Valencia CF
Juan Bautista Soler Luján| manager =
Quique Sanchez Flores | league =
La Liga |
season = 2005-06 |
position =
La Liga,
3rd |
shirtsupplier= Nike
shirtsponsors= Toyota
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Valencia Club de Fútbol (also known as
Valencia CF or just
Valencia or
Los Ches) is a
football team in the Spanish Primera Liga or Premier League. Founded in
1919, Valencia CF is based in the city of
Valencia,
Spain. The team's home stadium is the 53,000 seat
Mestalla, which was opened in
1923. However the team is scheduled to move to a new stadium in the north west of the city in 2009 [
1] Valencia CF won the Spanish title for the sixth time in May
2004, their second in three years. Based on income for the 2004-5 season, Valencia CF is the 19th richest club in the world. [
2]
Early Years
The club was first established in
1919 with the first president as Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz; incidentally the presidency was decided by a coin toss. The club played their first competitive match away from home on
21 May 1919 with Valencia Gimnástico and lost the match 1-0.
Valencia CF moved into the Mestalla pitch in
1923 having played their home matches at the Algirós ground since
7 December 1919. The first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellón Castalia and drew 0-0. In another match the day after, Valencia won against the same opposition 1-0. Valencia CF won the Regional Championship in
1923 and was eligible to play in the
Copa del Rey for the first time in its history.
First Cup Success
The
Spanish Civil War halted the progress of the Valencia team until
1941 when they won the Spain Cup, beating
Espanyol. In the 1941-42 season, the club won its first Spanish First Division title (although winning the Copa del Rey was more reputable than the league back then). The club maintained its consistency to capture the league title again in the 1943-44 season and also later in the 1946-47 league edition.
1950s
The 50s signify an era of interesting development at the club although they failed to emulate their success of the 1940s. The restructuring of Mestalla has resulted in an increment to 45,000 spectator capacity, whereas players such as
Antonio Puchades and
Jacinto Quincoces graced the pitch at Mestalla along with other well-known players like
Servaas Wilkes and
Sócrates. In the 1952-53 season, the club attained runners-up spot in the league whereas in the following season, the club won the Generalísimo Cup.
1960s and 1970s, European Success
While managing indifferent league form in the early 1960s, the club had its first European successes in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the
UEFA Cup in the 1961-62 season, beating the formidable
FC Barcelona in the Cup final of the first success. The next season's Cup final pitted Valencia CF against
Dinamo Zagreb which the Valencians won after 2 legs. Valencia CF was again present in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the 1963-64 after a decent run but was defeated by
Real Zaragoza in a 2-1 scoreline.
Alfredo Di Stéfano signed as a coach in
1970 and immediately inspired his new club to their fourth league Championship and paved way for Valencia CF's debut in the
European Cup of which they fared moderately well, losing in the 3rd round of the competition to Ujpest Dosza. Other notable players of the 1970s era are the
Austrian Kurt Jara,
Johnny Rep of
the Netherlands and
Mario Kempes who became the Spanish League's topscorer for two consecutive seasons, beginning in the 1976-77 season. Valencia would go on to win the Copa del Rey again in the 1978-79 season and also capture the
European Cup Winners Cup the next season after beating
Arsenal FC in the final, with Kempes spearheading Valencia's success in Europe.
1980s and 1990s, Relegation to the Second Division and Subsequent Revival
In 1982, the club appointed
Miljan Miljanic as coach but after an appalling season by Valencia's standards,
Koldo Aguirre replaced him with seven games left to play. In fact Valencia barely avoided relegation that year, relying on favorable results from other teams to ensure their own survival. In the 1983–84 season and the 1984–85 season, the club was heavily in debt under the presidency of Vicente Tormo. The club finally hit rock bottom when they were relegated at near the end of the 1985–86 season strifed with internal problems such as unpaid player and staff wages as well as poor team spirit. It would be the first time in the history of the club that it would be relegated after an illustrious 55 years in top-flight football.
Arturo Tuzón was named as new president of the club and helped Valencia CF steer back to the First Division together with coach, di Stéfano. Di Stéfano himself stayed on as coach until the 1987–88 season of which the team finished in 14th position. The
Bulgarian forward,
Luboslav Penev joined the club in 1989 as part of Valencia's consolidation programme.
Guus Hiddink was assigned as head coach in the 1991–92 season but the club could only manage to finish 4th in the League and bow out in the Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals stage. In 1992, Valencia CF officially became a Sporting Limited Company and retained Hiddink as their coach until 1993.
Carlos Alberto Parreira, fresh from his success in the
World Cup 1994 with
Brazil, took the hotseat at Mestalla in 1994 and immediately signed the Spanish goalkeeper
Andoni Zubizarreta and the Russian forward
Oleg Salenko, as well as
Predrag Mijatovic but failed to produce results expected of him and was replaced by new coach José Manuel Rielo. In the mid-1990s, the club's previous successes continue to elude them, although they were not short of top coaching staff like
Luis Aragonés and
Jorge Valdano as well as star players like
Claudio López,
Ariel Ortega and
Romario; however it was
Claudio Ranieri who led the team to victory in the Copa del Rey of the 1998–99 season.
Recent Successes
Héctor Cúper replaced Ranieri after the King's Cup success and immediately introduced a new brand of attacking football in the team, culminating in Valencia's first
Champions League final in the 1999-00 season although they ended up 3-0 losers in
Paris against rivals
Real Madrid CF. Cúper subsequently led the team to another Champions League final in the next season, this time losing to
Bayern Munich on penalties after extra-time.
Rafa Benítez was the new coach to lead the club to another league title after Cúper's exit from Mestalla and in the 2001-02 season, the club won its first league title after 31 years and has set the road to a double success in the 2003-04 season, winning both the Primera Liga title as well as the
UEFA Cup.
La Liga Champions:
6**1941-42, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1970-71, 2001-02, 2003-04
Spanish Cup:
6**1941, 1949, 1954, 1967, 1979, 1999
Spanish Super Cup:
1**1999
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup:
2**1961-62, 1962-63,
UEFA Cup:
1**
2003-04UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
1**1979-80
UEFA Super Cup:
2**1980, 2004
UEFA Intertoto Cup:
1**1998
The numbers are established according to the official website:www.valenciacf.es and www.lfp.es
As of
February 1 2006''
Squad changes during 2006/07 season
In: *
Fernando Morientes - Signed
From Liverpool F.C.*
David Silva - Return
From Celta de Vigo*
Jaime Gavilán - Return
From Getafe CF*
Jose Enrique - Return
From Celta de Vigo*
Fiore - Return
From ACF Fiorentina*
Garrido - Return
From Albacete Balompié*
Asier del Horno - Signed
From ChelseaOut:*
Marco Di Vaio -Transferred
To A.S. Monaco
* Amedeo Carboni - Retired
* Fabio Aurelio - Transferred To Liverpool F.C.*
Jose Enrique - Transferred
To Villarreal CF
* Fabian Estoyanoff - On Loan To Deportivo de La Coruña
* Caneira - On Loan To Sporting
* Bernardo Corradi - Transferred To Manchester City F.C.
* Francisco Rufete - Transferred To RCD Espanyol*
Mista - Transferred
To Atlético de Madrid
* Aimar - Transferred To Real Zaragoza*
Javier Garrido - Transferred
To ''
Lorca Deportiva| La Liga | Position | Pts | P | W | D | L | F | A |
| Valencia CF | 3 | 69 | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 58 | 33 |
*
Top Scores:
**Villa - 25
goals**Angulo - 6
goals**Aimar - 5
goals*
Top Goalkeepers**Cañizares -
29 goals In
36 Matchs**Mora -
2 goals In
1 Matchs**Butelle -
2 goals In
1 Matchssee also *
Jack Greenwell, 1933-34
*
Jacinto Quincoces*
Alfredo di Stefano*
Victor Esparrago*
Luis Aragonés*
Guus Hiddink, 1991-94
*
Jorge Valdano, 1996-97
*
Hector Cuper, 1999-2001
*
Rafael Benítez, 2001-04
*
Claudio Ranieri, 2004-05
*
Quique Sanchez Flores, 2005-
see also *
Valencia CF Official Website //
*http://www.ciberche.net - Fan website
*http://www.patrick-kluivert.com/forum/index.php?showforum=13 -
English Valencia forum*http://www.che-uk.co.uk - Che-UK is the supporters club of Valencia CF fans living in the UK and Ireland
*http://www.amunt-valencia.net - Amunt Valencia Web (in Spanish)
*http://www.sentimentche.com - Unofficial fan website (includes an English Forum)
*http://www.valenciatrader.com - English website about Valencia which tends to include info on all upcoming matches but also useful for flights, accommodation and getting around.
