Valencia CF

Valencia

Full name	Valencia Club de Fútbol, SAD
Nickname(s)	Los Che Els Taronges (The Oranges) Valencianistes Los Murciélagos (The Bats)
Short name	VCF, VAL
Founded	18 March 1919; 99 years ago (1919-03-18)
Ground	Mestalla
Capacity	49,500[1]
Owner	Peter Lim[2][3]
President	Anil Murthy
Manager	Marcelino
League	La Liga
2017–18	La Liga, 4th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Valencia Club de Fútbol (Spanish: [baˈlenθja ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol], Valencian: València Club de Futbol [vaˈlensia ˈklub de fubˈbɔl];^[4] also known as Valencia CF, Valencia or Los Che) is a Spanish football club based in Valencia. They play in La Liga. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups (the predecessor to the UEFA Cup), one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and two UEFA Super Cups. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row, losing to La Liga rivals Real Madrid in 2000 and Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1–1 draw in 2001. Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them.

Valencia were founded in 1919 and have played their home games at the 49,500-seater Mestalla since 1923. They were due to move into the new 75,000-seater Nou Mestalla in the northwest of the city in 2013, but the final move date has been postponed while the stadium remains under construction. Valencia have a fierce rivalry with fellow Valencian club Villarreal, with whom they contest the Derbi de la Comunitat.^[5] The rivalry is further fueled by the fact they are the two most successful clubs in the region. Valencia also have a long-standing rivalry with Levante, also located in the city of Valencia, and with two other clubs in the Valencian region, Hércules and Castellón.

Valencia is the third-most supported football club in Spain, behind heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona.^[6] It is also one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with more than 50,000 season ticket holders and another 20,000+ season ticket holders on the waiting list, who can be accommodated in the new 75,000-seater stadium.

Over the years, the club has achieved a global reputation for their prolific youth academy, or "cantera." Products of their academy include world-class talents such as Raúl Albiol, Andrés Palop, Miguel Ángel Angulo, David Albelda, Gaizka Mendieta and David Silva. Current stars of the game to have graduated in recent years include Isco, Jordi Alba, Juan Bernat, José Gayà and Paco Alcácer.

History[edit]

Valencia CF vs Levante FC at the inauguration of the Mestalla in 1923

The Valencia squad in 1927.

Match at Mestalla in 1923

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, losing 1–0.

Valencia 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[edit]

Faas Wilkes, the first foreigner ever to play for Valencia.

The Spanish Civil War halted Valencia's progress until 1941, when they won the Copa del Rey, defeating Espanyol in the final. In the 1941–42 season, the club won its first La Liga championship title, although winning the Copa del Rey was more reputable than the championship at the 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 the 1950s, the club failed to simulate 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[edit]

Argentine forward Mario Kempes in 1979. He played 8 years for the club, becoming top scorer in two seasons.

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 defeated Barcelona in the final. The 1962–63 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final pitted Valencia against Yugoslavian club Dinamo Zagreb, which the Valencians also won. Valencia were again present in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the 1963–64 season, but were defeated 2–1 by Real Zaragoza.

Former two-time European Footballer of the Year award winner Alfredo Di Stéfano was hired as head 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[edit]

In 1982, the club appointed Miljan Miljanić as head 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's relegation was their first after 55 years in Spanish top-flight football.

Andoni Zubizarreta finished his career with Valencia.

Arturo Tuzón was named the new club president, and he helped steer Valencia back to La Liga. Di Stéfano returned as head 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. 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 head coach until 1993.

Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, fresh from winning the 1994 FIFA World Cup with the Brazil national team, became manager at the Mestalla in 1994. Parreira immediately signed Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta and 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, Argentineans Claudio López and Ariel Ortega, and Adrian Ilie from Romania.

Return to the top of Spanish and European football[edit]

trained by Claudio Ranieri,Valencia began the 1999–2000 season by winning another title, the Supercopa de España, defeating Barcelona. Valencia finished third in the league, four points behind champions Deportivo de La Coruña and level on points with second-placed Barça. However, the team's biggest success 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.

The final acted as Claudio López's farewell, as he had agreed to sign for Italian side Lazio. Javier Farinós and Gerard also departed for Internazionale and Barcelona, respectively. The notable signings of that summer included 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 began the following Liga season top of the league after ten matches. However, after the Christmas break, Valencia struggled to keep pace due to Champions League requirements. Héctor Cúper's team managed to eliminate 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 match of the season meant Valencia only needed a draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. However, Los Che lost 3–2 with a last minute goal from Rivaldo, resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League while Valencia missed out.

Club president Pedro Cortés then 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. 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 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 all left, while Carlos Marchena, Mista, Curro Torres, Francisco Rufete, Gonzalo de los Santos and Salva Ballesta 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.

During Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s, Argentine Roberto Ayala was a key component in their defence.

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 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, 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 Amedeo Carboni, but after two goals from Rubén Baraja, Valencia achieved a 2–1 victory. Furthermore, Real Madrid's defeat in San Sebastián 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 in 1971.

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 matches played, Real Madrid were eight points clear.^[7] 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. However, his second reign at the club was a disappointment, 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 manager 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 eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Chelsea 3–2 on aggregate, after themselves eliminating 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 club's sporting director.

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 match 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.

Manuel Llorente, the 35th president of Valencia.

Unai Emery Era, debt issues and instability[edit]

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 matches of the campaign, subsequently finishing sixth in the table and failing to qualify for the following season's Champions League.

Basque Unai Emery, managed Valencia from 2008 to 2012.

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 2010–11 season, Valencia returned to the Champions League after a 2-year absence, having 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. 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 club president Manuel Llorente the club's debt had been decreased and that the work on the new stadium would restart as soon as possible, sometime in 2012.

Peter Lim's ownership[edit]

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 as the 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. Miroslav Đukić was sacked six months into the 2013–14 season after just 6 wins in his first 16 matches, Valencia's worst start in 15 years.^[8] He was replaced by Juan Antonio Pizzi on 26 December 2013.^[9] Under Pizzi, Valencia reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, where they lost to eventual winners Sevilla on goal difference and finished 8th in La Liga despite a disastrous start to the season.^[10][11]

Peter Lim has owned Valencia since 2014.

In May 2014, Singaporean businessman Peter Lim was designated by the Fundación Valencia CF as the buyer of 70.4% of the shares owned by the club's foundation.^[12][13] After months of negotiations between Lim and Bankia (the main creditor of the club), an agreement was reached in August 2014.^[14] Juan Antonio Pizzi was unexpectedly sacked as head coach and replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo on 2 July 2014.^[15][16] Later, Salvo revealed in an interview that hiring Nuno was one of the conditions Lim had insisted on when buying the club. This raised eyebrows in the media because of Nuno's close relationship with the football agent Jorge Mendes, whose first-ever client was Nuno.^[17][18] Lim and Mendes are also close friends and business partners.^[19] Regardless, Nuno's first season was a successful one. Notable signings included Álvaro Negredo, André Gomes and Enzo Pérez, who had just won the LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.^[20][21][22] Valencia finished the 2014–15 season in fourth place for Champions League qualification with 77 points, just one point ahead of Sevilla after a dramatic final week, defeating Granada 4–0.^[23][24]

On 2 July 2015, Amadeo Salvo resigned from his post as the executive president of Valencia, citing personal reasons. He was a popular figure amongst the fans.^[25] On 10 August 2015, Nicolás Otamendi was sold to Manchester City for £32 million and Aymen Abdennour was signed from Monaco for £22 million as his replacement.^[26][27] Valencia defeated Monaco in the Champions League playoff round with a 4–3 aggregate victory.^[28] However, Valencia had a poor start to the 2015–16 season, winning 5 out of 13 matches and failing to progress from the Champions League group stages. The fans were also increasingly concerned about the growing influence of Jorge Mendes in the club's activities.^[29] On 29 November, Nuno resigned as manager and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville was hired as his replacement on 2 December.^[30][31] Valencia went winless for nine matches before earning their first win under Neville in a 2–1 victory at home against Espanyol.^[32] On 30 March 2016, Neville was sacked after recording the lowest win percentage in La Liga history for a Valencia manager with minimum of five matches, winning just 3 out of 16 matches. He was replaced by Pako Ayestarán, who was brought in by Neville as the assistant coach just one month prior.^[33][34] Valencia finished the season in 12th position.

In the summer of 2016, André Gomes and Paco Alcácer were both sold to Barcelona and Shkodran Mustafi was sold to Arsenal, while Ezequiel Garay and former Manchester United player Nani were brought in.^{[35][36][37][38][39]} Pako Ayestarán was sacked on 21 September 2016 after four-straight defeats at the beginning of the 2016–17 season.^[40] Former Italy national team head coach Cesare Prandelli was hired as his replacement on 28 September.^[41] However, he resigned after just three months on 30 December, claiming the club had made him false transfer promises.^[42] Days later, on 7 January 2017, Valencia sporting director Jesús García Pitarch also resigned, saying he felt like he was being used as a shield for criticism by the club and that he could not defend something he no longer believed in.^[43][44] Voro was named caretaker manager for the fifth time until the end of season, with Valencia in 17th position and in danger of relegation.^[45] However, results improved under Voro and he steered Valencia clear off relegation, ultimately finishing the season in 12th place.^[46] On 27 March, Mateu Alemany was named the new director general of Valencia.^[47]

The club also announced club president Lay Hoon Chan had submitted her resignation and that she would be replaced by Anil Murthy.^[48] After rumors arose of Lim's attempts at selling the club, Murthy assured the fans and local media that Valencia was a long term project for both him and Lim, and they would not consider selling the club.^[49][50] For the following season, former Villarreal coach Marcelino was named the new manager on 12 May.^[51]

After a successful first season under Marcelino, the club secured 4th position and a return to the Champions League.

Stadium[edit]

Panoramic of the Mestalla.

Valencia played its first years at the Algirós stadium, but moved to the Mestalla in 1923. In the 1950s, the Mestalla was restructured, which resulted in a capacity increase to 45,000 spectators. Today it holds 49,500 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 Europe.^[52]

Valencia vs. Roma at the Mestalla in 2011.

On 20 May 1923, the Mestalla pitch was inaugurated with a friendly match between Valencia and Levante UD.

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; the 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, the Mestalla saw how the team managed to bring home their first title in 1941.

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, that eventually saw destruction by a flood in October 1957 that arose from the overflowing of the Turia River. Nevertheless, the Mestalla not only returned to normality, but also some more improvements were added, like artificial light, which was inaugurated during the 1959 Fallas festivities.

During the 1960s, the stadium kept the same appearance, whilst the urban view around it was quickly being transformed. Moreover, the ground held its first European matches, with Nottingham Forest being the first foreign team to play at the Mestalla, on 15 September 1961.

From 1969, the expression "Anem a Mestalla" ("Let's go to the Mestalla"), so common among the supporters, began to fall into oblivion. The reason of this was due to a proposed name change of the stadium to honor Luis Casanova Giner, the club's most successful president. Giner admitted he was completely overwhelmed by such honour, but requested in 1994 that the original name of Mestalla remained.

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 trophy hall, which held the founding flag of the club. In the summer of 1973, more goal seats, which meant the elimination of fourteen rows of standing terraces, were added to provide comfort. Club management also considered the possibility of moving the Mestalla from its present location, to land On the outskirts of the town, before deciding against it.

Mestalla also hosted the Spain national football team for the first time in 1925. It was chosen as the national team's group venue when Spain staged the 1982 FIFA World Cup,^[53] 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.^[54] Mestalla has been the setting for important international matches, has held several Cup finals, and has also been the home of Levante. The ground also provided a temporary home for Castellón and Real Madrid for European games due to stadium development.

New stadium[edit]

Model of Nou Mestalla

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,^[55] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Club anthem[edit]

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[edit]

Coat of arms of the city of Valencia.

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, it was reported that DC Comics had started a legal case against the club, claiming that the new bat image design was too similar to Batman.^[56] The club issued a statement clarifying that it had intended to use a revised version of its bat logo for a line of casual clothing and applied for permission from the Office of Harmonisation of the Internal Market but the application was dropped after DC Comics filed an objection, not a lawsuit.^[57]

Current squad[edit]

As of 10 September 2018^[58]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Jaume Domènech 3 DF Rúben Vezo 4 DF Jeison Murillo 5 DF Gabriel Paulista 6 MF Geoffrey Kondogbia 7 MF Gonçalo Guedes 8 MF Carlos Soler 9 FW Kevin Gameiro 10 MF Daniel Parejo (captain) 11 MF Denis Cheryshev (on loan from Villarreal) 12 DF Mouctar Diakhaby

No. Position Player 13 GK Neto 14 DF José Luis Gayà 15 DF Toni Lato 17 MF Francis Coquelin 18 MF Daniel Wass 19 FW Rodrigo Moreno (vice-captain) 20 MF Ferran Torres 21 DF Cristiano Piccini 22 FW Santi Mina 23 FW Michy Batshuayi (on loan from Chelsea) 24 DF Ezequiel Garay

Reserve team[edit]

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

No. Position Player 26 MF Uroš Račić 27 FW Jordi Escobar 28 GK Cristian Rivero 29 DF Javi Jiménez

No. Position Player 30 FW Álex Blanco 32 DF Álex Centelles 34 FW Kang-in Lee 36 DF Hugo Guillamón

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Position Player — DF Aymen Abdennour (at Marseille until 30 June 2019) — DF Aderlan Santos (at Vitória until 31 December 2018) — MF Nacho Gil (at Elche until 30 June 2019)

No. Position Player — MF Álvaro Medrán (at Rayo Vallecano until 30 June 2019) — MF Fran Villalba (at Numancia until 30 June 2019) — FW Simone Zaza (at Torino until 30 June 2019)

Personnel[edit]

Source: Valencia CF official website

Managerial information[edit]

The following managers have all won at least one major trophy when in charge of Valencia
Name	Period	Total
			Domestic			International
			LL	CdR	SC	UCL	UCWC	UEL	UIC	USC
Ramón Encinas Dios	1939–42	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	–
Eduardo Cubells	1943–46	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	–
Luis Casas Pasarín	1946–48	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	–
Jacinto Quincoces	1948–54	3	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	–
Domingo Balmanya	1960–62	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	–
Alejandro Scopelli	1962–63	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	–
Edmundo Suárez	1966–68	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	–
Alfredo Di Stéfano	1970–74, 1979–80	2	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	–
Bernardino Pérez	1979, 1980–82	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Claudio Ranieri	1997–99, 2004–05	3	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	1
Héctor Cúper	1999–01	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	–
Rafael Benítez	2001–04	3	2	-	-	-	-	1	-	–
Ronald Koeman	2007–08	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	–
Total	1919–	27	6	7	2	0	1	3	1	2

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Alejandro Scopelli, the first foreigner to win a trophy with Valencia, the 1962 Fairs Cup.

• 

  Alfredo Di Stéfano had three successful spells as manager of the club.

• 

  Claudio Ranieri managed Valencia on two occasions with mixed success.

• 

  Héctor Cúper tenure saw the club rise back to prominence in European football.

• 

  Rafael Benítez, Valencia's most successful manager, with two league titles and one UEFA Cup over the period of three years.

Player records[edit]

Full-back Amedeo Carboni, the foreigner with the most appearances and 10th overall.

Most appearances
Pos.	Name	Nationality	Total
1	Fernando		552
2	Ricardo Arias		537
3	David Albelda		467
4	Miguel Ángel Angulo		430
5	Santiago Cañizares		418
6	José Claramunt		381
7	Manuel Mestre		374
8	Enrique Saura		372
9	Fernando Giner		366
10	Amedeo Carboni		346

The club's ambassador, the legendary Mario "El Matador" Kempes, amassed a total of 146 goals for Valencia.

Most goals
Pos.	Name	Nationality	Total
1	Mundo		238
2	Waldo Machado		160
3	Mario Kempes		146
4	Fernando		143
5	David Villa		129
6	Silvestre Igoa		117
7	Manuel Badenes		102
8	Vicente Seguí		91
9	Luboslav Penev		88
10	Epi Fernández		87

Notable players[edit]

This list of "famous" or "notable" persons has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit those criteria. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Transfers[edit]

Gonçalo Guedes is the most expensive signing in Valencia's history, costing €40m in 2018.

Record transfer fees paid by Valencia
Pos.	For	Fee (€)	Paid to	Date
1	Gonçalo Guedes	40,000,000	Paris SG	2018
2	Rodrigo	30,000,000	Benfica	2015
3	Álvaro Negredo	28,000,000	Manchester City	2014
4	Joaquín	25,000,000	Real Betis	2006
	Enzo Pérez	25,000,000	Benfica	2015
	Geoffrey Kondogbia	25,000,000	Inter Milan	2018
7	Pablo Aimar	24,000,000	River Plate	2001
8	Aymen Abdennour	22,000,000	Monaco	2015
9	Ezequiel Garay	20,000,000	Zenit St Petersburg	2016
10	Manuel Fernandes	18,000,000	Benfica	2007
	Éver Banega	18,000,000	Boca Juniors	2008
	Simone Zaza	18,000,000	Juventus	2017

The largest transfer involving Valencia was the sale of Gaizka Mendieta to Lazio for €48 million in 2001.

Record transfer fees received by Valencia
Pos.	For	Fee (€)	Received from	Date
1	Gaizka Mendieta	48,000,000	Lazio	2001
2	Nicolás Otamendi	45,000,000	Manchester City	2015
3	Shkodran Mustafi	41,000,000[59]	Arsenal	2016
4	João Cancelo	40,400,000	Juventus	2018
5	David Villa	40,000,000	Barcelona	2010
6	André Gomes	35,000,000	Barcelona	2016
7	David Silva	33,000,000	Manchester City	2010
8	Claudio López	32,000,000	Lazio	2000
9	Paco Alcácer	30,000,000	Barcelona	2016
	Roberto Soldado	30,000,000	Tottenham Hotspur	2013

Seasons[edit]

• 81 seasons in La Liga
• 4 seasons in Segunda División

Honours[edit]

Domestic[edit]

• 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

Winners (1): 1949

European[edit]

• UEFA Champions League

Runners-up (2): 1999–2000, 2000–01

• European Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (1): 1979–80

• UEFA Cup

Winners (1): 2003–04

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Winners (2): 1961–62, 1962–63

• UEFA Super Cup

Winners (2): 1980, 2004

• UEFA Intertoto Cup

Winners (1): 1998

Valencia CF in international football[edit]

Season-by-season record in international competitions
1 Group stage. Highest-ranked eliminated team in case of qualification, lowest-ranked qualified team in case of elimination.
Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup
Season													Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / 3rd pos.
UEFA Super Cup
Season															Final
1979–80															Nottingham Forest
2003–04															Porto
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
Season	Preliminary stages										Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
1971–72										Union Luxembourg	Hajduk	Újpest
1999-00										Hapoel Haifa	Rangers 1	Fiorentina 1	Lazio	Barcelona	Real Madrid
2000–01										Tirol Innsbruck	Olympiacos 1	Sturm Graz 1	Arsenal	Leeds United	Bayern Munich
2002–03											Liverpool 1	Arsenal 1	Internazionale
2004–05											Werder Bremen 1
2006–07										Red Bull Salzburg	Shakhtar Donetsk 1	Internazionale	Chelsea
2007–08										Elfsborg	Schalke 1
2010–11											Rangers 1	Schalke 04
2011–12											Bayer Leverkusen 1
2012–13											BATE Borisov 1	Paris Saint-Germain
2015–16										Monaco	Gent 1
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Season	Preliminary stages										Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Final
1967–68											Crusaders	Steaua București	Bayern Munich
1979–80											B 1903	Rangers	Barcelona	Nantes	Arsenal
1980–81											Monaco	Carl Zeiss Jena
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup / UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League
Season	Preliminary stages										Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
1961–62											Nottingham Forest	Lausanne-Sport	Internazionale	MTK Budapest	Barcelona
1962–63											Celtic	Dunfermline Athletic	Hibernian	Roma	Dinamo
1963–64											Shamrock Rovers	Rapid Wien	Újpest	1. FC Köln	Real Zaragoza
1964–65										RFC Liège
1965–66										Hibernian	Basel	Leeds United
1966–67										1. FC Nürnberg	Red Star Belgrade	Leeds United
1968–69										Sporting CP
1969–70										Slavia Sofia
1970–71										Cork Hibernians	Beveren
1972–73										Manchester City	Red Star Belgrade
1978–79										CSKA Sofia	Argeș Pitești	West Bromwich Albion
1981–82										Bohemians	Boavista	Hajduk Split	IFK Göteborg
1982–83										Manchester U.	Baník Ostrava	Spartak Moscow	Anderlecht
1989–90										Victoria București	Porto
1990–91										Irakis	Roma
1992–93										Napoli
1993–94										Nantes	Karlsruher SC
1996–97										Bayern Munich	Slavia Prague	Beşiktaş	Schalke 04
1998–99										Steaua București	Liverpool
2001–02									Chernomorets Novorossiysk	Legia Warsaw	Celtic	Servette	Internazionale
2003–04									AIK	Maccabi Haifa	Beşiktaş	Gençlerbirliği	Bordeaux	Villarreal	Marseille
2004–05											Steaua București
2008–09									Marítimo	Club Brugge 1	Dynamo Kyiv
2009–10									Stabæk	Genoa 1	Club Brugge	Werder Bremen	Atlético Madrid
2011–12											Stoke City	PSV	AZ	Atlético Madrid
2013–14										Kuban Krasnodar 1	Dynamo Kyiv	Ludogorets Razgrad	Basel	Sevilla
2015–16											Rapid Wien	Athletic Bilbao
UEFA Intertoto Cup
Season											Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Finals
1998–99													Shinnik Yaroslavl	Espanyol	Austria Salzburg
2005–06													Gent	Roda JC	Hamburger SV

The Academy: Training Centre Foundation Valencia CF[edit]

Since May 2009, Valencia CF has had a training centre, this is the first multidisciplinary training center for a football club in Spain.^[60]

The Training Centre Foundation Valencia CF "The Academy" offers university education,^[61] classroom training, and online training related to sport and football soccer.^[62]

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.^[63]

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.^[64]

Motorsports involvement[edit]

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[edit]

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 13 July, composed mostly of Spanish players, including some with European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) experience.^[65]

See also[edit]

• Valencia CF Mestalla
• Orange Trophy
• Richest football clubs
• European football records
• List of UEFA club competition winners
• Toyota Racing

Sources[edit]

• Valencia Club de Fútbol (1919–1969), Bodas de Oro, de José Manuel Hernández Perpiñá. 1969, Talleres Tipográficos Vila, S.L.
• Historia del Valencia F.C., de Jaime Hernández Perpiñá. 1974, Ediciones Danae, S.A. OCLC 2985617
• La Gran Historia del Valencia C.F., de Jaime Hernández Perpiñá. 1994, Levante-EMV. ISBN 84-87502-36-9
• DVD Valencia C.F. (Historia Temática). Un histórico en la Liga. 2003, Superdeporte. V-4342-2003

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valencia CF.

• Official website (in Spanish) (in English) (in French) (in Japanese)
• Valencia CF at La Liga (in English) (in Spanish)
• Valencia CF at UEFA (in English) (in Spanish)