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Valencia Club de Fútbol is a football team in the Spanish La Liga (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 *. 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. *
Early years The club was established in 1919 with Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz as its first president; incidentally the presidency was decided by a coin toss. The club played its first competitive match away from home on 21 May 1919 with Valencia Gimnástico and lost the match 1-0. Valencia CF moved into the Mestalla pitch in 1923 having played its home matches at the Algirós ground since 7 December 1919. The first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellón Castalia and 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 it 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 were an era of interesting development at the club although it failed to emulate its success of the 1940s. The restructuring of Mestalla resulted in an increase in spectator capacity to 45,000, while 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 and in the following season the club won the Generalísimo Cup. 1960s and 1970s, European successes While managing indifferent league form in the early 1960s, the club had its first European success in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the UEFA Cup in the 1961-62 season, beating the formidable FC Barcelona in the final. The next season's Cup final pitted Valencia CF against Dinamo Zagreb which the Valencians won after two legs. Valencia CF was again present in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the 1963-64 after a decent run but was defeated 2-1 by Real Zaragoza. 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 in which they fared moderately well, losing in the third 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. 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 it was relegated at near the end of the 1985–86 season and riven with internal problems such as unpaid player and staff wages as well as poor team spirit. The club was relegated for the first time after an illustrious 55 years in top-flight football. Arturo Tuzón was named as new president of the club and helped steer Valencia CF back to the First Division together with coach, Di Stéfano. Di Stéfano himself stayed on as coach until the 1987–88 season 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 appointed as head coach in the 1991–92 season but the club could only manage to finish fourth in the League and bow out in the Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals. 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 it, although it was not short of top coaching staff like Luis Aragonés and Jorge Valdano as well as star players like Claudio López, Ariel Ortega and Romário. 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. 2006-2007 Season Valencia has made significant changes for the 2006/2007 season. Coach Quique Sanchez Flores and technical director Amedeo Carboni reshuffled the squad to give it a fresh look. Players who did not fit in the current Valencia playing system such as Marco Di Vaio, Bernardo Corradi, Pablo Aimar, Rufete, and Mista were some of those who were sold, while Fabio Aurelio signed for Liverpool after refusing an extension to his contract. To strengthen the squad, Valencia have made big signings by bringing in Joaquin, Asier del Horno, Fernando Morientes and Francesco Tavano. They have also recalled the likes of Silva and Gavilan who are expected to form a core part of the squad this season. Valencia have also promoted several youngsters from the Valencia B Squad. The current squad is therefore a blend of youth and experience. On paper, Valencia has one of the strongest teams in years, with international talent on almost all fronts. While normal, experienced players such as Roberto Ayala provide their leadership, the captain's armband is on international defensive midfielder David Albelda, with David Villa "El Guaje" becoming one of the most recognizable names on the Valencian roster. The fans expect the team to deliver this time around after some disappointing seasons. However the club has already experienced its fair share of problems in pre-season. The club's attempt to sign Benfica's Simão Sabrosa has yield no favorable result. Carboni and the club's president have also fallen out with veteran defender Roberto Ayala, who has expressed his desire to leave the club for local rivals Villarreal CF. Current players such as Stefano Fiore and Mario Regueiro have also been linked with different clubs. However, Valencia have started the season strongly. So far, they have won all their matches in the Champions League against Olympiakos and A.S. Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk. The team qualified to pass on to the next round in a 2-2 draw against Shaktar the second time they played them. In the La Liga, they have registered victories against Real Betis, Atlético Madrid, Getafe, Gimnastic de Tarragona along with a creditable draw with current La Liga champions Barcelona C.F.. As of 1st October 2006, Valencia are sitting on second spot behind Barcelona on goal difference in the Spanish La Liga. However, in recent weeks, Valencia has been slipping due to a miserable game vs. Celta Vigo and followed by another derailment to one of the worse sides in the La Liga, Racing Santander. The theory behind these losses is that Valencia has lost so much of their key talent to injury, like captain David Albelda, midfielder Ruben Baraja, wingers Jaime Gavilan Martinez and Vicente Rodriguez, defenders Carlos Marchena and Asier del Horno and striker Francesco Tavano. Despite all these worries, the team finally looks settled and strong enough to make an impact in Europe this season as well as in La Liga. Presidents Juan Bautista Soler Honours La Liga Champions 6 1941-42, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1970-71, 2001-02, 2003-04 Copa del Rey 6 1940-41, 1948-49, 1953-54, 1966-67, 1978-79, 1998-99 Spanish Super Cup 2 1949, 1999 UEFA Champions League 2 Runners-up: 1999-00, 2000-01. UEFA Cup 3 1961-62, 1962-63, 2003-04 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1 1979-80 UEFA Super Cup 2 1980, 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 1998 Current squad 2006/07 The numbers are established according to the official website:www.valenciacf.es and www.lfp.es As of 12 September 2006 (Captain) Captains Foreigners 2006/2007 Only three non-EU nationals can be on the pitch at anytime. Those with European ancestry can claim a passport from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim a Spanish passport by playing in Spain for 5 years. Statistics 2005/06
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