Global InformationValencia CF information
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| Full name | Valencia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Los Ches[1] | |||
| Short name | Valencia, VCF | |||
| Founded | 18 March 1919 (as Valencia Foot-ball Club) | |||
| Ground | Mestalla | |||
| Capacity | 49,430[2] | |||
| Owner | Peter Lim[3][4][5][6] | |||
| President | Lay Hoon Chan | |||
| Head coach | Rubén Baraja | |||
| League | La Liga | |||
| 2022–23 | La Liga, 16th of 20 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Valencia Club de Fútbol (Spanish: [baˈlenθja ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol]; Valencian: València Club de Futbol [vaˈlensi.a ˈklub de fubˈbɔl]),[7] commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a Spanish professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spanish league system. Valencia was founded in 1919 and has played its home games at the 49,430-seater Mestalla since 1923.[2]
Valencia has won six Spanish League titles, eight Copa del Rey titles, one Supercopa de España, and one Copa Eva Duarte. In European competitions, they have won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. They have also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row (2000 and 2001). Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs and since its end has been part of the original members of the European Club Association. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them.
Historically one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with around 50,000 season ticket holders[8] at their peak, the club began to decline in the mid-2010s. Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim acquired the team in 2014.[3][9]
Over the years, the club has achieved a global reputation for their prolific youth academy, or "Acadèmia." Products of their academy include world-class talents such as Raúl Albiol, Javier Farinos, David Albelda, Vicente Rodríguez, Gaizka Mendieta and David Silva. Current stars of the game to have graduated in recent years include Isco, Jordi Alba, Juan Bernat, José Gayà, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres, Lee Kang-in and Yunus Musah.
- ^ "Why are the Valencia players called 'Ches'?". La Liga. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ a b "About Mestalla". Valencia CF. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ a b Baillif, Elias. "Institution bafouée et résistance : Valence est-il (ir)récupérable ?". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Panja, Tariq (5 February 2021). "They Hailed the New Owner as a Savior. Then They Got to Know Him". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Corrigan, Dermot. "'He had everything. And he destroyed it': Peter Lim's six years at Valencia". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Picó, Diego; Valencia (5 January 2017). "Is the sun setting on Lim's time in Valencia?". MARCA. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Valencia CF history in Valencian (named València CF in article) Archived 27 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine,
- ^ EFE (11 November 2008). "El club roza los 50.000 socios tras la nueva campaña de abonos". Superdeporte (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ "'An abandoned club' - the staggering decline of Valencia". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.