Valencia Football Club
The Valencia Football Club is a football club, based in the city of Valencia, Spain. It was founded on March 18, 1919. Its first team plays in the first division, the first football competition in Spain, and plays its home matches at the Mestalla stadium, also centenary, which has a capacity for 49,430 people.
In the historical classification of the LFP it occupies 4th place, having played 86 of the 90 editions of the highest category.
It is the fourth Spanish club in terms of international titles (with 7 titles) and the 5th Spanish club with the most titles with a total of 21 official trophies: 6 First Division League titles, 8 Copas del Rey, 1 Spanish Super Cup, 1 Eva Duarte Cup, 1 UEFA Cup, 2 Fairs Cup, 2 European Super Cups, 1 European Cup Winners' Cup and 1 Intertoto Cup. In addition, he has been a finalist in the UEFA Champions League twice, in 2000 and 2001.
The value of the squad currently ranks 43rd among the most valuable soccer clubs in the world, valued at approximately 249.5 million euros, being the 7th Spanish club on the list. The entity has 44,962 shareholders, 39,251 subscribers and more than 500 supporters clubs throughout Spain and countries such as Germany, France, Portugal, England, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Panama, Russia, Sweden, China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the Dominican Republic.
The largest shareholder of the S.A.D. is the Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, through his company Meriton Holdings Ltd., since the purchase on October 24, 2014 of 70.4% of the shares owned by the Fundación Valencia CF, now 82% owned after the capital increase in January 2016.
According to a survey carried out by the CIS in June 2014, Valencia CF has one of the biggest fans in Spain, ranking 4th in percentage of supporters (3.5%), only behind Real Madrid C.F. (37.9%), F.C. Barcelona (25.4%) and Atlético de Madrid (6.1%).
History
 | For full development see Valencia Club History of Football and History of Valencia Club of Football (21st century) |
Foundation and early years (1919-1939)
The Valencia Football Club is a historical team from the city of Valencia that was founded as Valencia Football Club on March 18, 1919 by a group of young people, most of them ex-members of the then recently disappeared Club Deportivo Español and other clubs in the city. The club's charter is still preserved and was drafted on March 1, 1919 in the now-defunct Bar Torino, which was located in the old Bajada de San Francisco (now part of the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, very close to no. 7). Today there is a commemorative plaque in that place, known as km 0 of Valencianism as it is his birthplace.
Its first president was Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz, the club's main promoter, thanks initially to a coin tossed between him and Gonzalo Medina, considered the club's first patron, but the draw was agreed between the founders so that the elected as president was Milego.
Gonzalo Medina delayed his wedding for a year to acquire and prepare a playing field for the club, the Algirós field, so called because it is next to the path of the same name. The field was inaugurated on December 7, 1919 and had a capacity for 8,000 spectators.
By proclaiming himself regional champion for the first time in the 1922-23 season, with less than 4 years of life, he obtained the right to participate for the first time in a national championship: the 1923 Copa del Rey, which meant a great increase in followers and the construction that same year of a new stadium, the Campo de Mestalla, so called because it is next to an arm of the Mestalla ditch, and was inaugurated on May 20, 1923 with a capacity for 14,000 spectators, which soon grew to about 17,000.
The first idols of Valencianism were Cubells (the first Valencian international) and Montes (author of the first goal at Mestalla), something that also had friendly confrontations between the fans of one player and the other.
It was regional champion for three seasons in a row, and in 1928 the Spanish League began to be played and the club started it in the Second Division, since the highest category was started by the Cup champions and runners-up until that year, but only three years later they achieved promotion to the top flight, on March 29, 1931. The first years they suffered to maintain the category but they were never relegated, thus beginning to consolidate themselves in the top flight of Spanish football.
After consolidating in the First Division and winning four consecutive regional championships, they managed to play their first national final in the Cup in 1934, although they were defeated 2-1 against Madrid CF in Montjuic. In a short time the team was already competing against older clubs.
Electric striker and Luis Casanova (1940-1959)
After the Civil War, the Mestalla Stadium was one of the most damaged, but it was quickly conditioned for soccer practice, and the Valencia Foot-ball Club until then was officially renamed as Valencia Club de Fútbol and began the most brilliant era in the club's history in terms of titles, all of them under the historic presidency of Luis Casanova that lasted almost twenty years, with a total of 7 titles and 7 runners-up.
The heroes that caused many of the joys of this era were the members of the mythical Valencianist Electric Front line made up of Epi, Amadeo, Mundo, Asensi and Gorostiza, a front line that all Valencianists still recite on the run even today, even though they have not experienced those years.
The first national title was achieved in the 1941 Cup against Spanish by 3-1, on June 29, 1941 in Chamartín, a success that was celebrated in style in the club and throughout the city. but the following season they achieved even greater success by winning their first League, the 1942 League on March 22 in the third to last day of the championship. Also on an individual level, striker Mundo was the winner of the Pichichi Trophy with 27 goals and goalkeeper Eizaguirre won the Zamora Trophy, both being the first Valencian players to do so.
The following season they were on the brink of another Cup final, but stayed in the semifinals, but just after that they won their second League: the 1944 League, on March 26, when the club celebrated its 25th anniversary, and again with two days left to finish the championship. Also that year, Mundo repeated his success as top scorer with another 27 goals, and Eizaguirre once again became the Zamora of Spanish soccer. The club was about to achieve a historic double because they reached the Cup final but were defeated by Atlético de Bilbao in Montjuic.
In September of that same year, 1944, CD Mestalla was born, a subsidiary team of the club that would grow rapidly, since only eight years later, in 1952, it was the first Spanish soccer subsidiary team to be promoted to the First Division, although both the president of the club (Luis Casanova) and the president of the subsidiary team (Federico Blasco) voluntarily resigned from promotion for not competing against the parent team.
They reached the Cup final again in 1945 and 1946, but on both occasions they lost against Atlético de Bilbao and Real Madrid, three consecutive finals being lost and all of them in Montjuic, thus completing four finals in Cup lost in the Barcelona stadium up to that date in the club's history.
On the other hand, the rage for the lost finals would be rewarded by winning the third League, the 1947 League, although he had to wait until the last day on April 13 in Mestalla, beating Sporting and depending on what happened in other two parties. Fortune was finally on the side of Valencia after three years losing Cup finals. This season also made his debut for a 21-year-old who would be a club legend, Antonio Puchades, brother of a journalist named Carles Pla Puchades.
In the 1947-48 season the team was the leader for almost the entire second round but right at the end they let the championship slip away, losing on the penultimate day against Barcelona at Mestalla, and then the results on the last day were not favorable. He was left with honey on his lips repeating the title. At the end of this season, the team played the first Eva Duarte Cup, the precursor championship of the current Super Cup, organized by the RFEF and which faced the League and Cup champions of the previous season. It was played in Chamartín in a single match on June 6, 1948 against Real Madrid and with a final victory for the madridistas 3-1.
To close the magical decade of the 1940s, the club signed what would be one of its coaches who would lead the Valencian fans in the most games in its entire history and also one of those who would win the most titles, Jacinto Quincoces from Biscay, who was national selector and coach of Zaragoza and Real Madrid. The improvement of the team was noticed, although it was surpassed by an intractable Barcelona that won the league with Valencia runner-up by only two points. However, in the Cup, he managed to get rid of the last lost finals and this time he won his second Cup, the 1949 Cup on May 29 and again in Chamartín, where he won the first. The rival was once again Atlético de Bilbao and they won 1-0 with a goal from Epi, who was playing his last official game as a Valencian player after nine seasons and wanted to return to retire at his old club, Real Sociedad. On October 12, 1949, the team played and won the 1949 Eva Duarte Cup at the Metropolitano 4-7 against the current league champion, Barcelona.
With the departure of Gorostiza in 1946, of Epi in 1949, of Mundo in 1950, of Amadeo in 1951 and of Asensi in 1952, the mythical Electric Forward that gave so many titles to the club in the 40s came to an end. The reference of that magical striker was undoubtedly Mundo, winning two Pichichis trophies and proclaiming himself the top scorer in the club's history with 269 goals.
The 1950s began with the remodeling works of Mestalla with a project known as Gran Mestalla to accommodate 40,000 spectators. The works would take several years, with the new grandstand inaugurated in 1955, and this meant a great economic effort for the club and fans.
In terms of sports, the club tried to recover from the important casualties, but under the orders of Quincoces they reached a final in the 1952 Cup. Despite being played in Chamartín, a talismanic stadium for the Valencian fans in the finals, and to take the lead with two goals from Badenes, Barcelona managed to equalize two in the last minutes and later win in extra time, taking advantage of the injuries to Valencian players Asensi and goalkeeper Quique. The following season, the runner-up in the League was reached, just two points behind Barcelona, which won the league and cup that year.
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In the summer of 1953, they signed the Dutchman Faas Wilkes, the first international figure in the club's history and a spectacular player whose dribbling made the stands fall in love. Of which it is even said that people filled the stadium for the claim to see him in action, which is why the legend began that thanks to him the construction of the new grandstand that would be inaugurated two years later could be undertaken. The team played again in the 1954 Cup final, thus increasing its fame as the "cupbearer team", and winning the third Cup in its history, and again in Chamartín. It was on June 20 against Barcelona and the result was a resounding 3-0 with two goals from Fuertes and one from Badenes. This final is also remembered for an image of goalkeeper Quique celebrating the victory sitting on the crossbar of one of the goals. It was the third title for coach Jacinto Quincoces in his fifth season.
After three mediocre and irregular seasons in the summer of 1957, Eduardo Cubells, ex-soccer player, ex-coach and then sports adviser to President Luis Casanova, traveled to Brazil and came close to signing a very young 17-year-old Pelé, but in the end the chosen ones They were Machado and Walter, who completed a great role in his three seasons prior to his tragic accident. But if something marked this season, it was the disaster of the Great Flood that Valencia suffered on October 14, 1957 when the Turia river overflowed, causing enormous destruction. This event marked a before and after in the life of the city and in the memory of all Valencians. The team was unable to play a home game until December, but in the second round they rallied. So much so that the Valencian striker Ricardo Alós won the Pichichi trophy with 19 goals (tied with Badenes and Di Stéfano) and Goyo the Zamora trophy.
In March 1959, the electric lighting of Mestalla was inaugurated, but with the end of this decade a cycle in Valencianism came to an end with the mark of the legendary Puchades at the age of 32 after 12 seasons at the club, and with the resignation of the president Luis Casanova after a presidency of almost 19 years and being the president who has celebrated the most titles and participated in the remodeling of the stadium. On June 12, 1959, he was named honorary president of the club to the applause of the entire general meeting of members. During the season, poor results led to the resignation of Eduardo Cubells and the coach Luis Miró, who was replaced by the beloved Jacinto Quincoces until the end of the season and almost put the team in the Cup final.
The first edition of the Orange Trophy took place in the summer of 1959 with two exceptional guests: Pelé's Santos and Inter Milan, the Brazilian club being the winner of the trophy based on goal difference.
First European titles (1960-1969)
The 1960s began with an irregular season under the command of coach Domingo Balmanya and with Vicente Iborra Gil as president, although he improved during the second round and finished in fifth position. The drama came on June 21, 1961 when the Brazilian striker Walter Marciano suffered a fatal traffic accident, leaving the entire Valencian fans shocked. Shortly after, a tribute match would be played for him with benefits for his family, and the second edition of the Orange Trophy was also played, which this time Valencia did win against Botafogo and FC Barcelona.
President Vicente Iborra Gil resigned that summer for health reasons and with the presidency of Julio de Miguel came the incorporation of the Brazilian Waldo, one of the best strikers in the club's history, and also came the club's first official participation in European competitions when requesting their participation in the Fairs Cup, a tournament organized by FIFA and UEFA managers facing off against European cities that organized international trade fairs, and Valencia had its trade fair since 1917, for which it was included in the competition. He could not have made a better debut when he began by eliminating Nottingham Forest with a 2-0 win at the Mestalla (with Waldo scoring the first two European goals in the club's history) and a resounding 1-5 win in England, and later against Swiss Lausanne, the powerful Inter from Milan (with a double of goals from the young youth squad Guillot in the first leg) and against MTK Budapest in the semifinals with two wins by 3-0 and 3-7 (with three goals from the Uruguayan Héctor Núñez, two from Waldo and another two from Guillot). In the double-legged final, the rival was Barcelona, but because of the World Cup it could not be played until September, which led to changes in both teams, such as that of the Valencian coach who became the Argentine Alejandro Scopelli, who replaced Domingo Balmanya who declined to renew his contract. The first leg was played on September 8, 1962 at the Mestalla and ended with a historic 6-2 result with three goals from Guillot, two from Nando Yosu and one from Héctor Núñez. The return match was on September 12 at the Camp Nou and the 1-1 draw meant that Valencia was proclaimed champion of the 1961-62 Fairs Cup in their first participation. In June the third edition of the Orange Trophy was played and won against Sporting de Lisboa and Blackpool FC.
The following season was weak in the league, but they reached a suffocating semifinal in the Cup against F. C. Barcelona that had to be decided with a third tiebreaker game, in a schedule full of matches, and which ended up opting for the Catalans. But the season will go down in history for the club's second participation in the Fairs Cup and its second win. The rivals eliminated were the Scottish Celtic Glasgow and Dunfermline Athletic FC, the latter in a very tough tie that ended tied at six goals (4-0 at Mestalla and 6-2 for the Scots in the second leg) and had to be decided with a game of tiebreaker in Lisbon that ended in a Valencian victory with a goal from the historic Valencian center-back Manolo Mestre. In the quarterfinals the other Scottish rival, Hibernian FC, and the first leg ended with a 5-0 win (two by Waldo, two by Roberto Gil and one by the Brazilian Chicao) while in the second leg they lost 2-1. In the semifinals the rival was AS Roma and in the first leg a drunken Valencia endorsed them 3-0 (Chicao, Héctor Núñez and Guillot). In the return they lost 1-0 and the team qualified again for the final against the Yugoslav Dinamo Zagreb. The first leg was on June 12, 1963 at the Maksimir stadium and ended with a 1-2 dispute for the Valencians with goals from Waldo and Urtiaga that came back from the Yugoslav initial goal. The return was on June 26 in a packed Mestalla and, despite the difficulties, they won 2-0 with goals from Mañó and Héctor Núñez, confirming Valencia as champion of the 1962-63 Fairs Cup in their second participation.
In the summer of 1963, the legendary former player Pasieguito took charge of the team, although he had no luck as a coach in this first stage since in January 1964 he was dismissed due to very poor results in the league that led the team to look closely at the relegation places, and his replacement was the former striker Mundo, until then the subsidiary's coach. The results changed enormously and a discreet sixth place was reached. In the Cup for the first time, they faced their subsidiary in the round of 32, C. D. Mestalla, and they reached the semifinals, staying at the gates of a final. In the Fairs Cup, they eliminated Shamrock Rovers FC, Rapid Vienna, Ujpest Budapest and Cologne. The debutant Real Zaragoza awaited the third consecutive European final. It was played in a single match on June 24 at the Camp Nou and was possibly the final with the most controversial arbitration suffered by Valencia, the work of the Portuguese Joaquim Fernandes de Campos. The Aragonese went ahead with a goal from Villa, possibly offside, and Urtiaga equalized before the break, with Valencia dominating the match. In the second half the game was equalized and Marcelino scored to put the hands ahead 2-1, but shortly after Guillot scored a goal and it was cancelled, and later the same footballer was the target of a penalty but it was not awarded. Suco was sent off, and also the referee did not add discount minutes with all of Valencia focused on the rival goal. The success could not be repeated in the third European final.
The following season marked the first European failure when they surprisingly lost in the first round to RFC Liège. In the following two years, the round of 16 was reached in the Fairs Cup, eliminated on both occasions by Leeds United. Young legendary footballers such as Pep Claramunt or Juan Cruz Sol made their debut with the team. The 1966-67 season finally reached a long-awaited Cup final that had not been achieved for thirteen years before, thus achieving the 1966-67 Cup. Cádiz, Betis, Real Madrid and Elche were eliminated, and the final was the fourth Cup in the club's history, played at the Santiago Bernabéu on July 2, 1967 against Atlético de Bilbao and with a 2-1 final victory against goals from Jara and Paquito. Captain Roberto Gil picked up the Cup. That same season, striker Waldo was the first Brazilian to win the Pichichi Trophy with 24 goals. Winning the Cup allowed him to play for the first time in the European Cup Winners' Cup, a championship organized for the Cup winners of European countries. They faced Crusaders FC, Steaua Bucharest and were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
In 1969 the club was celebrating its 50th anniversary and they wanted to do something important, but it turned out to be a rather low-key campaign. The Mundo coach resigned after matchday five and Joseíto was hired for the rest of the season, and the young Juan Cruz Sol was named captain. Fairs Cup was eliminated in the first round by Sporting Lisbon.
Di Stéfano's League and Cup finals (1970-1976)
In the summer of 1969, President Julio de Miguel proposed to the members' meeting to officially call the Luis Casanova Stadium the Mestalla field, in honor of the mythical president Luis Casanova for almost two decades, a proposal that was approved.
The coach Joseíto, together with his second coach José Blanes, renewed for one season but after five games he was dismissed due to a very bad start in the League and for the elimination in the first round of the Fairs Cup, but later with Salvador Artigas and Enrique Buqué reached the 1970 Cup final after eliminating Osasuna, Granada, Ferrol and Zaragoza. The final played at the Barcelona Stadium was finally won by Real Madrid 3-1.
In April 1970, in the middle of the competition, President Julio de Miguel announced by surprise that the following season the coach would be the Spanish-Argentine Alfredo Di Stéfano, who had just been proclaimed champion directing Boca Juniors. He awarded the team a winning spirit and fighter similar to his in his time as a player, everyone defended and everyone attacked. At the beginning of September, what will be considered the 1st Edition of the Valencia Orange Trophy was held, which would be held annually, with few exceptions. This decade began with the departure of two legends such as Waldo and Guillot, and a year later that of Roberto Gil, and with the arrivals of the Argentine Óscar Rubén Valdez, Pellicer, Uriarte, Adorno and Quino.
In the last edition of the Fairs Cup, the team lost in the second round against KSK Beveren with great arbitration controversy in the second leg. In the League, nobody could imagine that the team would win its fourth League after twenty-four years since the last league title (1947). They started with doubts in the first days, but after the fifth they began to climb positions. In the second round several consecutive victories were chained and the lead was reached after the penultimate day. Di Stéfano's team depended on itself to be champion and a draw on the last day in Sarriá was enough, but instead they were defeated 1-0. At the same time the other two applicants were playing, Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona, and whoever won would be proclaimed champion due to the Valencian defeat, but fate wanted them to tie 2-2 and therefore Valencia celebrated the champion title in Sarriá of the 1971 League. On an individual level, the Asturian goalkeeper Abelardo won the Zamora Trophy, the fourth in the club's history after two from Eizaguirre and one from Goyo, and part of the merit was the solid defense formed by Sol, Aníbal, Antón and Tatono.
In the Cup, the highly motivated recent League champion reached the second consecutive final after eliminating Mallorca, Betis, Málaga and Sevilla. Barcelona was waiting for the final on July 4, 1971 at the Santiago Bernabéu, and Valencia was hoping to achieve the first 'double' of his story, but it could not be. And that he went ahead with two goals from Claramunt and Paquito, but the Catalans tied with two goals and also Sol was sent off after protesting the second goal culé. The 90 minutes ended with a tie, and in extra time an illegal goal by the azulgranas was validated for being offside and committing a foul on Abelardo, but a Valencia fighter with a man less scored the tie at three through Valdez, although With only nine minutes to go, Alfonseda scored the final 4-3, which meant a new Valencian defeat in the Cup final.
The 1971-72 season marked the debut of the team in the European Cup as they were the current League champions. The debut was in a previous round in August, so the Orange Trophy was suspended that year, with the modest Union Luxembourg as a rival. The next team was more important, Hajduk Split, champion of the defunct Yugoslavia, a tough rival who achieved a 0-0 draw at Luis Casanova and on the return to Valencia it cost them sweat to draw 1-1 with a goal from Claramunt that classified the team by the double value of away goals. In the round of 16, the Hungarian Ujpest Dozsa awaited in October, and they won 0-1 in the first leg, with a Valencia that put more heart than head, and 2-1 in the second leg. There was delivery but it was not enough.
In the League, they wanted to revalidate the title and the season was somewhat irregular, but they still had options to win it on the last day. They needed to beat Real Sociedad, which was achieved 2-1, and for Real Madrid to lose in their stadium against Sevilla, but the madridistas won resoundingly 4-1 and Valencia finished runners-up, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
In the Cup, being current League champion, they entered the round of 16 and eliminated Granada, and Celta in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals Real Madrid awaited, recently champion of the league in the last day with a runner-up Valencia. The expectation was maximum, and in the first leg they achieved a 1-0 victory with a goal from Óscar Valdez, while in the second leg the goalless draw was strongly defended, which led to Valencia playing their third consecutive Cup final. on July 8, 1972 again at the Santiago Bernabéu, but this time against Atlético de Madrid and with an injured Claramunt who still entered the field of play and fought like the best. The colchoneros went ahead but Valdez equalized, and in the second half Gárate made the final 2-1. Third consecutive defeat in a Cup final as happened in 1944, 1945 and 1946.
In 1972 the team debuted in the young second edition of the UEFA Cup but only resisted two rounds. In the first they beat Manchester City but in the round of 16 they couldn't beat Red Star, who easily eliminated the Valencians. In the League they came sixth, a bad result that left the team out of Europe for the first time since 1961. The continuous injuries to their players made the team's progress very irregular. And in the Cup the role was disastrous, since the team only eliminated Rayo Vallecano and fell in the second round against a Castellón that was the revelation of the season.
Faced with the bad season, President Julio de Miguel resigned after 12 seasons at the helm of the club and launched the call for the first democratic elections in the club's history and on June 6, 1973. He was elected as the new president Francisco Ros Casares. Two level signings such as Salif Keita and Kurt Jara were signed, but the poor role in the League caused a great crisis. The beginning of was good, even reaching the lead, but it declined until finishing in 10th place, the worst classification obtained in the last sixteen years. Di Stéfano's dismissal was expected before facing the Cup but he was kept in charge, a controversial decision that thus gave the coach the opportunity to improve the season. On the other hand, Di Stéfano blamed the press for the ills of the team and, in the midst of this rarefied environment, the team was eliminated from the Cup in the second round by Las Palmas, which meant the dismissal of Di Stéfano, thus putting a point and end to the first four seasons of the Spanish-Argentine directing Valencia, with two successful seasons and another two to forget.
On January 18, 1974, the purchase of land in the town of Paterna was approved to build a modern Sports City.
The new board of directors of Francisco Ros Casares received numerous criticisms from the press, partners and fans for the sporting failure of the previous season. Milovan Ciric, who was unaware of Spanish football but came with a lot of experience, a reputation for being tough and being the coach of his country. Young promises were incorporated, some signed and others from the subsidiary, which did not give the expected results. The team further worsened its ranking from the previous season, now being 12th, and again eliminated in the second round of the Cup, this time by Sporting. After this elimination and after being thrashed 5-2 by Atlético de Madrid, coach Ciric was dismissed and his place was taken by his compatriot Dragan Milosevic until the end of the season.
Despite all the economic balance, it continued to present a surplus in the summer of 1975, but the fracture between Francisco Ros Casares' board of directors and the fans was more than evident (and even within the board of directors itself). The public was even more outraged when Juan Cruz Sol was transferred to Real Madrid for 30 million pesetas, the highest amount paid by the club for a player up to that time, but one of its best players was lost. There was also indignation with the coach Dragan Milosevic for doing without important men like Adorno, Aníbal, Antón or Jara. The joy was the signing of the Dutchman Johnny Rep, European champion with Ajax and partner of Cruyff and Neeskens in a clockwork orange. Failures were repeated in the League and Cup with a 10th place in the League and again being eliminated in the second round of the Cup, this time against Betis. After the third day, in September 1975, the sporting and social situation was already so untenable that Milosevic was dismissed and President Francisco Ros Casares submitted his resignation after just over two seasons, but very intense ones. The rest of the season was directed by the until then coach of the subsidiary, the former Valencian soccer player Manolo Mestre. The acting president was Alfredo Corral Cervera until in January 1976, without elections, a unitary candidacy was formed made up of Valencian personalities who would try to get the club out of the serious sports crisis and José Ramos Costa was chosen president, and with him he entered to take charge of the technical secretariat a key piece for the history of the entity, the former player and former coach Pasieguito, who was going to make the most important signing in the club's history: the Argentine Mario Alberto Kempes.
The era of Mario Alberto Kempes (1976-1984)
In the summer of 1976, José Ramos Costa's board of directors, together with Pasieguito's technical secretariat, hired the striker for Rosario Central, the Argentine Mario Alberto Kempes (nicknamed "El Matador") for 500,000 dollars (about 35 million pesetas), which was the highest sale in Argentine soccer up to that time. In addition, players who would be the basis for future successes came to the first team, such as Ricardo Arias or Enrique Saura, from the subsidiary, and the signings of the Paraguayan Lobo Diarte, Ángel Castellanos, José Carrete and Botubot, the latter in the winter transfer window.
Kempes' debut was disappointing in the Orange Trophy, even going so far as to throw away a penalty, but during his season he was historic when he achieved the Pichichi with 24 goals, the fifth season that a Valencian player had achieved it. Even so, the 1976/77 season was disappointing, finishing 7th in the standings and therefore outside the European places. The Spanish-Paraguayan coach Heriberto Herrera was sacked after matchday 23 after losing at home against Las Palmas, and the Valencian Manolo Mestre led the team for the last ten matches. In addition, the Dutch Rep paid his termination clause to return to his country before even finishing the season. This season the definitive deed of the land of the Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna was also signed with people divided on its viability, land that Francisco Ros Casares had already bought almost three years before and which over time proved to be a success.
In the 1977/78 season, the club hired the French coach Marcel Domingo, with extensive experience of almost twenty years coaching Spanish teams. His second coach was Manolo Mestre, the midfielder Javier Subirats came to the first team from the subsidiary and also the goalkeeper Manzanedo and the Argentine Darío Felman. The team finished 4th and finally returned to European competitions after six seasons without competing in Europe. In addition, Kempes won the Pichichi again with 28 goals, a figure never before reached by a Valencian striker in the league.
In April 1978, the remodeling of the Luis Casanova Stadium was approved to host matches of the 1982 World Cup, works that would begin in May after the end of the season and which involved the deepest remodeling of those that the stadium has undergone, plunging the club into a heavy debt in subsequent years.
Mario Alberto Kempes was already a star in Valencia, in the Spanish league and in his country, but he became a world star after the 1978 World Cup in which he was crowned top scorer with 6 goals and also champion with the national team Argentina, being also the author of two of the three goals in the final, one of them decisive in extra time. Even so, he always displayed his humility and naturalness, with hard work as his letter of introduction, without the ambition to accept succulent offers from other clubs because he was very comfortable in Valencia. Valencia also made a pre-season tour of Argentina because they were crazy with desire to see the striker who gave the first World Cup to his team live in their country.
The 1978/79 campaign was a reflection of what was the irregular Valencian decade, but with a brand new ending. It began with the sad departure of the legendary Pep Claramunt and important players such as Óscar Valdez, Adorno and Jesús Martínez, but quality players arrived such as the German Rainer Bonhof for 67 million pesetas, Daniel Solsona and Miguel Tendillo was promoted from the subsidiary. However, it was a disappointing season in the League in which they could only be 7th and Kempes scored only 12 goals, a far cry from the 24 and 28 of the previous two years. The return to the UEFA Cup after six seasons excited the fans but it ended too soon. They managed to eliminate CSKA Sofia and Arges Pitesti, but in the round of 16 they lost to West Bromwich Albion with great arbitration controversy. Such was the irregularity that coach Marcel Domingo was dismissed in March after matchday 25 and his position was taken by technical secretary Pasieguito, under whose orders the team came back from a 4-1 loss that Valencia had conceded in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. It was a magical night with the Luis Casanova full, and against all odds the tie went to extra time at the end of regulation time with 3-0 for the Valencianistas with goals from Lobo Diarte and two from Rainer Bonhof, while in the first play of extra time Darío Felman achieved the final 4-0 that classified Valencia. Then they beat Deportivo Alavés in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals Real Valladolid put the Valencianistas against the ropes, equalizing the tie in the second leg, but a goal from Darío Felman managed to put Valencia in a Cup final ten minutes from time. the one that had not been reached since 1972. The rival in the final was the recent league champion, Real Madrid, on June 30, 1979 at the Vicente Calderón stadium and the Valencian enthusiasm was maximum. The team played the final with the kit of the senyera and the victory was achieved with two highly celebrated goals from the matador Mario Alberto Kempes, thus making the 1979 Cup become the the fifth Cup for the club. King Juan Carlos I gave the cup to Captain Carrete and Valencianism celebrated this title in style after several mediocre seasons. In addition, the goalkeeper Manzanedo won the Zamora Trophy in the league, fifth in the history of Valencian goalkeepers.
Such was the international fame of Mario Alberto Kempes that he led Valencia to play three games on tour in Japan in the summer of 1979, something very unusual at the time. The club wanted to give authority and category to the Valencian bench and Alfredo Di Stéfano was hired again, much loved by the fans for having won the fourth League for the club in 1971. The aspirations were very high and the roles in the League and Cup were very disappointing, but without a doubt the success came in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Danish Boldlubben were knocked out in the first round, and powerful Glasgow Rangers in the round of 16, managing to win 1-3 in Scotland after drawing 1-1 in Valencia. In the quarterfinals, the rival was Barcelona, current champion of the previous Cup Winners' Cup, and they managed to win 0-1 at the Camp Nou with a goal from Pablo and then in the second leg they won 4-3 in a highly disputed match with two goals from Saura and one from Bonhof and one from Kempes. In the semifinals, French Nantes awaited and in the first leg they lost 2-1 with a goal from Kempes, but in the return they achieved a spectacular 4-0 (Bonhof, Subirats and two from Kempes) despite the fact that it was enough to win 1-0. The final was played on May 14, 1980 at the Heysel stadium in Brussels against Arsenal FC. The match was very tough, with little football, and ended in a 0-0 draw, so it had to be decided in a penalty shootout. The first to launch was the star Mario Alberto Kempes but his launch was easy for the goalkeeper Jennings and the Valencian team began to see the title further away, although the mood changed when the Irish specialist Brady also missed his shot thanks to a great save by Pereira very tight to the stick. The next four shots were already inside, scoring by the Valencian side Solsona, Pablo, Castellanos and Bonhof, and at the end of the shootout in a four-goal draw, sudden death went to sudden death with one more shot, scored first by Ricardo Arias with a strong shot without placement. The next and definitive launch was the work of Graham Rix and the Galician goalkeeper Pereira became the hero of the night by stopping his shot, thus proclaiming Valencia champion of the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup, thus achieving Di Stéfano his second title as Valencia coach. The negative note was carried out by the British hooligans who did not accept the defeat well and staged numerous riots in the streets of Brussels and attacked numerous Valencianistas displaced to Belgium, who had to be treated in hospitals.
Di Stéfano left the bench and his position was taken by Pasieguito in his third spell as a Valencian coach. The departure of the coach next to the Bonhof sale upset and worried the fans. In goal, a young Sempere quickly took Pereira's ownership, and the most notorious signing was that of Uruguayan striker Fernando Morena. After a spectacular start (with 3-0 victories at the Camp Nou with two goals from Solsona and one from Morena, and 2-1 at home against Real Madrid with both goals from Kempes) the season turned upside down with the sudden elimination in the second round of the Cup Winners' Cup by the modest Carl Zeiss Jena from East Germany, who used himself extremely hard in both games, seriously injuring Mario Alberto Kempes in the shoulder, an injury that he would drag on for the rest of his career and was the start of its decline. The joy of the season was to be proclaimed super champion by becoming the first Spanish club to win the European Super Cup. The tournament faced the champion of the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup of the previous campaign in a double match. The rival was the intractable Nottingham Forest, current European champion two years in a row and also European super champion, and in the first leg on November 25, 1980 at the City Ground the team fell 2-1, but Darío Felman's goal gave hope facing the return and it was very valuable. On December 17, Luis Casanova was full waiting to win the biggest title in his history. One goal was enough and it was made to wait until the start of the second half when Morena picked up the rejection of a shot from Saura's crossbar and scored the final 1-0 that made Valencia the European super champion, the second title under coach Pasieguito.
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The first round of the 1980/81 championship, the team was second in the standings and everything indicated a great season, especially after having won the European Super Cup in December, but a very bad run of results in the second round made the team team drop to sixth place. Added to this was a crowd upset with the game and with José Ramos Costa's board of directors for having transferred Kempes to River Plate for 300 million pesetas in March after matchday 27. The Matador was not going through a good run and had physical problems that prevented him from performing as he did in his first seasons, he even received whistles from the stands, but he did not like the sudden sale of him. The team also noted the lack of Morena, sanctioned with 8 games and all of this caused the team's downturn, which even so later went back to reach the 4th place that qualified for UEFA, but without fighting for the league title that in the absence of four days he had only one point.
In the 1981/82 season, now without Kempes and without Morena, they signed Frank Arnesen and Kurt Welzl and the 19-year-old Roberto Fernández joined the first team, a revelation of the team that reached international status. The irregular campaign ended with a 5th place that qualified the team for Europe, although in January the coach Pasieguito resigned giving way to Manolo Mestre in his second spell coaching the team. He made a fool of himself in the Cup, being thrashed by Sporting in the first round, although in the UEFA Cup they reached the quarterfinals against an IFK Goteborg team that was later champion.
In summer, the 1982 World Cup was held, with the renovated Luis Casanova Stadium hosting the first matches of the Spanish team. Enrique Saura was the only Valencian player in that team. The works in the stadium meant for the club a very important accumulated debt that resulted in an increasingly weakened team.
The Matador Mario Alberto Kempes returned to the team when C. A. River Plate was unable to meet the payments for his signing and was received with open arms by the fans, but financial problems meant that only Idígoras could also be incorporated. This 1982/83 season turned out to be one of the most dramatic in the club's history. It started with a victory against Barcelona in Maradona's culé debut but several days without winning immediately followed, which led to the hiring of coach Miljan Miljanić in October, who did not finish the season either as the team was very close to the relegation places, so that in March Koldo Aguirre was hired for the last seven days. The members' assembly, in the midst of the club's economic and financial crisis, led to the resignation of president José Ramos Costa and the elections in February gave Vicente Tormo the presidency. The end could not have been more tense because on the last day the team received on May 1, 1983, being bottom and almost evicted to relegation, a Real Madrid for whom a draw was enough to become champion while Valencia needed victory and a carambola waiting for the defeats of Racing, U. D. Las Palmas and Celta. Miraculously, the three defeats occurred and Valencia beat Real Madrid C.F. 1-0 with the mythical and agonizing goal by Tendillo that saved the Valencianistas and gave Athletic Club the League.
Kempes' last season was marked by the ruinous financial situation of the club, which resulted in numerous casualties such as Solsona, Felman, Arnesen, Idígoras, Welzl and the retirements of Carrete and Cerveró. Their places were taken by modest additions and homegrown players like a young Fernando Gómez. The coach who started the season was a man of the house like Paquito, and the start was good, winning 0-1 in the third game at the Bernabéu with a goal from Kempes and becoming leaders on matchday 7, but then several consecutive defeats led the team to be 14th in the 22nd matchday, peeking into the relegation places, which caused Roberto Gil to take charge of the team and immediately in the Cup they were eliminated by the Madrid subsidiary, Castilla C. F. of a young Quinta del Buitre. Even so, they managed to get back on track in the league and did not suffer until the end like the previous season, finishing in 12th place.
With a critical economic situation, in the summer of 1984 Salvador Dasí Martínez, president of the sports commission, director of the club and personal friend of Kempes, told him with tears in his eyes that he would not continue at the club.
Difficult years and recovery with Tuzón (1984-1992)
Due to the reforms of the Luis Casanova stadium to host matches of the 82 World Cup in Spain, the financial situation of the club was critical with a debt of more than 1600 million pesetas, which forced Vicente Tormo's board of directors to get rid of great players and to feed on homegrown players (there were Arias, Subirats, Saura, Tendillo, Roberto, Fernando or Revert) and modest signings such as the Uruguayan Wilmar Cabrera (for whom an economic effort was made), Arroyo or Quique.
In the 1984/85 season, the coach continued to be Roberto Gil, man of the house and ex-soccer player of the team, since the economic situation did not allow much more. The league had a surprisingly good run, especially during the first two thirds of the championship. The team came to be 2nd after matchday 12, and remained in 4th place until matchday 25, but the team went from more to less and the last nine matchdays were terrible with one victory, three draws and five losses. It was feared for the permanence but finally the team was in a discreet 9th place.
But the worst was yet to come. In the 1985/86 season, without financial power, the club wore the image of the Valencia Savings Bank as its first sponsor on its shirts. A disappointing Sánchez Torres was brought on board and Giner, Fenoll and Voro joined the first team. A farewell match was held for Saura after ten seasons at the club. The coach was another man of the house and former soccer player, the Spanish-Argentine Óscar Rubén Valdez, but the season could not have been more disastrous with humiliating defeats such as the elimination of the Cup by Tenerife from Segunda, and goals conceded against Real Madrid (5- 0), Atlético (5-0), again Real Madrid (0-3) or Real Sociedad (6-0), which led to the dismissal of Valdez as coach. Added to the misfortunes were significant injuries to two key pieces such as Roberto and Fernando. The new coach was Alfredo Di Stéfano in his third and last stage as a Valencian coach, with whom successes such as a League and a Cup Winners' Cup were achieved. The last twelve days were key to achieving permanence but the team seemed headed for disaster and only three victories were achieved, all of them too late. On the penultimate day, the fateful April 12, 1986, Valencia needed to win at the Camp Nou but this time there was no miraculous goal from Tendillo as in 1983 and the team was defeated 3-0. The only option left was that the next day, April 13, Cádiz lost at the Ramón de Carranza against Betis with no aspirations beyond that of staying ahead of their eternal enemy (Sevilla), but one point was Enough for the people from Cádiz to be saved and therefore drew 0-0 against the Béticos in a match on which the suspicion of fixing always hovered, thus sending Valencia to the well of the Second Division, a category that the club had not played since 1931. With the relegation confirmed, Vicente Tormo resigned in April and Pedro Cortés took over the acting presidency until the elections in June.
The new president elected is Arturo Tuzón on June 3, 1986, with a policy of austerity, rectitude, but also a lot of heart, he achieved a gradual economic recovery. The club's debt amounted to 2,200 million pesetas and with the stadium and all its assets mortgaged, so the Tuzón board of directors turned to the promotion project and an austerity policy. It also received massive support from Valencianism which, despite having fallen in category, almost doubled the number of subscribers, from 16,000 to 30,000 subscribers. The coach continued to be Di Stéfano, thus demonstrating his commitment to the club despite having offers from Primera clubs. Roberto Fernández left the club in a controversial way to Barcelona in exchange for 100 million pesetas, and Miguel Tendillo to Real Murcia when an agreement was not reached to renew his contract, and the veteran Castellanos, Bermell, Granero, Urruti and Cabrera were also low.. The only reinforcements were the Uruguayan Bossio and the top scorer from the previous season in Segunda, Alcañiz from Castellón, who completed the homegrown players who continued at the club despite the relegation such as Arias, Subirats, Voro, Fernando, Revert, Giner, Sixto or Fenoll, and youngsters like Quique, Arroyo or Jon García. The 1986/87 season was atypical and became eternal as it had a regular first phase of 18 teams (34 matchdays) and a second phase divided into two groups of six teams (10 more matchdays), and in the end the three clubs with the most total score. The team finished the first phase as the leader, with a spectacular second round. The group stage (or play-off) was difficult, but the five home games were key and all of them were won. Finally, the desired promotion was certified with three days left to finish the championship, on the night of May 30, 1987 with the 2-0 victory over Recreativo de Huelva with goals in the second half from Subirats and Quique. On the last day, the team played in Las Gaunas and witnessed the historic first promotion of CD Logroñés to the First Division when they fell 1-0 against the Riojans, thus promoting both clubs (together with Celta) and the Valencian and Rioja fans remaining twinned forever.< /p>
With practically the same squad, the team played again in the First Division, and in the economic aspect things worked much better. The surplus of the season in Segunda (more than 120 million pesetas) was added to that of the current season (133 million pesetas). The good management of Arturo Tuzón was beginning to bear fruit. The 1987/88 season was the first to include 20 teams in the top flight. Nando and the Argentine Ciraolo joined, and in the winter market came the surprising transfer of striker Rabah Madjer from Porto, although he contributed less than expected. They went through quite a bit of trouble to retain the category, which cost coach Alfredo Di Stéfano his dismissal in March. Roberto Gil took charge of the team again for the last nine games and left the club in 14th place. A plague of injuries made his debut for a young Camarasa.
The number of season-ticket holders once again gave the club a surplus, but the public felt that they gave a lot and received little from the team, so for the 1988/89 season the club hired Víctor Espárrago, who had just made history with Cádiz, and not only consolidated Valencia in the First Division but also led them to European competition at the end of the season in a surprising 3rd place. They had managed to gather a very solid block, without stars but with very hard-working people. Fernando stood out for his refined technique and had already become the star of Valencianism. The defense was splendid with players like Bossio, Camarasa, Voro and Giner led by the great captain Arias. These were the protagonists of the season together with the goalkeeper Ochotorena, who won the Zamora Trophy (sixth in the club's history), and the fast Asturian striker Eloy Olaya.
The 1989/90 campaign showed that the previous one was no coincidence. The club continued to post surpluses, allowing signings such as Lubo Penev, Toni Gomes and Tomás. The campaign did not start well for the Espárrago team after losing 3-1 at home against Atlético and two days later losing 6-2 at the Bernabéu. Pessimism hung over the fans, but victory finally came on matchday four and they went 15 consecutive matches without losing. In the entire second round, only 2 games were lost, which brought the team to 2nd place, thus achieving runner-up after an intractable Real Madrid. In addition, in the Cup, they finally managed to go far and the semifinals were played against Barcelona, and the fans were excited when, with ten minutes to go in the second leg, the team was classified for the final, but the Dutchman Koeman scored a goal from a direct free kick and decided the tie for the culés. The return to Europe was marked by controversial arbitrations both in the first leg and in the return of the second round of the UEFA Cup against Porto, being eliminated with an overturned stadium.
On September 21, 1990, the historic subsidiary CD Mestalla was officially renamed Valencia CF B, thus accepting a UEFA regulation.
The optimism of the previous two seasons led the fans in the summer of 1990 to a state of euphoria. On the other hand, the return of youth squad player Roberto Fernández was welcomed with divided opinions among the fans, having left the club the year they were relegated and having spent four seasons at a rival club such as Barcelona. The 1990/91 season was very disappointing, and it started badly when they fell humiliated in the Orange Trophy against Real Madrid. The campaign was tremendously irregular, becoming 18th on matchday 10 and 4th on matchday 26. One of the few joys was the 2-1 victory at home against Real Madrid on matchday 11 with goals from Penev and Robert, thus avenging the humiliation suffered in the summer tournament. In the end, the team was in 7th place and therefore out of European competition. In the UEFA Cup, they suffered a lot to eliminate the cumbersome Greek Iraklis in extra time, and in the second round the rival was the powerful AS Roma, with a controversial first leg at the Luis Casanova where they disallowed two legal goals against Valencia.
On September 26, 1991, the conversion of the club chaired by Arturo Tuzón into a Public Limited Sports Company was approved in a general meeting, like most Spanish soccer clubs, as dictated by Law 10/1990. In this way, Valencia CF was officially renamed Valencia CF, SAD from now on. The final conversion was not completed until 1992.
The Dutchman Guus Hiddink took charge of the team in 1991/92 and significantly improved the game with signings such as Leonardo and Rommel Fernández. The goals continued to be distributed mainly between Penev and Fernando. One of the joys of the season was the comeback in matchday 18 against Real Madrid in just two minutes with goals from Fernando and Robert in minutes 87 and 88. The club finished in a more than worthy 4th place, thus returning to European positions.
Halfway through the season, on February 19, 1992, the Paterna Sports City was inaugurated, becoming one of the best sports facilities in Europe with an area of 180,000 square meters, 13 soccer fields and a residence for the youth from the quarry who came from anywhere in the world to train as footballers. The club had acquired these lands with divided opinions in 1974, under the presidency of Francisco Ros Casares, but time showed that it was a success.
The Luis Casanova stadium was from July 24 to August 5, 1992, the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Team in the 1992 Olympic Games, historic games in which the team finally won the medal for the first time in its history. gold in the final played at the Camp Nou on August 8.
Conversion to SAD and the Roig stage (1992-1997)
In 1992 the conversion of the club into a Public Limited Sports Company along with the majority of Spanish soccer clubs became effective, as dictated by Law 10/1990.
In the 1992/93 season, Guus Hiddink's team repeated their 4th place and their European classification, but there was a feeling that having done better against the greats they could have fought for something more. The UEFA Cup left a bitter memory among Valencian fans, since in the first round they lost in the first leg by a resounding 1-5 against Napoli coached by Claudio Ranieri, with the five goals scored by the Uruguayan striker Daniel Fonseca, name difficult to forget for Valencianism since that day. On the penultimate day, on June 13, the young Gaizka Mendieta made his debut in an official match at the age of 19, playing the last minutes at the Ramón de Carranza against Cádiz.
On April 25, 1993, a tribute match was held for Mario Alberto Kempes, who had finished his stage as a footballer in Austrian league teams a year earlier. It was a friendly match against PSV Eindhoven that ended with a 5-6 Dutch victory with three goals from the honored Argentine matador and another three goals from the young Brazilian Romario. Just ten days later, on May 6, the Panamanian forward Rommel Fernández, who was on loan at Albacete, tragically died in a vehicle accident, which shocked the fans and all of Spanish and Panamanian football.
In the 1993/94 season, the unknown Montenegrin Mijatović was signed. The team started the season very well, even leading three games, but everything changed abruptly after the disaster in Karlsruher in the UEFA Cup on November 3, 1993, falling 7-0. After that rout, the team suffered two consecutive defeats in the league, which led to the dismissal of coach Guus Hiddink shortly after in mid-November, replaced by Paco Real, the man of the house. Shortly after, on November 24, President Arturo Tuzón resigned in what was his eighth season at the helm of the club, and Melchor Hoyos Pérez was appointed until the presidential elections. In December, and without raising the team's head, coach Paco Real was dismissed after a painful 0-4 defeat against Barcelona, and Uruguayan Héctor Núñez took his place with Mario Alberto Kempes as assistant. The team remained in the middle of the standings, compounded by the sad news that striker Lubo Penev was suffering from testicular cancer which caused him to miss the rest of the season. On March 9, 1994, Francisco Roig (popularly known as Paco Roig) was elected president with the motto "Per un València campió", almost at the same time that the club celebrated its 75th.th anniversary. One of the president's first decisions was a new change of coach, so José Manuel Rielo provisionally took charge of the team for two days in which two victories were achieved, and finally the Dutchman Guus Hiddink was convinced to return at the end of March, thus resuming the team nine days from the end. Finally, the team finished in an insufficient 7th place in this crazy season, out of the European positions, and, as an anecdote, on the last day Valencia became the protagonist by drawing 0-0 at Riazor against Deportivo de La Coruña who could be proclaimed League champion for the first time in their history, but a penalty saved by González against Djukic meant that the title went to Barcelona.
During the presidency of Paco Roig, novelties were incorporated such as the use of Valencian through the stadium's public address system or the parade of music bands from different Valencian towns on the pitch before matches and during breaks. The club's kit recovered the black stockings in its 1994 uniform and then its original uniform of white shirt, black shorts and black stockings from 1995. As of November 6, 1994, the stadium recovers its original name of Estadio de Mestalla after a letter sent by former president Luis Casanova Giner himself requesting said change. The fans never stopped calling it Mestalla.
The summer of 1994 saw numerous exciting signings such as striker Oleg Salenko, veteran goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta and Brazilian Mazinho, who joined Poyatos, Romero, Otero, Engonga, Juan Carlos and Maqueda. The entire team led by the coach who had just won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil, Carlos Alberto Parreira. In the 1994/95 season, they incorporated a second uniform inspired by the senyera that is well remembered and loved by the fans. The sponsorship is also remembered, it was from the Valencian cooperative of drugstores and perfumeries 'CIP, el progreso. The start of the league was promising but then it turned out to be very irregular, which led the team to move in the middle of the table, far from its European objective. The season ended in a dismal 10th place, far from the initial goals, and with coach Carlos Alberto Parreira dismissed three days from the end. The mediocre league season was compensated with a great Copa del Rey in which the final was reached, something that greatly excited the fans after 16 years of the last cup final (1979). The rival in the round of 16 was Real Madrid, with Valencia achieving two 2-1 victories, coming back from Madrid's goals with two goals from Salenko in the first leg and two from Mijatović and Fernando in the second leg. In the quarterfinals Mallorca was eliminated and in the semifinals the feisty Albacete awaited. It was tied 1-1 in the first leg at Mestalla, a result that produced the dismissal of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira with the second leg to go and three games to go to finish the league. In the second leg the coach was José Manuel Rielo, on June 13 at the Carlos Belmonte, where they won 1-2 with goals from Robert and Penev. The final was played on Saturday, June 24, 1995 at the Santiago Bernabéu against Deportivo de La Coruña, which qualified for a final for the first time in its history. More than 40,000 Valencian fans traveled to live what was the first final for the youngest, a match that would go down in history as "The final of the water". The first part was controlled by a Deportivo who went ahead in the 36th minute with a goal from Manjarín after stealing the ball from Giner. In the second part, the morning heat turned into a spectacular storm that had not been seen in the capital for thirty years. The pitch began to resemble a swimming pool, almost impassable, but even so on 70 minutes, Mijatović perfectly executed a direct free kick that led to the 1-1 tie. Under the rain, the Valencianistas celebrated the goal in the stands as has rarely been celebrated, but when the rain turned into hail, the referee José Mª García Aranda ordered the suspension of the game in the 79th minute. As the storm did not stop, it was impossible resume the match. The match was postponed and the RFEF decided to resume it three days later, on Tuesday, June 27. Around 30,000 Valencian fans returned to Madrid full of enthusiasm and thinking of playing extra time with only 11 minutes remaining in the game, but almost immediately after the match resumed Alfredo Santaelena headed a cross into the area inside the Valencian goal after a bad start Andoni Zubizarreta, thus marking the final 2-1. Already with the marker against there was no time to equalize it. The Valencian illusion of being able to celebrate a title lasted only one minute, but this final meant the reunion of Valencianism with the illusion of being champions again.
The second year of the Roig stage brought another revolution in the squad looking for the Valencia champion that he promised. Historic footballers such as Penev, Robert, Giner, Eloy and the goalkeeper Sempere were out after fifteen seasons. The main novelty was signing a veteran coach of the Spanish benches, Luis Aragonés. Among the novelties were the Brazilian striker Viola, Patxi Ferreira, Sietes, Eskurza, Iñaki and José Ignacio. The 1995/96 season meant recovering the black pants for the first Valencian uniform after more than sixty years with white pants. It began with many doubts and irregularities, alternating bad games with spectacular matches such as the 4-3 victory at the Mestalla against Real Madrid with goals from Gálvez, Fernando, Mijatović and Arroyo. In the second round, Valencia was the best team in the league, even ahead of Radomir Antic's intractable Atlético de Madrid. The team began to get dangerously close to Atlético and Barcelona, who were beginning to lose points, and they even beat the Catalans 4-1 with goals from Fernando, Viola and two from Mijatović, and the colchoneros 2-3 in the Calderón with two goals from Mijatović and a header from Poyatos. In an almost unstoppable way, the team approached the top of the table as the days progressed, with Mijatović in his best Valencian season scoring 28 goals. On the penultimate day at Mestalla they managed to beat Espanyol 1-0 with Arroyo's last goal as a Valencian player after eleven seasons, and this victory gave them the chance to be champions on the last day. It was a very unlikely option as Valencia needed to beat Celta in Balaídos and also that Albacete, already relegated, beat leader Atlético de Madrid at the Vicente Calderón. Valencia took the lead with a goal from Mijatović but Atlético beat Albacete 2-0 without problems, and also at the last minute they tied Celta 1-1. The Valencian fans were left for the second consecutive year at the gates of a title, but feeling with this runner-up that champion Valencia was getting closer.
The summer of 1996 again brought about several very important changes for the following years. Perhaps the biggest of all was the departure of star Pedja Mijatović to Real Madrid in exchange for his release clause of 1.250 million pesetas. Mijatović denied having any agreement with the madridistas and assured the che fans that he would continue in the team, which is why when the transfer materialized (saying that he was going to Real Madrid in order to win titles) the Valencian supporters he never forgave him the way he left lying. Roig's reaction to return the illusion to people was to hire a world-renowned star: Romario (30 years old) Being the highest paid player in the world with a salary of US$3.6 million per season, a signing that the coach did not like Luis Aragonés who even submitted his resignation in the summer but was not accepted by Roig. Moya, Vlaovic, the millionaire signing of Karpin for 1,000 million pesetas, arrived, the center-back Iván Campo was reinstated and an unknown Argentinian striker from Racing de Avellaneda nicknamed "El Piojo" also arrived., Claudio López, who at first was a reason for jokes but ended up marking an era in Valencianism. The convulsive 1996/97 season began for Valencia quite badly, losing the first two days and with a dressing room crisis due to the bad relationship between Luis Aragonés and Romario. The Brazilian was lined up in the first two days, but was left out of the squad for the first match of the UEFA Cup, which outraged the striker and caused a tense conversation between the coach and the player in full view of all the media in the Sports City. The Valencian debut in UEFA was presented as the most complicated when facing the current champion: Bayern Munich. Few people trusted the che before the bad league start, but the tie was sentenced in the first leg on September 10 in Mestalla with a bulky 3-0 for the Valencianistas with goals from Engonga, Claudio López (in his goalscoring debut) and Moya. This result and the qualification for the next phase made the team improve its game. The problems with Romario continued, and his indiscipline led to his loan to Flamengo in October. In UEFA they beat Slavia Prague and Besiktas in the round of 16. After the first leg with a 3-1 victory at Mestalla, and with the team in 11th place in the league after thirteen rounds, coach Luis Aragonés submitted his resignation, with which the next league match was led by his second coach, José Manuel Rielo (on his third occasion as provisional coach of the first team). The coach chosen by Roig to lead the team for the rest of the season was a very different coach: Jorge Valdano, who led his first game on matchday 15. He made his debut in December for the 18-year-old youth squad Farinós, a player full of character. The team was reinforced in the winter transfer window with incorporations such as Leandro and Cáceres, and in March 1997 "el Burrito" Ariel Ortega arrived. Despite the efforts, the team was mediocre and irregular, falling in the Cup at home against Las Palmas on penalties. In UEFA they reached the quarterfinals but they did not face Schalke 04 in either of the two games, and in the league they finished 10th with a Claudio López almost disappeared having scored only five official goals.
After a disastrous season, the coach Jorge Valdano asked Paco Roig in the summer of 1997 for an almost complete renovation of the dressing room, and that was the case. Up to fifteen footballers were absent, among them the curious pack of six footballers for Mallorca. Due to the excessive number of non-EU players, Valdano had to rule out a player in the summer, and it was Claudio López who had all the ballots as he did not adjust to the type of game that the Argentine coach wanted. Finally the discard was the Brazilian Leandro. A 1997/98 squad of players with quality but dubious discipline was made (Ariel Ortega, Marcelinho Carioca, Saïb, the return of Romario...), which caused a somewhat chaotic game. Veteran footballers like Carboni, Djukic or Angloma were criticized upon their arrival for their age, but with their dedication and professionalism the fans would soon see how much football was still left in their boots. Romario was delighted with his return as he had a good friendship with Jorge Valdano and fit into his game idea. Young homegrown players like Angulo and Albelda made their debut this season. Romario was injured in a game of the Orange Trophy, which kept him off the pitch for up to two months and he traveled to Brazil to recover. Meanwhile, the team was defeated in the first three league games, giving a very bad image, especially all of Jorge Valdano in El Sardinero by leaving his own team with one less man by including five non-EU players on the pitch (instead of the regulation four). This mistake, added to the image and the three consecutive defeats, ended the patience of an already nervous president, Paco Roig, who did not tremble when dismissing Jorge Valdano as coach. On matchday 4 of the League, the team already had a new coach, the Italian Claudio Ranieri, a totally different coach from Valdano who based all his football on defensive solidity, without having possession of the ball, but with a lethal counterattack. On matchday 14, with the team sunk to a dangerous 17th place in the relegation promotion, Valencia lost 0-1 at home against UD Salamanca. That November 30, 1997, the audience at Mestalla handed down their sentence, intoning several times, and almost unanimously, the "¡Paco go now!", even concentrating at the gates of the stadium.. On December 2, he was key when President Paco Roig presented his resignation in the face of pressure from the fans, even renouncing to remain as a member of the board of directors. His successor in office would be Vice President Pedro Cortés, who was already briefly in 1986, and the new vice president would be Jaime Ortí, who was also running for the presidency. Manuel Llorente went from manager to CEO.
The golden age (1997-2004)
On December 7, 1997, Ranieri's head hung by a thread. The team was on the verge of relegation, losing 1-0 at Anoeta and the decision to change coach had already been made, until a goal by Mendieta in the 79th minute put the final score at 1-1 and lengthened the game. Patience with the coach. The right decision after the fact, since three consecutive victories followed to end the year. In the winter market, Romario, Marcelinho Carioca and Saïb were definitively transferred as they did not fit in with Ranieri's football. One of the sensations of the season arrived: the Romanian striker Adrian Ilie. Another three consecutive victories came at the beginning of 1998: the epic comeback at the Camp Nou on January 19, 1998 in the last twenty minutes from 3-0 down. They ended up winning 3-4 with goals from Morigi (69'), Claudio López (73' and 88') and Ariel Ortega (89'). Then the 6-1 win against Racing with Ilie's debut league scorer making a lethal couple with "el Piojo" López, and the third at the Santiago Bernabéu with goals from Mendieta and Ilie. The team seemed different and completed a magnificent second round of the championship, recovering football and dignity, rising to a sad but hard-earned 9th place, which at least helped the team play the Intertoto Cup in the summer, which gave them access to UEFA. Spectacular goals are remembered such as Mendieta's in San Mamés and Ilie's against Mérida in Mestalla. The top scorers were Claudio López, who was already beginning to be lethal with his speed on the counterattack, and Adrian Ilie with 12 goals each, although the Romanian scored one more in the Cup. This season was the farewell to the legendary captain Fernando Gómez Colomer after 15 seasons in the first team and scoring 143 goals in 552 games, and also the farewell to veteran goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta who was retiring from the pitch after four seasons at Valencia.
At the end of the decade, the club began its second golden age with the arrival of the Italian coach Claudio Ranieri, the fast scorer Claudio "Piojo" López and de Gaizka Mendieta, who won the Copa del Rey 1998-1999 and got the team's first place in the modern Champions League.
The first half of the 2000s marked the culmination of the new golden age of Valencia CF. With Héctor Cúper as coach, in the 1999-2000 season, in his debut in the modern Champions League, the club reached the Champions League final for the first time in its history but was defeated by Real Madrid after having had an unbeatable championship.. They repeat the final the following year in their second participation and the rival this time is Bayern Munich, who snatch the title from the Valencianistas in the penalty shootout.
In the 2001-2002 season, with a hitherto unknown Rafa Benítez as coach and with players like Albelda, Baraja, Vicente, Cañizares, Carboni, Djukic, Angloma, Ayala or Rufete among others, Valencia won a title again League after 31 years without achieving it. In the 2003-2004 season, they repeated the title and also won the UEFA Cup, thus achieving a historic double and placing Valencia as the best team in the world in 2004 according to the IFFHS.
The golden age of the club ends with the departure of Rafa Benítez due to discrepancies with the general manager Manuel Llorente, and the coach is replaced by the Italian Claudio Ranieri in his second Valencian spell. The European Super Cup was won with him but the 2004-2005 season did not end due to poor results and a much grayer stage began for the entity.
The economic crisis (2004-2014)
In 2004, the entity's largest shareholder and construction businessman, Juan Soler, became president. With the fever for success still recent, the club makes great financial boasts such as the presentation in 2006 of the future new stadium, and incorporates footballers at a high cost, such as the most expensive signing in the club's history up to that moment, Joaquín Sánchez for 25 millions of euros.
In the following years, soccer players such as Villa, Kluivert or Morientes were acquired, but they also invested heavily in promising youngsters such as Raúl Albiol, Silva and Mata. Despite the individual quality of most of the players and the ambitions that were sought, with the team involved in a complicated economic, social and sporting situation, no victory was achieved beyond qualifying every year to play in the Champions League, until in In 2008, the seventh Cup was unexpectedly won despite a shameful league campaign in which they suffered until the last days to maintain the category.
The following season Unai Emery was hired with the aim of returning to the Champions League, an objective that was not achieved until two years later.
The great indebtedness of the club, together with the real estate crisis that the country suffered, led to the suspension of the construction of the future stadium at the beginning of 2009. As the price of land fell, it was no longer possible to sell the land of the current Mestalla to face the construction of the new.
In the summer of 2009, the club was forced to carry out a capital increase to avoid a bankruptcy due to having a debt of 547 million euros, mainly with the entity Bancaja. The shareholding control of the club remains in the hands of the Valencia CF Foundation with 72% of the shares when buying (thanks to a loan from Bancaja guaranteed by the Valencian government) all the shares not sold to the public. It was assured that there would be a second phase of the sale of shares to democratize the club, but it never took place. The new president Manuel Llorente, appointed by the institutions, had as its main objective to reduce the debt with the bank.
The 2010s began with the sale of players each season by the president: Albiol, Villa, Silva, Mata, Joaquín, Pablo Hernández or Jordi Alba are the main examples. The team led by Unai Emery managed to compete in the Champions League every season, while the club incorporated young or little-known footballers who reduced the level of the squad. Other characteristic players of this stage are Ricardo Costa, Jeremy Mathieu, Roberto Soldado, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa.
In 2012 the club decided not to renew Unai Emery after four seasons due to a supposed end of the cycle, and Manuel Llorente hired Mauricio Pellegrino in his debut as coach, without counting on the opinion of the sports management or the board of directors. In December the coach was dismissed and Ernesto Valverde was hired until the end of the season, who managed to qualify the team for the Europa League but was left out of the Champions League positions.
Economically, the debt was reduced with the 2009 capital increase and the sale of players, but it continued to be unaffordable, nor, of course, to resume work on the future stadium, not even with the Newcoval plan agreed between Llorente and Bancaja. This made it necessary to negotiate a refinancing of the debt while the largest shareholder, the VCF Foundation, could not repay the loan, which led to the intervention of the guarantor: the IVF of the Generalitat Valenciana, paying part of the interest on the loan with public money.: 4'8 million euros.
The intervention of the Valencian government as guarantor led to the appointment of new trustees in the Foundation to have greater control over the refinancing of the debt. This caused the almost immediate resignation of Manuel Llorente as he refused to be supervised.
A profound renovation began in practically all areas and the club's policy with Amadeo Salvo as president, such as the departure of captains Albelda and Soldado, for which they pay their termination clause. Signings such as forwards Helder arrive Postiga and Dorlán Pabón to alleviate the scoring void left by Soldado. Besides, the club acquires Javi Fuego from Rayo Vallecano.
The refusal of the coach Ernesto Valverde to renew his contract led to the incorporation of Miroslav Djukic, proposed by the sports director Braulio Vázquez, but the bad season led to the dismissal of both, replaced by Rufete and Juan Antonio Pizzi before the end of 2013. The renewal in the sports area culminated with 6 casualties and 5 additions to the squad during the winter market. He improves the team's image, commitment and performance, standing up and beating strong rivals, but without reaching European positions, finally finishing 8th in the standings, and staying on the brink of playing in the European final. League.
Bankia decided not to refinance the debts of the Foundation and the club by not approving the refinancing plan presented by Amadeo Salvo and Aurelio Martínez, and also the guarantee of the Generalitat Valenciana had been provisionally annulled by a court, which meant that Bankia requested the search for investors, making the news public through a statement while the General Shareholders' Meeting of Valencia was taking place on December 10, 2013, something that did not sit well with the club. President Amadeo Salvo's response was that Bankia was not the one who should decide the future investor, and on December 22 presented the interest of billionaire Peter Lim in buying the club with a top-level sports project.
Bankia did not take Lim's offer into account and continued with its sale process, but due to the lack of information and transparency, President Salvo announced in an informative meeting on January 24, 2014 that the sale process was not It should be carried out by Bankia, but rather by the VCF Foundation, as it is the largest shareholder.
Finally, on February 24, it was agreed to create a Management Commission for the sale, with selection criteria and a representative of the 4 parties involved: Valencia CF, VCF Foundation, Bankia and the Generalitat. In April and May, the 7 offers received were studied. The final vote of the 22 trustees of the VCF Foundation took place on May 17, 2014 and among the final offers they unanimously chose the offer of businessman Peter Lim (Meriton Holding Ltd.) as buyer of the package shareholding. The offer had to be modified after Lim's negotiation with Bankia on how to pay the club's debt, which was fully refinanced and with various collection guarantees. On July 31, the VCF Foundation once again approved the final offer, and on October 24, 2014, the refinancing of the debts and the sale of shares were jointly signed, thus completing the sale process. The new board of directors entered the club at the extraordinary meeting of December 1, 2014.
The Peter Lim Era
In the summer of 2014, while the sale process of the majority shareholding to Peter Lim was being closed, an ambitious commitment was made to return Valencia to the Champions League. For this, the team was almost completely reformed between the sports management headed by Rufete and the largest shareholder, Meriton Holdings. The Portuguese Nuno Espírito Santo became the coach of the new project as Lim's personal bet, advised by his friend and partner Jorge Mendes, and a total of 15 incorporations are made, some in the form of a transfer from Meriton having previously purchased his rights, as were the cases of André Gomes and Rodrigo. The youngest squad in the first division was formed with an average age of 23.6.
While the club laid the foundations to grow financially, incorporating Adidas as a new supplier and new men in marketing and social networks, although without hiring any main sponsor for the shirt, the team maintained a high sporting level in the League, becoming a leader and staying all year in European positions. Not playing in European competition benefited the regularity of the team, which saw its solid defense become a benchmark (Otamendi-Mustafi), its goalkeeper Diego Alves one of the best goalkeepers in the league, Gayà a revelation and Parejo in the midfield more scorer. The disappointments were the poor goalscoring background of the forwards, especially Negredo and Rodrigo, and the premature elimination in the Cup. To complete the midfield, the Argentine Enzo Pérez was signed in the winter transfer window. Some spectacular numbers led the team to compete until the end in a league season full of records. Of the first seven classified teams, only Barcelona, and with many difficulties, was able to beat the Valencians. Finally, the club finished the hotly contested season in 4th position, one point away from direct access to the Champions League but classified to play the previous phase.
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On July 1, 2015, the executive president Amadeo Salvo resigned together with the sports management headed by Rufete as a result of discrepancies with the coach Nuno who had the full confidence of Meriton together with his agent Jorge Mendes. In sports, Valencia had to take a leap in quality to compete at the highest level and instead the new sports management rejuvenated the squad even more and also transferred the leader of the defense, the Argentine Otamendi. The elimination of the Champions League in the group stage against very weak rivals and the distance from the objectives in the League forced the dismissal of Nuno as coach and head of the sports area, and the main person pointed out by the fans. Peter Lim opted to sign the British newcomer on the bench as coach Gary Neville, his friend and commentator on British television, but the team did not improve but went straight to flirt with the relegation places. Jesús García Pitarch was also incorporated as the new sports director, a basic piece that was vacant. In the Cup they reached the semifinals but the club suffered a humiliating and painful defeat at the Camp Nou. Pako Ayestaran joined the coaching staff as Neville's assistant but took charge of the team two months later, achieving three victories in eight rounds, poor numbers that at least served to save relegation and finish 12th.
Despite the poor background, the club decided to continue with Pako Ayestaran at the helm of the team. Not playing in European competition and continuing without a sponsor on the shirt forced them to lower spending on the squad, which is why they were sold to André Gomes and Mustafi, and at the end of the summer to Paco Alcácer who asked to be transferred to Barcelona. Lim did not invest more money after having invested 100 million in a capital increase that he fully covered, apart from the share purchase. The squad designed by Jesús García Pitarch, which was still very young in middle age, showed many gaps both in attack and defense, conceding goals in all matches. After four consecutive defeats and with the bottom team, Pako Ayestaran was dismissed and a more experienced coach, Cesare Prandelli, was hired, but the squad continued with the same shortcomings. Finally, in December 2016, Cesare Prandelli resigned because he saw that Peter Lim did not want to invest in the squad. While Voro, he takes command of the team, without improving much in results and play, but managing to save the team from the maximum objective of the season, to save themselves from relegation. Finally, the season ended with 18 defeats and 46 points, finishing in 12th place, a more than unexpected position for a club with so much history. One of the positive notes of the season was the irruption of youth player Carlos Soler into the first team.
The 2017-2018 season was going to start with a makeover for Valencia CF. After the hiring of Mateu Alemany as general manager and that of a technical secretary with greater weight with Alexanko and Vicente Rodríguez, the club announced the end of Lay Hoon as president of the club. In her place, Anil Murthy would enter as president of the entity. From here, Valencia got down to work to reform the team starting by hiring Marcelino García Toral as the new first team coach. In addition, Blu Products was also announced as the new main sponsor, after 3 years without having one. Valencia CF signed a great first round with historic numbers, 40 points in 19 days. Of this first round, games such as Valencia 5-0 Málaga CF with a hat-trick included by Simone Zaza, Valencia CF 4-0 Sevilla FC or Real Betis 3-6 Valencia CF, where 9 different players scored, stand out. In addition, it was one of the 3 teams that managed to tie the undefeated FC Barcelona (1-1 at Mestalla) in the first round, who showed to be in an incredible state of form with 51 points in 19 games. New players like Gonçalo Guedes and Geoffrey Kondogbia were the great architects of the club's great moment, together with the good form of captain Dani Parejo and forwards Simone Zaza and Rodrigo, who scored 10 and 11 goals, respectively, between the Cup and the League, in the first round. In January, after a year-end plagued by injuries and 3 losses in 4 games that stopped a team that had accumulated 8 victories in a row, it was decided to sign Argentine striker Luciano Vietto on loan with an option to buy, who debuted in the Cup with a great hat-trick against U. D. Las Palmas (4-0) in Mestalla, and defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin from Arsenal FC, who would give the team more options to rotate due to the large number of games played in January between Cup and League. Finally, the team would fall in the semifinals of the Cup against FC Barcelona and the dynamics were somewhat diminished, reaping a few consecutive defeats in the League. However, the team knew how to recover from adversity and continued scoring points in the domestic competition, managing to finish in 4th place and thus qualifying for the Champions League, with 73 points.
Centenary of the club
In the 2018-2019 season, that of the Centenary, Valencia played a great role. He tried to reinforce himself up front with the signings of Michy Batshuayi and Kevin Gameiro, in addition to signing Gonçalo Guedes on property, as well as Geoffrey Kondogbia and Jeison Murillo, investing heavily in the Portuguese and thus becoming the club's most expensive signing to date.. The start was not easy for the Turia team, and in January the team was eliminated from the Champions League and far from the top positions in the League with only 23 points due to the numerous draws that it achieved as a result of poor goalscoring background, despite having strengthened precisely in that aspect. However, captain Parejo stated on social networks that he refused to give up the season and that there was much left to say. Along with him, many of the team's players joined and Marcelino continued as coach despite being deeply questioned. Key to redressing this situation was also the second leg of the Cup quarterfinals in a tie full of anecdotes against Getafe Club de Fútbol that would end with a 3-2 aggregate win for those from Mestalla. An epic comeback where Rodrigo Moreno scored a hat-trick, with two of the goals in discount that would unleash the madness at Mestalla and would be key to regaining the team's confidence. In the semifinals the rival would be Real Betis. Despite the good start by the Chés, the Sevillian team took the lead after a header from Loren seconds before the break and a spectacular Olympic goal from Joaquín nine minutes later. The Valencian team recovered with a goal from Denis Cheryshev twenty minutes from the end and managed to tie the game with a goal from Kevin Gameiro in the 92nd minute. gave Valencia the qualification to a final eleven years later. After a great second round in the League where Valencia got 38 points, they ended the season in fourth place, thus qualifying for the Champions League, and reached the semifinals of the Europa League, where they were eliminated by Arsenal with an aggregate result of 3 -7. However, the best moment of the season was yet to come.
On May 25, 2019 at the Benito Villamarín stadium, Valencia faced F.C. Barcelona.
After a first half of great play on the counterattack with full effectiveness, they were already winning 0-2 thanks to goals from Gameiro and Rodrigo -the competition's top scorer, along with Ángel Rodríguez and Toko Ekambi-. Finally, and after a few last minutes of maximum tension, the black and white team ended up winning the title and resisting the push of the Catalans after Messi's goal (1-2), thus putting a great climax to a century-old season that will go down in history..
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Post-Centenary (2019-2022)
For the 2019-2020 season, the team was reinforced with players like the Uruguayan Maxi Gómez, the Dutchman Jasper Cillessen or the Frenchman Eliaquim Mangala, who returned to the club 2 years later. However, the enthusiasm for the season was cut short when the Mateu-Marcelino project was blown up after the dismissal of the Asturian coach on September 11, 3 days after visiting the Camp Nou. His substitute would be Albert Celades. In the following weeks, the dismissal of the head of the technical secretariat Pablo Longoria and the general director Mateu Alemany would also be announced. In the Champions League, the team qualified for the round of 16, leading their group (Ajax, Chelsea and LOSC Lille) while in the SM Cup, El Rey was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Granada CF. This season, Ferrán Torres, one of the greatest promises of the youth academy, established himself in the first team, attracting the attention of several important clubs. The season closes with a discreet ninth place, closing the League with a 1-0 defeat against Sevilla, the team falls in the Champions League round of 16 with an 8-4 aggregate against Atalanta de Bergamo BC.
After a 2019-2020 season where the objectives were not met, as the club finished in 9th position after losing away from home against Sevilla FC, a somewhat hectic summer begins for the club with the sale of the pearl Ferrán Torres to Manchester City for only 23 million euros plus 12 in variables. Javi Gracia is also confirmed as the new coach for the 2020-2021 season, who signs a contract for the next two seasons. On August 12, After the sale of Francis Coquelin and the gift of the historic captain in the Centennial Cup Dani Parejo to Villareal CF, tensions increased between the fans and the majority of the club's shareholders due to poor sports management, causing a demonstration against Peter Lim and Anil Murthy calling for his resignation. Seeing that the demonstrations had a global impact, on 14 August club president Anil Murthy published an open letter with a quote from majority shareholder Peter Lim: A bankrupt club n or it is a better club. This open letter caused discontent in several of the footballers. Days later, the media began to publish news of alleged non-payment of salaries to the club's players, offering them promissory notes, which increased discontent with the squad several weeks before the start of the season. After the sale of numerous players and the With no arrival of reinforcements and breach of promises, the coach Javi Gracia made his position available to the club, although in the end the Navarrese would end up staying and starting this season that did not seem to start off very well. The team started the 2020-2021 campaign in a very irregular way, generating many doubts and with many young players. The first half of the season the team ends in a dismal 14th place just 3 points from relegation. Finally, in the winter transfer window, the club secured the loan of Patrick Cutrone, from English Wolves, Ferro from S.L Benfica and Christian Oliva from Cagliari Calcio. On January 27, 2021, Valencia was finally eliminated from the Copa del Rey, of which it was currently in force after the postponed final of the previous season, falling 3-0 against Sevilla F.C, which meant another stick for the fans. and for the club. After a bad run of results where the team only managed to obtain 3 points out of 18 possible and where the coach had practically no reinforcements, finally the Navarrese Javi Gracia was dismissed and Voro was named for the 7th time, 5. º from the arrival of Meriton Holdings, first coach until the end of the season. Voro did not have winter reinforcements either, but with a change in the system of three central defenders with wingers, Valencia would finally achieve their mathematical salvation in the 3-0 victory against Real Valladolid where Maxi Gómez achieved a double after a great drought of goals and Thierry Correia put the finishing touch to the game and thus signed a good season on an individual level, although it fell slightly in the last few days.
In the 2021-2022 season, the Ché team would manage to get the services of the Alicante coach José Bordalás after spending 5 seasons at Getafe F.C where he managed to reap great seasons. In his presentation, president Anil Murthy announced that the club "would face economic realities similar to those of last season"; Therefore, both José Bordalás and the technical secretary of the club, Miguel Ángel Corona, quickly began to build the new project. The month of August moves the market due to the economic injection that the RFEF had made, which allows Valencia C.F. Being able to incorporate new players to the team. This same money had to be invested in transfers, salaries, stadium improvements, youth academy, etc. The first signing made by the entity ché in the 2021-2022 season at the request of the new coach was that of Omar Alderete as a loan with an option to buy if Valencia C.F. He arrived in the following season in European competition. After 723 days without any incorporation in the form of acquisition of the entity (the last one was Thierry Correia), it reached an agreement with the Real Valladolid Football Club for the purchase of Marcos André for 8 million euros. After an irregular first part of the season in the league and the departure of some players such as Daniel Wass during the winter transfer window, Valencia Club de Fútbol sneaks into the cup semifinals and takes over the services of Ilaix Moriba, Bryan Gil on loan, and Eray Cömert as an acquisition for less than one million euros. During this time, the resumption of the works of the Nou Mestalla and the new project on it are announced, with the idea of resuming the works at the end of 2022. In the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, Valencia C.F. manages to prevail over Athletic Club with an overall result of 2-1 for the valencianistas, obtaining the ticket for the final in Seville, and being able to repeat the title achieved in the edition of the Cup in 2018/2019, precisely in that same city.
On April 23, 2022, Real Betis and Valencia met at the Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville in the final of the Copa del Rey. An early goal from Borja Iglesias left the Chés touched, but Valencia leveled the game with a goal from Hugo Duro on the half hour mark. After a beautiful second half full of alternatives, the score did not move and the game went to extra time. Fatigue weighed on both teams and after 30 minutes with hardly any chances the champion would be decided in a penalty shootout. Luck did not smile on those of José Bordalás and Yunus Musah was the only one who missed his shot, so Valencia could not get their ninth Copa del Rey. For the first time in history (without a pandemic), the club experienced something unprecedented, the last league match against Real Club Celta de Vigo on May 21, 2022, where they were driven by discontent with the club's situation and some leaked audios from president where current issues were discussed in a very controversial way such as criticism of the majority shareholding, sale of players, manipulation of the press and complaints to the Generalitat for the Nou Mestalla, between 30,000 and 50,000 people stayed outside of Mestalla leaving it practically empty and demonstrating against the president of Valencia Anil Murthy and the owner Peter Lim, which all this convulsive situation caused the club to release an official statement on May 30, 2022 announcing the dismissal of Anil Murthy, already former president of Valencia CF.
After these latest events, not winning the Cup title and ending the league campaign in 9th place, Valencia faces its third consecutive season without European competition in the 2022-23 season for the first time since relegation. What I have led to the dismissal of their coach José Bordalás. On June 9 it is announced that Genaro Gattuso is the new coach of the club. But the search for a new president and a Sports Director continues, as well as the situation of several players whose future is unknown, since the club alleges the need to sell.
Symbols
History and evolution of the shield
The club's official shield is formed by a black bat in the upper part perched on a shield ending in a rounded tip where the colors of the senyera are reflected: a horizontal blue stripe on the upper part top with the name of the club written in capital white letters, and below nine vertical stripes: five yellow and four red, representing the flag of Valencia and the Valencian Community, with a classic brown soccer ball in the center.
It should be noted that officially the shield has always presented the blue stripe, as can be seen on the club's flag of 1924. However, as this lacks the meaning it obtains from the transition, there are numerous examples of the shield with white stripe. This is revealed by photographs such as that of the player Arturo Montesinos, who illustrates this same article, or the illustrations that illustrate this same section.
The choice of the bat (rat penat in Valencian) as a symbol is due to the symbolic importance of this animal in the history of the coat of arms of the city of Valencia, which has made it one of the The main symbols of the city, the result of various legends, such as its help or good omen in the conquest of Valencia in 1238 by King Jaime I, or as a variant of the dragon on the crest of the King of Aragon used by King Pedro IV in the XIV century. A new logo consisting of an orange bat on a black background was introduced in 2018. For the centenary year season (2018-19) a variation of the old shield was used in gold and black and with the letters CENTENARI at the top and 1919-2019 in the one below. DC Comics has filed several lawsuits against the club for the alleged confusion that their logos would induce with that of Batman (a character created twenty years after Valencia F.C.), which have not prospered so far..
Anthem
The "Amunt Valencia" ("Arriba Valencia") was commissioned by the club to the director of the Valencia Municipal Band, Pablo Sánchez Torrella, who composed the music in the traditional Valencian form, the pasodoble. The lyrics were written by Ramón Gimeno Gil. It premiered and had an official presentation on the occasion of the celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of Valencia CF at the Palau de la Música in Valencia on September 21, 1993, under the presidency of Arturo Tuzón. The most popular version is the one performed by the brother of the singer Francisco.
Himno Amunt ValènciaThis is a team of first nostre València Club de Futbol that shines for defend in totes bands nostres colors. In the Camp de l'Algirós ja començàrem to show that it was a way bona per a València represent. Amunt València, Visca el València, és el millor Amunt València, Visca el València del nostre cor Units com sempre els valencianistes et seguirem en cada estadi per a què triomfes t'animarem.
In the capital of the Turiae it is the València qui vist de blanc i defén the shirt ple de coratge per a guanyar. In Mestalla continue to sempre esforçant-se per a triomfar i les glòries arribaren i en competència Continue. Amunt València, Visca el València, és el millor Amunt València, Visca el València, del nostre cor. Units com sempre els valencianistes et seguirem, en cada estadi perquè triomfes t'animarem.
Another theme of great importance in Valencianism, but not official, is the theme "Amunt València a la victòria" ("Arriba Valencia a la victoria"), composed by Alfonso Aguado, from the group "Los Inhumanos", and performed by Emilio Solo in his version in Spanish and Valencian. The singer Leo Segarra made another version in Valencian.
In 2015 the Valencian musical group "El Viaje De Eliot" he made a very emotional version of what could be a Valencian anthem, entitled "Sentiment" ("Sentimiento"), and rapper "Zanon SHK" he composed an original song entitled "Ale Valencia".
In 2019 the musical group Bombai performed the song to celebrate the Centennial, entitled "Eterno Junto a Ti" which sounded throughout that year, in the cup final and in the celebration of it after winning it.
Clothing
- Holding uniform: White t-shirt with black details, black pants and white stockings.
- Uniform visitor: Torino red t-shirt with black details, white pants and torino red stockings.
     First |   (See evolution) |      Actual |
Infrastructure
Stadium
The first years after its foundation in 1919, Valencia FC trained and played its matches in the now-defunct Campo de Algirós (Camp d'Algirós in Valencian). The field was located on the Camino de Algirós, between the current streets of Finlandia and General Gil Dolz. It had a capacity for 5,000 spectators and dimensions of 91 x 47 meters (East-West orientation). The conditions of the field of play were very modest and it was not grass but dirt. The owner of the venue was Eugenio Miquel, who rented the field to the Valencian leaders for 100 pesetas a month. The field was released on December 7, 1919 with a friendly match between the Valencian team and Castalia de Castellón. The result was a goalless draw. The following day, both teams met again and this time Valencia won 1-0.
This field became too small due to the great increase in the number of members. For this reason, the then President of the club Ramón Leonarte and the board of directors looked for plots for sale to build a new field for the team. In January 1923, they decided to buy 10,000 m² of land, located 500 meters north of Campo de Algirós, for 316,439.20 pesetas (a considerable amount for the time) which was financed with credits. The preparation of the The project for the new stadium was entrusted to the architect and club member Francisco Almenar Quinzá (who years later would be President) and the construction works were awarded to Ramón Ferrer Aguilar, also a member.
On May 20, 1923, the Mestalla Stadium was inaugurated. Its name is due to the historic Mestalla ditch that passed behind the south goal of the stadium. At that time, the field had dimensions of 100 x 59 meters and a capacity for 17,000 spectators. On the opening day, a friendly match was held between Valencia and FC Levante. The final result was 1-0 for the local team with a goal scored by "Montes" (Arturo Montesinos Cebrián).
Between 1969 and 1994 it was officially called the Luis Casanova Stadium, in honor of Luis Casanova Giner, one of the best presidents in the club's history for two decades (the 40s and 50s) in which three League titles were won and three Cups, in addition to several runners-up and promoter of the great expansion of the stadium.
Since 1994 the stadium recovered its name of Mestalla, and had a capacity for 50,242 spectators since its last extension in 1998, and dimensions of 105 x 68 meters. Currently, its capacity has been reduced to 48,600 spectators.
Since its early years, it has hosted a total of 31 international matches for the Spanish Soccer Team (among them those of the final phase of the World Cup in Spain in 1982), plus 5 matches for the Spanish Olympic Team during the Olympic Games in 1992, and has hosted 10 Copa del Rey finals, the last in 2014.
In October 2013, a new look for the stadium was launched aimed at increasing the club's marketing revenue. This new look included painting the seats in an orange and white color scheme, showing the silhouette of a large bat in black., and the Mestalla Forever Tour was inaugurated, a guided tour that is offered every day through the most emblematic places of the stadium. In addition, in the summer of 2014, the entire exterior of the stadium was painted and decorated, alternating black and orange, as well as large photographs of former club players and sporting successes.
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Future Stadium
The Nuevo Mestalla (still without an official name) will have capacity for around 75,100 spectators and has been commissioned to the architectural firm Reid Fenwick Asociados and the engineering ARUP Sport. These companies will be based on the interior project of the ARPA-Arena, winner of the model contest in June 2006. Said stadium was to be paid for with part of the profits obtained from the sale of the plots that the current Mestalla stadium occupies, whose requalification also caused reluctance that was clarified by the EU.
Its location will be in the Benicalap neighborhood, specifically next to the modern Cortes Valencianas avenue. The construction of the stadium has been stopped since February 2009 due to a lack of liquidity as it was not possible to sell the land of the current Mestalla due to the real estate crisis that greatly lowered the value of the land and due to the large debt of the club after the mismanagement of Juan Soler.
In December 2011, the club announced a protocol of intent with Bankia, creditor of most of the Valencian debt, through which the works could be resumed, but in September 2012 it was learned that Bankia had broken the agreement reached through the Newcoval plan, so the club was left without an agreement for the financing of the stadium. Following the sale process of the club, Peter Lim's company has come up with a new architect, Mark Fenwick, who has visited other stadiums with president Lay Hoon, also designed by himself, to get new ideas. Redesigning, building and finishing it will cost the entity around 120 million euros. Despite the fact that, after buying the club, Peter Lim promised to finish the works in the centenary year, in 2016 the then president Lay Hoon Chan confirmed that it would not be possible to meet that objective.
Sports facilities
The Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna is one of the sports complexes of the Valencia Football Club dedicated to the most important football in Spain.
The club acquired the land in the municipality of Paterna under the presidency of Francisco Ros Casares, in 1974, at a cost of 85 million pesetas. It is located next to the Technology Park and with magnificent communications as it is next to the Valencia by-pass section of the A-7 motorway and next to the CV-35 motorway.
With an extension of 180,000 square meters and thirteen soccer fields, it is the usual place of work not only for the first team, but also for all those who make up the lower categories of the club. In addition, it has a residence for youngsters who come from all over the world to train as soccer players and a modern Rehabilitation Center with various rooms for the recovery of soccer players who are injured or who are undergoing rehabilitation.
- Field 1: Football 11 (105 x 65 meters). Natural lawn.
- Field 2: Football 11 (105 x 68 meters). Artificial lawn.
- Field 3: Football 11 (105 x 65 meters). Natural lawn.
- Field 4: Football 11 (105 x 68 meters). Natural lawn.
- First team field: Football 11 (105 x 65 meters). Natural lawn.
- Second team: Football 11 (105 x 65 meters). Natural lawn.
- Stadium Antonio Puchades: Football 11 (105 x 68 meters). Natural lawn, capacity 3,000 people.
- Polysporative Pavilion:
- Several Fields of Football 7 with artificial grass.
Club details
- For statistical details of the club see Valencia Club statistics
Denominations
Throughout its history, the entity has seen its name change due to various circumstances up to the current Valencia Club de Fútbol S. A. D., in force since 1992. The club was founded under the official name of Valencia Football Club in 1919.
The following are the different denominations that the club has had throughout its history:
- Valencia Foot-ball Club: (1919-41) Official name at its foundation.
- Valencia Club of Football: (1941-92) After the establishment of the Dictatorship of Francisco Franco there is a Spanishization of the Anglicisms.
- Valencia Club of Football, S. A. D.: (1992-Act.) Conversion of the entity into an anonymous sports company (S.A. D.).
Honours of Prizes
| For more details, consult Palmarés del Valencia Club of Football. See also Palmarés of Spanish clubs |
Note: in bold current competitions.
National Titles (16)
 National competition
| Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| First Division of Spain (6) | 1941-42, 1943-44, 1946-1947, 1970-71, 2001-02, 2003-04. | 1947-48, 1948-49, 1952-53, 1971-72, 1989-90, 1995-96. (6) |
| Copa del Rey (8) | 1941, 1949, 1954, 1967, 1979, 1999, 2008, 2019. | 1934, 1937, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1952, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1995, 2022. (11) |
| Supercopa de España (1) | 1999. | 2002, 2004. (3) |
| Eva Duarte Cup (1) | 1949. | 1947. (1) |
| Second Division of Spain (2) | 1930-31, 1986-87. |
International Titles (7)
.svg){kind=small} International competition
| Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League (0) | 1999-00 and 2000-01. (2) | |
| UEFA Europe/Coup League (1) | 2003-04. | |
| European Super Cup (2) | 1980 and 2004. | |
| European Coup of UEFA (1) | 1979-80. | |
| Cup of Fairs (2) | 1961-62 and 1962-63. | 1963-64. (1) |
| UEFA Intertote Cup (1) | 1998. | 2005. (1) |
Regional titles (12)
.svg){kind=small} Regional competition
| Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| Valencian Regional Championship (10) | 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1940. (Récord) | 1924, 1929, 1930. |
| Levante Championship (2/3) | 1923, 1925. | 1920, 1921, 1924. |
The unified record of the first professional soccer team is made up of 5 national competitions: League, Cup, Super Cup, League Cup and Eva Duarte Cup, along with 4 other European competitions since the creation of the first global European competitions in 1955: European Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, European Super Cup, Fairs Cup, one of an intercontinental nature: the Intercontinental Cup and a worldwide competition: the FIFA Club World Cup. In summary, a total of 23 cups are counted: 16 national and 7 international.
Trajectory
| For more details, consult Valencia Club Football Trayectoria |
Note: In bold active competitions.
| Competition | Temp. | PJ | PG | PE | P | GF | GC | Better result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Division League Championship | 87 | 2822 | 1251 | 664 | 907 | 4621 | 3655 | Champion | |
| Second Division League Championship | 4 | 98 | 51 | 18 | 29 | 177 | 135 | (Campeon) | |
| Spanish Cup Championship | 549 | 288 | 98 | 163 | 1102 | 693 | Champion | ||
| Eva Duarte Cup / Supercopa de España | 7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 26 | Champion | |
| Spanish League Cup | 4 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 21 | Final rooms | |
| RFEF President Cup | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | Subfield | |
| European Cup / UEFA Champions League | 13 | 128 | 57 | 35 | 36 | 191 | 130 | Subfield | |
| UEFA Cup / UEFA European League | 19 | 133 | 66 | 36 | 31 | 226 | 145 | Champion | |
| EUFA Super Cup | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Champion | |
| EUFA European Recoup | 3 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 20 | Champion | |
| Latin Cup | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Fourth | |
| Cities Cup in Fair | 9 | 52 | 29 | 10 | 13 | 112 | 67 | Champion | |
| UEFA Intertote Cup | 2 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 4 | Champion | |
| Total | 3849 | 1773 | 874 | 1202 | 6537 | 4913 | 23 titles | ||
| See full statistics | |||||||||
Sources: Professional Football League (LFP) - UEFA - CIHEFE - BDFutbol
Sports organization chart
- For a complete detail of the current season, see Season 2021-22 of Valencia Soccer Club
Players
In Valencian history, the players who spent the longest years under the club's discipline stand out, the Valencians Vicente Asensi, Ricardo Arias, Fernando Gómez and David Albelda with a total of fifteen seasons in the first team.
Regarding the number of games and goals, the aforementioned Fernando Gómez heads the list with a balance of 553 games —thirty-two above Arias— and Edmundo Suárez Mundo heads the list of all-time scorers with 265.
Among the club's currently active players, José Luis Gayà from Alicante is the player who has accumulated the most seasons and matches with 265 appearances spread over ten seasons.
| Maximum gorillas | More contested parties | More contested seasons | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | South America | 265 goals | 1. | Fernando Gómez | 553 matches | 1. | Vicente Asensi / Ricardo Arias / Fernando Gómez / David Albelda | 15 seasons |
| 2. | Waldo Machado | 160 goals | 2. | Ricardo Arias | 521 matches | 2. | Juan Ramón Santiago | 14 seasons |
| 3. | Mario Alberto Kempes | 149 goals | 3. | David Albelda | 485 matches | 3. | Amadeo Ibáñez / Salvador Monzó / Manuel Mestre | 13 seasons |
| 4. | Fernando Gómez Colomer | 142 goals | 4. | Miguel Angel Angulo | 434 matches | 4. | Javier Subirats | 12 seasons |
| 5. | David Villa | 129 goals | 5. | Manuel Mestre | 424 matches | 5. | Vicente Seguí | 11 seasons |
| See complete list | See complete list | See complete list | ||||||
Note: in the case of seasons it refers to the same with chip of the first team even though it debuted before.
It is worth noting the most expensive signings in the club's history, with Gonçalo Guedes being the most expensive transfer, paying €40,000,000 to Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in 2018. On the contrary, the largest sale was produced in 2001 by selling Gaizka Mendieta to Società Sportiva Lazio for €48,000,000.
Squad 2022-23
| Players | Technical body | More used tactical scheme | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Official web template | 4-3-3
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- As LFP standards require, the first-staff players will have to carry the dorsals from 1 to 25. From the 26th they will be players of the subsidiary team, Valencia Mestalla, and as such they will be able to match matches with the first and second team.
- The Spanish teams are limited to having in the template a maximum of 3 players without a European Union passport. Valencia CF currently has only one extra-community square: Samuel Lino (Brazil).
- The list of the template includes only the main nationality of each player, but some of the football players have dual nationality that includes some EU country:
- Thierry Correia has dual Portuguese and Cape Verdean nationality.
- Gabriel Paulista has dual Brazilian and Spanish nationality
- Mouctar Diakhaby has dual French and Guinean nationality.
- Cristhian Mosquera has dual Spanish and Colombian nationality.
- Yunus Musah has dual American and British nationality.
- Ilaix Moriba has two Spanish and Guinean nationality.
- Edinson Cavani has dual Uruguayan and Italian nationality.
- Marcos André has dual Brazilian and Spanish nationality.
- Giorgi Mamardashvili, Cenk Özkacar and Eray Cömert do not occupy a position of extracomunits by the Association Agreement with the European Union of their respective countries: Georgia, Turkey and Switzerland.
Ups and downs 2022-23
Note: prices do not include VAT or sums for objectives as they have not been effective.
 Expenses for tiles: €12,000.000 |
 Sales income: €57,600,000 |
| Altas | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Age | Position | Proceedings | Contract | Type | Cost |
 André Almeida | 22 years | Camper center | Vitória S. C. | 2028 | Transfer | 7,500,000 € * |
| Hugo Duro | 22 years | Delantero | Getafe C. F. | 2026 | Transfer | 4,000.000 € |
| Samuel Castillejo | 27 years | Delantero |  A. C. Milan | 2025 | Free | 0 € |
 Edinson Cavani | 35 years | Delantero |  Manchester United | 2024 | Free | 0 € |
 Cenk Özkacar | 21 years | Defence | .svg){kind=small} Olympique de Lyon | 2023 | Cession | 500.000 € ** |
 Samuel Lino | 22 years | Delantero | Atletico de Madrid | 2023 | Cession | 0 € |
 Justin Kluivert | 23 years | Delantero | A. S. Rome | 2023 | Cession | 0 € *** |
| Nicolás González | 20 years | Camper center | F. C. Barcelona | 2023 | Cession | 0 € |
 Ilaix Moriba | 19 years | Camper center |  R. B. Leipzig | 2023 | Cession | 0 € |
| Iago Herrerín | 34 years | Porter | 2023 | Free | 0 € | |
| Note *: Fractioned transfer payment (to be paid in 5 years). Note **: Passion with purchase option (5M € not required). Note ***: Passion with purchase option (15M € not required). | ||||||
| Low | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Age | Position | Destination | Type | Cost | |
| Gonçalo Guedes | 25 years | Delantero | Wolverhampton Wanderers
| Transfer | 32,600,000 € * | |
| Carlos Soler | 25 years | Camper center | Paris Saint Germain
| Transfer | 18.000.000 € ** | |
| Maximiliano Gómez | 26 years | Delantero | Trabzonspor
| Transfer | 6,000.000 € *** | |
| Jasper Cillessen | 33 years | Porter | NEC Nijmengen
| Transfer | 1,000,000 € | |
| Manuel Vallejo | 25 years | Delantero | Girona F. C.
| Transfer | 0 € | |
 Kevin Sibille | 23 years | Defence | Atletico Baleares
| Transfer | 0 € | |
| Koba Koindredi | 20 years | Camper center | Real Oviedo
| Cession | 0 € | |
| Jorge Sáenz | 25 years | Defence | C. D. Leganés
| Cession | 0 € | |
 Denis Cheryshev | 31 years | Camper center | Venezia F. C.
| End of contract | 0 € | |
| Bryan Gil | 21 years | Delantero | Tottenham Hotspur F. C.
| End of assignment | 0 € | |
| Ilaix Moriba | 19 years | Camper center | R. B. Leipzig
| End of assignment | 0 € | |
| Hélder Costa | 28 years | Camper center | Leeds United
| End of assignment | 0 € | |
 Omar Alderete | 25 years | Defence | Hertha B. S. C.
| End of assignment | 0 € | |
| Note *: transfer price does not include variables (5M € per objectives). Note **: transfer price does not include variables (4M € per objectives). Note ***: Sale of 80% of player rights. | ||||||
Technical staff
Valencia Football Club has had a total of 60 football coaches throughout its history. In its beginnings, the team's players received advice from friends as well as from players and ex-players from other teams who came to play on the Algirós field, as was the case with Juan Armet "Kinke" and Agustín Sancho, while the team's own players decided who played and their position.
The first coach the club had was the Czechoslovak Antón Fivébr, who was in charge of the team from 1923 to 1927, and in a second stage from 1929 to 1931, thus being one of the coaches who spent the longest time the Che bench (6 years old), along with Jacinto Quincoces (7 years old) and Alfredo Di Stéfano (7 years old), the latter being the coach who led Valencia CF in the most First Division games with 207 games.
Most of the coaches Valencia CF has had have been Spanish. Of the club's 60 coaches, 36 have been Spanish and 24 foreigners. In some cases, the Spanish coaches have been former players of the club who took over after the departure of the head coach, as was the case with Eduardo Cubells, Pasieguito, Mundo or Manolo Mestre.
The main nationalities of the non-Spanish coaches have been Argentine (7 coaches), English (4) and Yugoslav and Italian (3) plus a Serb. The club has also had two Uruguayan, two Brazilian, two Dutch, one Paraguayan, one French, one Czechoslovakian and one Portuguese coaches. While the origin of the majority of Spanish coaches who trained at the club has been Valencian (9) and Basque (9).
Directive
Sociocultural dimension
Valencia Football Club Foundation
Non-profit organization that develops sports, social and cultural projects for the common good. The beneficiaries are from the Valencian society to the last fan. The current president is Ng Ser Miang.
As of April 2015, the foundation marks three missions:
- Promote the spirit and values of valencianism in Valencian society and value the historical heritage of the Club.
- Supporting the less privileged as the best way to return the support that the Valencian society gives to the Club every day.
- Promote the feeling of linkage and root to Valencia.
To bring the vision to fruition, the Foundation has three main areas of action:
- Culture and Roots
- Social and Solidarity Responsibility
- Education and Health
Valencia CF Foundation Training Center
Since May 2009, Valencia, through the Valencia CF Foundation, has a sports, university, face-to-face and online training center called the Valencia CF Foundation Training Center "The Academy" making Valencia CF at that time the first first division football club in Spain to have a multidisciplinary training center.
Also, through this training center, Valencia CF becomes one of the few football clubs in Spain with a university master's program in sports management.
On the occasion of the celebration of the 90th anniversary of Valencia, a university course was carried out with the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia during three editions (2009-2010-2011), which studied the history of Valencia CF, making it the first Spanish football club studied at the university, according to UEFA.
In May 2011, the Valencia CF Foundation Training Center opened a training center in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil), where it currently carries out training, football and corporate social responsibility programs, through soccer campuses for children at risk of social exclusion in favelas of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, it also has a Training Center in Bogotá (Colombia), with which online training is carried out and has developed a program postgraduate with the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Colombia in Development and Social Inclusion through Sport. In addition, during the month of April 2014, soccer camps were held in three cities in Colombia; Bogota, Medellin and Cali.
After the creation of the "GloVal Academy" in 2013 and together with the Valencia CF Foundation, the Valencia CF methodology is taken to more than 25 countries around the world, through the GloVal International Programs, with clinics, schools, soccer campuses in countries such as Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Egypt, Bermuda, Korea, among others.
Since 2013, the Training Center is managed by ESBS European Sport Business School, which allows it to grow as an educational center, signing agreements with various universities in Spain, the European Union and the United States.
In 2015, the Fundación Valencia CF Training Center celebrated the graduation of its university education, face-to-face and online, renewed its image and started various university research projects on intellectual disability and sports, sports and sustainability, sports sponsorship, among others.
Media
- VCFplay
The club has a multimedia website, in which it provides detailed information about the entity's current affairs, interviews with players, fans, charity events, club history, youth academy, and summaries of matches played in all competitions. This television is an example of a new institutional communication medium in which specialized journalists (in house) produce content that is consumed by other media and also by the final public. This allows the club to communicate with its fans and generate valuable content for proactive consumption by its followers, who can freely select videos on demand.
- VCFradio
On March 1, 2015, broadcasts began on the 101.5 FM frequency and online from the club's first official radio station, "VCF Radio", with the broadcast of the match Valencia-R.Sociedad of matchday 25, with two daily programs from Monday to Friday, and the retransmission of the matches of the subsidiary and soon of the youth and female categories. The project was led by one of the benchmarks of Valencianism in sports broadcasting, Josep Rovira, together with the legendary club captain Ricardo Arias and other professionals who were part of the now-defunct public radio station Radio Nou, such as Gonzalo Naya and Vicent Marco.
Rivalries
The Valencia city derby pits Valencia CF against Levante UD. This historic rivalry was born at the beginning of the XX century, during the Valencian Regional Championships, although it was later diminished due to the creation of the Spanish soccer league, moment from which Valencia C.F. He has played most of his history in the First Division, while Levante UD has done so in lower categories (hence the great difference in track records between the two). However, the derby has established itself well into the XXI century, since both teams have met again numerous times in the First Division.
Autonomous Derbies
Another team against which there is a geographical and sporting rivalry is Villarreal CF. Both teams belong to the same Autonomous Community and have reached a sporting level during the beginning of the XXI century, quite even, when played between Yes, the same places in the competition, both in the First Division and in international matches, fighting to enter European competitions such as the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. Even so, the teams Elche CF and Hércules CF are against whom Valencia CF has historically played the most Valencian derbies in the First Division. There were also league derbies with CD Castellón during thirteen seasons (eleven in the First Division and two in the Second Division), as well as numerous clashes in the Regional Championships since the early 1920s. Finally, for four seasons CD Alcoyano and Valencia coincided in First division.
Other derbies
Like most LaLiga teams, Valencia CF maintains rivalries with other clubs that go beyond the regional sphere. These sports rivalries are characterized by the dispute and competition for the titles at stake.
The main representatives of national rivalries are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, clubs with the largest budget and the greatest number of sports titles in Spanish soccer. Atlético de Madrid and Athletic Club are also clubs with which Valencia has historically fought for the same places and has played many anecdotal matches. Since the late 20th century and early XXI a great rivalry arose against Deportivo de la Coruña, known at that time as "Super Dépor", with whom he was in the fight for some titles. Subsequently, Sevilla FC has maintained rivalries with Valencia CF in the fight to achieve the same goals, which has increased considerably due to the Europa League semifinals in 2014 and the following years.
Other sections and subsidiaries
Valencia CF Mestalla
Valencia CF Mestalla is the first subsidiary team of Valencia CF. It was founded as CD Mestalla on September 6, 1944. It arose with the idea of supplying players for the club's first team, the idea came from the former coach, Leopoldo Costa, who was training CD Cuenca in 1944, a team from the city of Valencia that took the name of its street, and thought that this team could perfectly be the subsidiary team of Valencia CF.
He made his debut in the Third Division in the 1946-47 season and that same year was promoted to the Second Division by coach Valentín Reig "Picolín", a former Valencian soccer player for the club.
In the 1951-52 season, with just eight years of life, it became the first subsidiary team in Spanish soccer to achieve promotion to the First Division, by finishing second in its group, disputing the promotion promotion, win it, but the then president of Valencia CF, Luis Casanova (with the acceptance of the president of CD Mestalla, Federico Blasco) renounced the promotion for not wanting to pit the subsidiary against the parent team, despite the fact that no rule prevented them from coinciding in the same category to clubs with their subsidiaries.
As an anecdote, it is worth highlighting a 2-1 victory for CD Mestalla against Real Madrid in the first leg of the round of 32 of the 1964-65 Cup, a surprising and historic event for the subsidiary team, since at that time it was allowed the subsidiaries to play the Cup tournament, although in the second leg the madridistas thrashed the Mestalla.
On September 21, 1990, it changed its name from CD Mestalla to Valencia CF B due to a decision by UEFA in which subsidiary clubs with a different name from their company had to bear the name of the club itself.
Between 2002 and 2004 the club had a third branch, Valencia Club de Fútbol C, which disappeared when Mestalla was relegated to the Third Division in 2004, dragging "C" to Preferred.
In 2006 it recovered part of its original name and was officially renamed Valencia CF Mestalla.
Currently a member of group III of the Second Division B since 2011, under the command of coach Lubo Penev since 2017.
After a good campaign in the 2016-2017 season, the team managed to reach the final of the promotion promotion, which ended in a narrow defeat against Albacete Balompié at home and a 0-0 draw away from home. After the excellent season without a final prize, Curro Torres decided not to renew and went to Lorca Fútbol Club (2003), his replacement is a club legend Lyuboslav Penev.
Valencia CF Female
Since the 2009-10 season, Valencia has had a women's soccer team after reaching an agreement with the Club Deportivo Colegio Alemán of Valencia whereby the women's teams of the Colegio Alemán compete under the name of Valencia C.F.
Valencia CF D.I.
For the 2016-2017 season, the first federated club is inaugurated, made up of two teams with players with intellectual disabilities, who train at the Caxton College facilities and play matches at the Ciudad Deportiva Valencia CF.
Since the 2011-2012 season, Valencia CF had already developed a football program for people with intellectual disabilities, in which DI players from the Francisco Esteve EDM Paterna Center trained at the Valencia CF Sports City, thanks to an agreement between Valencia CF Foundation, Valencia CF and Paterna City Council.
Likewise, in the summer of the 2014-2015 season, the Valencia CF Foundation, through its Training Center, organized the first DI Campus for people with intellectual disabilities, with the recognition of the Spanish Sports Federation for People with Intellectual Disabilities and the collaboration of Obra Social "la Caixa".
Valencia CF Indoor
In the 2007-2008 season, and on the occasion of the creation of the Spanish Indoor Soccer League, Valencia CF created a team of players that included some such as Gaizka Mendieta, and Juan Sánchez among others. Valencia, as well as other teams, had access to this competition thanks to being one of the 9 teams that have ever won the League.
Sports sections
On August 26, 1924, some sports sections were created under the direction and tutelage of the black and white club, competing in field hockey, cycling, swimming, athletics, boxing, fencing, tennis and game hunting, later handball and basketball.
Athletics
The Valencia CF athletics section was created in 1924 and remained a sports section for 70 years, from its creation in 1924 until 1994, when the section was renamed Valencia CA from the 1994-1995 season, and the club disassociated itself from it. Later in 1999 the name was changed again and it was renamed CA Valencia Terra i Mar.
Valencia CF eSports
On June 7, 2016, the entry into the world of eSports was announced, announcing Hearthstone and Rocket League teams, later they announced their team to compete in League of Legends, the most popular game in Spain at the time, obtaining the fourth position in the Spanish championship. The club also has a video game section for mobile phones such as Clash Royale, where they were runners-up in Spain, and currently with Arena of Valor. In 2019 they entered the FIFA soccer video game with Vivi Khofolo, achieving third position three times in eLaLiga Santander, the virtual Spanish league.
Economic debt of the entity
Referring to the room for manoeuvre, most First Division teams have a high level of indebtedness due to the weight of external financing in their financial structure. Club Atlético de Madrid is the team that presents, by far, the highest level of indebtedness, followed by Fútbol Club Barcelona and Valencia Club de Fútbol, and they must try not to increase their indebtedness in the coming years. On the opposite side, the only teams that show an adequate level of capitalization are Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, Sevilla Fútbol Club and Villarreal Club de Fútbol, since their own funds represent close to 40% of the financial structure, therefore that in the coming years they could consider increasing their level of indebtedness to try to favor their financial profitability.
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Filmography
- Documentary TVE (26/01/1970), «Historics of the football - Valencia Club of Football» in rtve.es
- Documentary TVV (26/06/2004), "'L'Any del Doblet' on YouTube
- Documental TVV (08/06/2009), «'Dossiers' - '90 anys of sentiment' on YouTube
- Documentary Canal+ (23/05/2011), "Fiebre Maldini - 'Cañizares y Kahn: Final 2001' on Youtube
- DVD Valencia C.F. (Thematic History). A historical in the League.". 2003, Supersport. V-4342-2003