History of Valencia CF facts for kids
Valencia CF is a famous Spanish football club. It was started on 5 March 1919. Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz became its first president after a coin toss! The team played its first game on 21 May 1919 against Valencia Gimnástico and lost 1–0.
In 1923, Valencia CF moved to its current home, the Mestalla stadium. Before that, they played at the Algirós ground. The first match at Mestalla was a 0–0 draw. The next day, they won 1–0 against the same team. In 1923, Valencia CF won the Regional Championship. This meant they could play in the national Copa del Rey cup for the first time.
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1940s: Becoming a Top Spanish Team
The Spanish Civil War stopped football for a while. But in 1941, Valencia won the Copa del Rey! They beat RCD Espanyol in the final. This was a huge win for them.
In the 1941–42 season, the club won its first Spanish La Liga championship. At that time, winning the Copa del Rey was even more famous. Valencia kept playing well. They won the league again in 1943–44 and 1946–47. By the end of the 1940s, Valencia had won three La Liga titles and two Copa del Reys. This made them a very important team in Spanish football.
In the 1950s, Valencia grew bigger. The Mestalla stadium was made larger to hold 45,000 fans. Famous players like Antonio Puchades from Spain and Faas Wilkes from the Netherlands played for the club. In 1952–53, they finished second in La Liga. The next season, they won the Copa del Rey again.
1960s: Winning in Europe
In the early 1960s, Valencia started to do well in European competitions. They won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This cup was a bit like today's UEFA Europa League.
In the 1961–62 season, Valencia beat FC Barcelona in the final. They won the cup again in the 1962–63 season. This time, they beat Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia. Valencia reached the final again in 1963–64 but lost to Real Zaragoza.
1970s to Early 1980s: More Trophies
In 1970, Alfredo Di Stéfano, a famous player, became coach. He led Valencia to their fourth La Liga championship. This was their first league title since 1947. This win also meant Valencia could play in the important European Cup for the first time.
In 1971–72, Valencia reached the third round of the European Cup. They lost to Újpesti Dózsa from Hungary. In 1972, they finished second in both La Liga and the Spanish Cup.
Key players in the 1970s included Kurt Jara from Austria, Johnny Rep from the Netherlands, and Mario Kempes from Argentina. Kempes was the top scorer in La Liga for two years in a row. Valencia won the Copa del Rey again in 1978–79. The next season, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup. They beat Arsenal from England in the final, with Kempes leading the way.
Mid to Late 1980s: Tough Times and Relegation
In 1982, Miljan Miljanić became coach. The team struggled and was close to being relegated. Koldo Aguirre took over, and Valencia just managed to stay in the top league.
The club faced big money problems in the mid-1980s. In 1985–86, Valencia was relegated for the first time in 55 years. Players and staff were not getting paid, and morale was low.
Arturo Tuzón became the new president. He helped Valencia get back to La Liga. Alfredo Di Stéfano returned as coach in 1986. Valencia won promotion back to the top league in 1986–87. Di Stéfano stayed until 1987–88. In 1989, Luboslav Penev from Bulgaria joined the team. Valencia finished third in the 1988-89 La Liga season, showing they were ready to compete again.
1990s: Getting Back on Track
In the 1989-90 La Liga season, Valencia finished second behind Real Madrid. This meant they qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Guus Hiddink became coach in 1991–92. The club finished fourth in the league and reached the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. In 1992, Valencia CF became a Sporting Limited Company. Hiddink stayed as coach until 1993.
In 1994, Carlos Alberto Parreira, who had just won the 1994 FIFA World Cup with Brazil, became manager. He signed players like Andoni Zubizarreta, Oleg Salenko, and Predrag Mijatović. But the team didn't get the results expected. Other coaches like Luis Aragonés and Jorge Valdano tried to help. Famous players like Romário, Claudio López, Ariel Ortega, and Adrian Ilie also played for Valencia. In 1995–96, Valencia finished second in La Liga, but couldn't win the title.
After a couple of tough seasons, the 1998-99 La Liga season marked a turning point. Under coach Claudio Ranieri, Valencia won their first trophy in 19 years, the 1998-99 Copa del Rey. This also qualified them for the UEFA Champions League.
2000s: Back to the Top
Valencia started the 1999–00 season by winning the Spanish Super Cup, beating FC Barcelona. They finished third in the league. But their biggest success was reaching the European Cup final for the first time! However, Real Madrid beat them 3–0 in Paris.
Key players like Claudio López, Farinós, and Gerard left. But new talents arrived, including John Carew, Rubén Baraja, Roberto Ayala, Vicente Rodríguez, and Fábio Aurélio. Pablo Aimar joined in January. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente, and Ayala became very important players for Valencia in the early 2000s.
Valencia started the next season well, leading the league after 10 games. But playing in the Champions League was tiring. Héctor Cúper's team reached the Champions League final again! They beat Arsenal and Leeds United to get there. This time, they faced Bayern Munich in Milan. Gaizka Mendieta scored first from a penalty. But Bayern equalized, and the game went to penalties. Valencia lost again, making it two Champions League final losses in a row. They finished fifth in La Liga, missing out on the Champions League for the next season.
The club president, D. Pedro Cortés, left. D. Jaime Ortí took over. Rafael Benítez became the new coach. Players like Gaizka Mendieta left, and new ones like Carlos Marchena, Mista, and Roberto Ayala joined.
From 1999 to 2004, Valencia had one of its best times ever. They won two La Liga titles, one UEFA Cup, one Copa del Rey, and one UEFA Super Cup. They also reached two Champions League finals.
They beat Real Madrid early in the season. Then, they won 11 games in a row, a new club record!
In one important game, Valencia was losing 2–0 at half-time against RCD Espanyol. But they came back to win 3–2. Another time, they were 1–0 down and had a player sent off against Espanyol. But two goals from Rubén Baraja gave them a 2–1 win.
On 5 May 2002, Valencia played Málaga CF. Goals from Roberto Ayala and Fábio Aurélio secured their fifth La Liga title. It was their first league title in 31 years!
The 2002–03 season was not as good. They finished fifth in La Liga and lost in the Champions League quarter-finals. But in 2003–04, Valencia won La Liga again! They also won the UEFA Cup. This meant Valencia had won two league titles in three seasons.
In 2004, coach Rafael Benítez left for Liverpool. Former Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri returned. But his second time as coach was not successful. Valencia struggled in the league and was knocked out of the Champions League. Ranieri was fired in February.
In 2005, Quique Flores became manager. Valencia finished third in the league, getting back into the Champions League. The 2006–07 season was tough with many injuries and arguments. Valencia finished fourth and lost in the Champions League quarter-finals to Chelsea.
In October 2007, Flores was fired. Ronald Koeman became the new coach. But the team's performance did not improve. They dropped close to the relegation zone. However, on 16 April 2008, Valencia won the Copa del Rey! They beat Getafe 3–1. This was their seventh Copa title. Five days later, Koeman was fired after a big loss. Voro took over as caretaker manager. He helped Valencia finish safely in 10th place.
Unai Emery became the new manager in May 2008. The team started well, even reaching the top of La Liga. But then they had a bad run of games. There were also reports of huge club debt and unpaid players. Valencia was knocked out of the UEFA Cup. The club got a loan to pay players, and their form improved. But they finished sixth in the league, missing the Champions League again.
2010-2014: Money Problems and Stability
Valencia still had big debts. Famous players like David Villa, Juan Mata, and David Silva might have to leave. In 2009–10, Valencia finished third in La Liga and returned to the UEFA Champions League.
In 2010, David Villa and David Silva were sold to help pay off debt. But even without them, the team finished third again in 2010–11 La Liga. They lost in the Champions League Round of 16. In 2011, captain Juan Mata was sold to Chelsea. The club president said the debt was going down and work on the new stadium would restart.
In 2012–13, Ernesto Valverde became manager. But he left after the team didn't qualify for the Champions League. Miroslav Đukić took over. In 2013, Amadeo Salvo became the new president. Star striker Roberto Soldado was sold to Tottenham Hotspur. Đukić was fired after a bad start to the 2013–14 season. Juan Antonio Pizzi replaced him. Under Pizzi, Valencia reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. They finished 8th in La Liga.
2014-Present: Peter Lim's Ownership
In May 2014, Singaporean businessman Peter Lim agreed to buy most of the club's shares. After talks, the deal was done in August 2014. Juan Antonio Pizzi was surprisingly fired. Nuno Espírito Santo became the new coach. It was said that Lim wanted Nuno as a condition for buying the club. Nuno was close to football agent Jorge Mendes, who is also friends with Lim.
Nuno's first season was good. New players like Álvaro Negredo, André Gomes, and Enzo Pérez joined. Valencia finished fourth in the 2014–15 season, qualifying for the Champions League.
In July 2015, Amadeo Salvo resigned as president. Nicolás Otamendi was sold, and Aymen Abdennour was signed. Valencia beat Monaco to enter the Champions League group stage. However, they had a poor start to the 2015–16 season. Fans were also worried about Jorge Mendes's influence.
In November, Nuno resigned. Former Manchester United player Gary Neville became manager. Valencia didn't win for nine games under Neville. He was fired in March 2016 after winning only 3 out of 16 league matches. Pako Ayestarán took over. Valencia finished 12th.
In summer 2016, André Gomes and Paco Alcácer were sold to Barcelona. Shkodran Mustafi went to Arsenal. Ezequiel Garay and Nani joined. Ayestarán was fired in September 2016 after four straight losses. Cesare Prandelli became coach but resigned after three months. He said the club didn't keep its transfer promises. The sporting director also resigned. Voro became caretaker manager again. He helped Valencia avoid relegation, finishing 12th.
Mateu Alemany became the new director general. Anil Murthy replaced Lay Hoon Chan as president. They said Valencia was a long-term project for Peter Lim. For the next season, Marcelino became the new manager.
Marcelino had two successful seasons. The club finished 4th both times and returned to the Champions League. In 2019, Valencia won the Copa del Rey! They beat FC Barcelona in the final, winning their first trophy since 2008.
However, Marcelino and sporting director Mateu Alemany were fired in September 2019. This happened after Marcelino criticized Peter Lim. Albert Celades replaced him but was also fired. The club had many changes in managers and sporting directors.
For the 2020–21 season, Javi Gracia was hired. The club sold key players like captain Dani Parejo and young star Ferran Torres to balance its books. Valencia sold players worth 85 million euros. The club even struggled to pay player salaries. Peter Lim's ownership has faced strong criticism because of these problems.
In the 2021–2022 season, José Bordalás became coach. In his first season, they reached the Copa del Rey final. They lost to Real Betis on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
See also
In Spanish: Historia del Valencia Club de Fútbol para niños
