Valencia (Spa)

Location: Valencia, Spain
Year Founded: 1919
Nickname: los Pulos, los Ches
Stadium: Mestalla
Capacity: 53000
La Liga Champions:
Winners (6): 1941-42, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1970-71, 2001-02, 2003-04
Segunda División:
Winners (2): 1930-31, 1986-87
Copa del Rey:
Winners (6): 1940-41, 1948-49, 1953-54, 1966-67, 1978-79, 1998-99
Spanish Super Cup:
Winners (2): 1949, 1999
UEFA Cup:
Winners (3): 1961-62, 1962-63, 2003-04
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
Winners (1): 1979-80
UEFA Super Cup:
Winners (2): 1980, 2004
UEFA Intertoto Cup
Winners (1): 1998


Squad Information:

Staff:
Quique Sanchez Flores

Goalkeepers:
Santiago Canizares
Jose Luis Mora
Timo Hildebrand
David Valle

Defenders:
Luis Miguel
Asier Del Horno
David Navarro
Alexis
Yago Fernandez
Carlos Marchena
Roberto Amarilla

Midfielders:
Ivan Helguera
David Albelda
Ruben Baraja
Hugo Viana
Stefano Fiore
Miguel Angel Angulo
Mario Regueiro
Edu
David Silva
Joaquin Sanchez
Vicente

Forwards:
David Villa
Fernando Morientes
Arizmendi
Joao Moreira
Aaron Niguez Esclapez
Nikola Zigic


                                                Team History

                  In 1919, the centre of the Turia River capital, in the Torino Bar, the idea of creating a football club was put into action. The first president of Valencia Football Club, Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz, was elected by chance: a coin tossed into the air helped deciding between himself or Gonzalo Medina Pernás, who finally got the department of the constituent and festivities commission.
                  Milego and Medina worked side by side in a small establishment on Barcelona Street which, at first, also acted as a location for the new club. The first Valencian board of directors was also with them, the Pascual brothers and Julio Gascó, Andrés Bonilla, José Llorca, Fernando Marzal and Adolfo Moya.
                During the twenties, the revenge spirit and sports tension were increasing every time the different teams in the Regional Championship had to meet. In 1923, Valencia became regional champions and could participate, for the first time in their history, in the Copa del Rey. The progress in the results of the team proved that they were able to become leaders of the football within the Valencian capital. Three or four years after their founding, Valencia was already the most fearsome enemy for the rest of teams and fanbase was becoming more popular.
                    The importance of the Valencia team was reinforced due to the fact that they had very good players like Montes or Cubells, who wanted something more than regional football. The fans split up between the staunch supporters for one and those for the other player, like if it all was about two bullfighters: on one hand, there were the cubellistas, and on the other, the montistas. Such rivalry was good for the team, since both players had a common objective: defending the colours of Valencia Club de Fútbol.
                 Despite the defeat, Valencia took advantage of the fact that they played an important team at a domestic level, since the number of supporters of the “Che” team increased. This progressive increase of the interest in Valencia made the Valencian managers start to look for land that was up for sale in order to build a new stadium for the team. They found one located by the Mestalla irrigation channel.