mestalla hosted the Spain national football team for the first time in 1925. It was chosen the national team's group venue when Spain staged the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, all of Spain's matches up to the final were held at Mestalla, as they won Gold. Mestalla has been the setting for important international matches, has held several Cup finals, has been the home of Levante, a venue for the Spanish national team and exile for Castellón and Real Madrid in Europe.

New stadium

The 2008–09 season was to have been the last season at the Mestalla, with the club moving to their new 75,000-seater stadium Nou Mestalla in time for the 2009–10 season. However, due to the club being in financial crisis, work on the new stadium has since stopped.

On 12 December 2011, club president Manuel Llorente reached an agreement with Spanish banking conglomerate Bankia, which insured the financial security to resume work on the new stadium. It was estimated that the stadium would be completed in two years and in time for the 2014–15 season, though continued debt problems and the eventual stepping-down of Llorente in 2012 meant the fate of the new stadium was once again left up in the air as the club continued to look for ways to finance its completion.

On 13 November 2013, Valencia announced an updated redesign by Fenwick Iribarren Architects. The new design reduced the capacity to 61,500. It also reduced the underground car park and downsized the original design's full roof and elaborate façade. There were also redesigns of the interior decoration. No date was given for when construction would commence.

Kit and colours

Originally, Valencia's kit was composed of white shirts, black shorts and socks of the same colour. Through the years, however, these colours have alternated between white and black. The away kit has been shades of orange in recent years while third alternate kits have featured colors from the club crest—yellow, blood orange and blue.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

The team have also attracted smaller, local sponsors over the years. One example is Lamiplast, a Valencia-based furniture company.

Club anthem

The club assigned D. Pablo Sánchez Torella who composed the music of Valencia's anthem, named the "Pasodoble". The hymn was written by Ramon Gimeno Gil in the Valencian variety of the Catalan. The anthem was premiered and had its official presentation at the 75th anniversary of the club on 21 September 1993.

Bat logo

Valencia and the Balearic Islands were conquered by King James I of Aragon during the first half of the 13th century. After the conquest, the King gave them the status of independent kingdoms of whom he was also the king (but they were independent of Aragonese laws and institutions). The arms of Valencia show those of James I.

The unique crowned letters "L" besides the shield were granted by King Peter the Ceremonious. The reason for the letters was that the city had been loyal twice to the King, hence twice a letter "L" and a crown for the king.

There are several possible explanations for the bat; one is that bats are simply quite common in the area. The second theory is that on 9 October 1238, when James I was about to enter the city, re-conquering it from the Moors, a bat landed on the top of his flag, and he interpreted it as a good sign. As he conquered the city, the bat was added to the arms.

In May 2013, DC Comics started a legal case against the club, claiming that the bat image contravened its trademark of the bat image related to Batman. The image, however, had been used on Valencia's logo since 1919, with Batman first published 20 years later.

Current squad

As of 1 February 2017

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Personnel

Source: Valencia CF official website

Seasons

81 seasons in La Liga

4 seasons in Segunda División

Domestic

La Liga

Winners (6): 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1970–71, 2001–02, 2003–04

Segunda División

Winners (2): 1930–31, 1986–87

Copa del Rey

Winners (7): 1941, 1948–49, 1954, 1966–67, 1978–79, 1998–99, 2007–08

Supercopa de España

Winners (1): 1999

Copa Eva Duarte (Predecessor to the Supercopa de España)

Winners (1): 1949

European

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (1): 1979–80

UEFA Cup

Winners (1): 2003–04

Fairs Cup (Predecessor to the UEFA Cup)

Winners (2): 1961–62, 1962–63

UEFA Super Cup

Winners (2): 1980, 2004

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Winners (1): 1998

UEFA Champions League

Runners-up (2): 1999–2000, 2000–01

The Academy: Training Centre Foundation Valencia CF

Since May 2009, Valencia CF has had a training centre, this is the first multidisciplinary training center for a football club in Spain.

The Training Centre Foundation Valencia CF "The Academy" offers university education, classroom training, and online training related to sport and football soccer.

Valencia CF is one of the few clubs in Spain that organises a Sport Management MBA, the MBA in International Sport Management, currently performs with Valencia Catholic University Saint Vincent Martyr.

On the 90th anniversary of Valencia CF, The Academy opened with the University of Valencia the first university course that studied the history of a football club, Valencia CF is the first football club in Spain, object of study on college.

Motorsports involvement

Valencia CF were also involved in motorsports such as Formula One, Super GT, MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, 250cc and Formula Nippon. Valencia CF was an official partner of Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2003 until 2008 to commemorate Toyota as their shirt sponsor. Valencia CF also sponsored all Toyota-engined Formula Nippon teams and also Toyota Super GT teams in GT500 and GT300 cars. In 2009, Valencia CF became an official partner of former 250cc team Stop And Go Racing Team and later in 2014 Valencia CF also became official partner of Aspar Racing Team in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 classes, respectively.

E-Sports involvement

In June 2016, Valencia opened an E-Sports division with presences in Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft, Rocket League and League of Legends - in the last case, they joined Beşiktaş, Santos, Schalke and PSG in acquiring League teams. They announced their League roster on July 13, composed mostly of Spanish players, including some with European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) experience.