Valencia CF
One of Spain’s most successful clubs, Valencia was founded in 1919 and has played its home games at the 55,000-seater Mestalla since 1923. On March 18th, 1919, Bar Torino in Valencia was the scene of the official creation of Valencia CF. After winning various regional championships, in 1923 the team left their initial ground at Algirós for Mestalla and competed in their first Copa del Rey. By 1931 they had already been promoted to the Primera División and in 1934 they played in their first cup final. With the charismatic Luis Casanova as President, the 1940s were a golden age for the club. Possessing a powerful forward line and Mundo as deadly goal scorer, they won three La Liga titles (1942, 1944, 1947) and two Spanish Cups (1941, 1949). After a 1954 cup win, a series of years passed before another successful era of European honours that saw two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup wins and one additional final. Managed by Di Stefano, Valencia CF would win another league title in 1971. Mario Kempes was the star of the team as the late-1970s and early-1980s brought much silverware, with a Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and European Supercup victory (against Nottingham Forest in 1980). After the first and only relegation suffered by the club in 1986, Valencia CF returned to kick off another golden spell for the club in the late 1990s. The club won the Copa del Rey in 1999, reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row, won the La Liga title in 2002 and 2004 and claimed the UEFA Cup in 2004 (defeating Olympique Marseille 2-0 in the final). The most recent trophy won by Valencia CF was an eighth Copa del Rey, in 2019.
Valencia CF Youth Academy
Since its inauguration in 1992, Valencia CF’s Academy has been one of the most successful football schools in all of Europe. It is considered to have some of the best facilities on the continent and features 8 eleven-a-side football pitches, 6 eight-a-side pitches, a residents’ hall for players, study rooms, gyms, swimming pools, a physiotherapy area and much more. The Training Centre at Valencia CF offers university education, classroom training, and online training related to sport and football as Valencia CF is one of the few clubs in Spain that organizes a Sport Management MBA. Notable Youth Academy Graduates include; David Silva, Isco, Paco Alcacer, Juan Bernat, Raul Albiol and Ferran Torres.
