Levante UD

Levante

Full name	Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Les Granotes (The Frogs)
Founded	9 September 1909
Ground	Ciutat de València, Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Capacity	26,354
President	Quico Catalán
Head coach	Juan Ramón López Muñiz
League	Segunda División
2015–16	La Liga, 20th (relegated)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (Spanish: [leˈβante uˈnjon deporˈtiβa], Valencian: Llevant Unió Esportiva [ʎeˈvant uniˈo espoɾˈtiva]) is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community.

Founded on 9 September 1909, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Ciutat de València.

History

Early years

Levante UD was originally founded in 1909 as Levante Fútbol Club, taking their name from the "Levante" beach in La Malvarrosa, and was one of the pioneering football clubs in Valencia. Local rivals Valencia CF were not formed until 1919; however, another club, Cabanyal FC, had been playing in the city since 1903.

The team's earliest games were played at La Platjeta, near the docks on a plot of land owned by a perfume entrepreneur. Its next ground was also near the port area, and the club gradually began to become associated with the working class. In 1919 the side played Valencia for the first time, losing 0–1 – the game marked the inauguration of the recently formed new ground at Algirós; in 1928 Levante FC won their first trophy, the Valencian Championship.

1909 also saw the birth of Gimnástico Fútbol Club, who originally played at Patronato de la Juventud Obrera, being then named Universitario Fútbol Club. By 1920, the team had become Real Gimnástico Club de Fútbol, after being granted royal patronage by Alfonso XIII. In 1920 Gimnástico also reached the final of the Campeonato de Valencia, but the game was never played; in 1930, with the emergence of the Second Spanish Republic, they dropped the Real from their name.

In 1934–35 both Levante and Gimnástico made their debut in the second division, when the league was expanded from ten teams to twenty-four. In 1935 the former won the Campeonato Levante-Sur, a competition that featured teams from Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia,^[1] and subsequently reached the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup, consecutively beating Valencia and FC Barcelona before losing to eventual runners-up CE Sabadell FC.

Copa de la España Libre

During the Spanish Civil War Levante and Gimnástico played in the Mediterranean League, finishing fifth and sixth respectively – teams from this league also competed in the Copa de la España Libre (Free Spain Cup). It was originally intended that the top four teams from the league would enter the cup, but Barcelona opted to tour Mexico and the United States and, as a result, Levante took its place.

The first round of the competition was a mini-league with the top two teams, Levante and Valencia, qualifying for the final. On 18 July 1937, Levante defeated their city rivals 1–0 at the Montjuïc.^[2]

The merger

During the civil war Levante's ground was destroyed, but the club's squad remained intact. In contrast Gimnástico had a ground, Estadio de Vallejo, but had lost most of their players.

As a result, the two clubs merged in 1939 to become Unión Deportiva Levante-Gimnástico, changing two years later to Levante Unión Deportiva, which club colours in the 2000s also dating from this era (the blaugrana home colours were originally those of Gimnástico, whilst the black and white away kit, was also used by Levante FC in the beginning).

La Liga

Before a game in March 2013

Levante had to wait until the 1960s to make their La Liga debut. In 1963 the club finished runner-up in Group 2 of the second division, beating Deportivo de La Coruña 4–2 on aggregate in the promotion play-offs. During the first top flight season it managed to win both games against Valencia, managing a 5–1 home win against Barcelona in the 1964–65 campaign but being relegated nonetheless after losing in the playoffs against CD Málaga, and spent most of the following two decades in the second and third divisions – Segunda División B would not be created until 1977; in the early 1980s, Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff played half a season for the club, retiring three years later.

After winning 2003–04's second division Levante returned to the top level, but survived only one season. Finishing third in 2005–06 it returned for two additional campaigns, the decisive match in the 2006–07 season being a 4–2 home win against Valencia courtesy of Riga Mustapha (two goals), Salva and Laurent Courtois.

Levante's financial status worsened, however, and there were reports that the players had only received approximately one fifth of their contractual payments – news reports stated that the club had incurred a debt of over €18 million in payments due their players. The team plummeted down the standings, and it was confirmed that they would be playing in the second division in 2008–09, with several matches to go; the players protested at their lack of payments at one point, refusing to move for several seconds after the opening whistle against Deportivo, and later announcing that they would issue a job action during the season-ending game at Real Madrid.

The action was resolved when league officials announced that a benefit game would be played between Levante team members, and a team made up of players from the first division, with all benefits going to pay the wages due to the players.

On 13 June 2010 Levante returned to the first division, after a 3–1 home win against already relegated CD Castellón. It lost in the final round 0–4 at Real Betis, but its opponents only managed to finish with the same points as fourth.^[3]

Deportivo de La Coruña vs. Levante UD.

Under the manager who led the team back to the top flight, Luis García Plaza, Levante finally retained its division status in the 2010–11 season. During one point of the league's second round of matches it was the third team with most points, only behind Barcelona and Real Madrid and losing just once in 12 games, precisely against the latter team.^[4]

On 26 October 2011, during round nine of the season, Levante defeated Real Sociedad 3–2 to move top of the table on 23 points.^[5] It was the first time in the club's history it reached the highest ranking in the top division – in the process, they recorded seven straight wins after drawing the first two games;^[6] the club eventually finished in sixth position after defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 at home in the last match, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time in its history.^[7]

Seasons

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2004–05	1D	18th	38	9	10	19	39	58	37		Relegated
2005–06	2D	3rd	42	20	14	8	53	39	74	1st round	Promoted
2006–07	1D	15th	38	10	12	16	37	53	42	Last 16
2007–08	1D	20th	38	7	5	26	33	75	26	Last 16	Relegated
2008–09	2D	8th	42	18	10	14	59	59	64
2009–10	2D	3rd	42	19	14	9	63	45	71		Promoted
2010–11	1D	14th	38	12	9	17	41	52	45	Last 16
2011–12	1D	6th	38	16	7	15	54	50	55	Quarter Finals	Qualified to UEFA Europa League
2012–13	1D	11th	38	12	10	16	40	57	46	Last 16	Last 16 UEFA Europa League
2013–14	1D	10th	38	12	12	14	35	43	48	Quarter Finals
2014–15	1D	14th	38	9	10	19	34	67	37	Last 16
2015–16	1D	20th	36	7	8	21	34	66	29	1st round	Relegated

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Home	Away	Aggregate
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Motherwell	1–0	2–0	3–0
		Group L	Twente	3–0	0–0	2nd
			Hannover 96	2–2	1–2
			Helsingborg	1–0	3–1
		Round of 32	Olympiacos	3–0	1–0	4–0
		Round of 16	Rubin Kazan	0–0	0–2 (aet)	0–2

Season to season

Season Division Place Copa del Rey As Gimnástico FC 1909/10 No Record - 1910-18 No Record - 1918/19 1st 1st - 1919/20 1st runner-up - 1920/21 1st 1st - 1921/22 1st 2nd - 1922/23 1st 2nd - 1923/24 1st 1st - 1924/25 1st 2nd - 1925/26 1st 3rd - 1926/27 1st 4th - 1927/28 1st 4th - 1928/29 4th 3rd - 1929/30 3rd 3rd - 1930/31 3rd 5th - 1931/32 3rd 3rd - 1932/33 3rd 3rd - 1933/34 3rd 3rd - 1934/35 2nd 6th 5th round 1935/36 2nd 4th group round 1937 1st 6th -

Season Division Place Copa del Rey As Levante FC 1909/10 1st 4th - 1910-18 No Record - 1918/19 No Record - 1919/20 1st group - 1920/21 1st 4th - 1921/22 1st 4th - 1922/23 1st 4th - 1923/24 1st 3rd - 1924/25 1st 3rd - 1925/26 1st 2nd group round 1926/27 1st 3rd - 1927/28 1st 1st group round 1928/29 4th 4th - 1929/30 3rd 2nd - 1930/31 3rd 6th - 1931/32 3rd 1st - 1932/33 3rd 4th Round of 32 1933/34 3rd 5th Round of 32 1934/35 2nd 3rd Semifinals 1935/36 2nd 3rd 2nd round 1937 1st 5th Winner

Season Division Place Copa del Rey As Levante UD 1939/40 2nd 1st 1st round 1940/41 2nd 3rd Quarter-finals 1941/42 2nd 8th 1st round 1942/43 Regional 1st 1st round 1943/44 3rd 1st - 1944/45 3rd 2nd - 1945/46 3rd 1st - 1946/47 2nd 6th Round of 16 1947/48 2nd 5th 5th round 1948/49 2nd 9th 4th round 1949/50 2nd 13th 3rd round 1950/51 2nd 13th - 1951/52 2nd 14th - 1952/53 3rd 2nd - 1953/54 3rd 1st - 1954/55 2nd 15th - 1955/56 3rd 1st - 1956/57 2nd 11th -

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1957/58 2nd 4th - 1958/59 2nd 2nd Round of 32 1959/60 2nd 6th 1st round 1960/61 2nd 6th 1st round 1961/62 2nd 6th 1st round 1962/63 2nd 2nd Round of 16 1963/64 1st 10th Round of 32 1964/65 1st 14th Round of 16 1965/66 2nd 5th 1st round 1966/67 2nd 4th Round of 32 1967/68 2nd 14th 1st round 1968/69 3rd 3rd - 1969/70 3rd 4th 3rd round 1970/71 3rd 12th 1st round 1971/72 3rd 6th 2nd round 1972/73 3rd 1st 3rd round 1973/74 2nd 19th 5th round 1974/75 3rd 2nd 4th round 1975/76 3rd 1st 1st round 1976/77 2nd 18th 2nd round

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1977/78 2ndB 4th 3rd round 1978/79 2ndB 1st 2nd round 1979/80 2nd 10th 3rd round 1980/81 2nd 9th Round of 16 1981/82 2nd 19th 3rd round 1982/83 3rd 2nd 2nd round 1983/84 3rd 2nd 2nd round 1984/85 2ndB 11th 2nd round 1985/86 2ndB 10th - 1986/87 3rd 2nd - 1987/88 2ndB 6th 3rd round 1988/89 2ndB 1st 2nd round 1989/90 2nd 15th 1st round 1990/91 2nd 19th 3rd round 1991/92 2ndB 11th 3rd round 1992/93 2ndB 9th 2nd round 1993/94 2ndB 3rd 3rd round 1994/95 2ndB 1st 1st round 1995/96 2ndB 1st 3rd round 1996/97 2nd 9th 2nd round

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1997/98 2nd 22nd 1st Round 1998/99 2ndB 1st Round of 16 1999/00 2nd 7th 1st round 2000/01 2nd 8th Round of 32 2001/02 2nd 19th Round of 32 2002/03 2nd 4th Round of 64 2003/04 2nd 1st Round of 16 2004/05 1st 18th Round of 32 2005/06 2nd 3rd 1st round 2006/07 1st 15th Round of 32 2007/08 1st 20th Round of 16 2008/09 2nd 8th 2nd round 2009/10 2nd 3rd 2nd round 2010/11 1st 14th Round of 16 2011/12 1st 6th Quarter-finals 2012/13 1st 11th Round of 16 2013/14 1st 10th Quarterfinals 2014/15 1st 14th Round of 16 2015/16 1st 20th Round of 32 2016/17 2nd 2nd round

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Levante FC

• 2 seasons in Segunda División
• 5 seasons in Tercera División
• 1 season in Categorías Regionales

Gimnástico FC

• 2 seasons in Segunda División
• 5 seasons in Tercera División
• 1 season in Categorías Regionales

Levante UD

• 11 seasons in La Liga
• 38 seasons in Segunda División
• 12 seasons in Segunda División B
• 16 seasons in Tercera División
• 1 season in Categorías Regionales

Current squad

As of 31 August 2016^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Raúl Fernández 2 DF Iván López 3 DF Toño 4 DF Róber (on loan from Deportivo La Coruña) 6 MF Javier Espinosa 7 MF Verza (2nd captain) 8 MF Jefferson Lerma 9 FW Roger Martí 10 MF Rubén García (3rd captain) 11 MF José Luis Morales (4th captain) 12 DF Esteban Saveljich

No. Position Player 13 GK Álex Remiro (on loan from Athletic Bilbao) 15 DF Sergio Postigo 16 DF Chema Rodríguez 17 FW Rafael Martins 18 FW Víctor Casadesús 19 DF Pedro López (Captain) 20 MF Paco Montañés (on loan from Espanyol) 21 MF Natxo Insa 22 DF Abraham Minero (on loan from Zaragoza) 23 FW Jason 24 MF José Campaña

Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 26 MF Pepelu García 27 GK Koke Ruiz 28 DF Fran López

No. Position Player 29 DF Mode 30 DF Kaiser 33 FW Allyson

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — MF Víctor Camarasa (on loan at Alavés until 30 June 2017) — FW Deyverson (on loan at Alavés until 30 June 2017)

Honours

National Competitions

• Copa del Rey
  • Semifinals (1):1935
• Copa de la España Libre
  • Winners: 1937
• Segunda División
  • Winners: 2003–04
• Segunda División B
  • Winners:1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99
• Tercera División
  • Winners:1943–44, 1972–73

Regional Competitions

• Campeonato Levante-Sur:
  • Winners:1934–35
• Campeonato de Valencia
  • Winners:1927–28

Friendly Tournaments

• Trofeo Ciudad de Valencia
  • Winners:1996

Notable former players

Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

Abdelkader Ghezzal Pablo Cavallero Gustavo Reggi Sávio Zé Maria Vladimir Manchev Daniel Kome Lauren Albert Meyong José Veiga Carlos Caszely Edwin Congo Félix Ettien Arouna Koné Keylor Navas

Tomislav Erceg Felipe Caicedo Jefferson Montero Sergio Barila Juvenal Yago Frédéric Déhu Olivier Kapo Péguy Luyindula Laurent Robert Shota Arveladze Theofanis Gekas Ian Harte Marco Storari Damiano Tommasi

Giuseppe Rossi Moha Johan Cruyff Riga Mustapha Faas Wilkes Obafemi Martins Dariusz Dudka Duda Vladan Kujović Baba Diawara Sylvain N'Diaye Alexis Sergio Ballesteros Claudio Barragán Antonio Calpe

Diego Camacho Ángel Cuéllar Asier del Horno Iñaki Descarga Ernesto Domínguez Javier Farinós Sergio García Fernando Giner Vicente Iborra Jofre Juanfran Juanlu José Francisco Molina Nando Miguel Pallardó

Alberto Rivera Gaspar Rubio Salva Ballesta Sergio Rubén Suárez Valdo Vicente Rodríguez Johan Mjällby Fabio Celestini Gustavo Munúa Héctor Núñez Tabaré Silva Cristhian Stuani Emilio Rentería Predrag Mijatović

Famous coaches

• Josep Escolà (1955–56)
• Enrique Orizaola (1964–65)
• Ferdinand Daučík (1974–75), (1975)
• Juande Ramos (July 1, 1994 – June 30, 1995)
• Mané (July 1, 1996–97), (2005–06)
• Manuel Preciado (July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004)
• Bernd Schuster (July 1, 2004 – May 1, 2005)
• Juan Ramón López Caro (July 1, 2006–Jan 20, 2007)
• Abel Resino (Jan 22, 2007–Oct 8, 2007)
• Gianni De Biasi (Oct 27, 2007–April 16, 2008)
• Juan Ignacio Martínez (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2013)

Other managers

Mundo (1971) José Juncosa (1972–73) Héctor Núñez (1973–74) Dagoberto Moll (1975–76) Pachín (1979–81) Joaquim Rifé (1981) Todor Veselinović (1981) Vicente Piquer (1981) Pachín (1984–85) Quique Hernández (July 1, 1987–87) Pachín (1987–88) Antal Dunai (July 1, 1990–Nov 19, 1990) José Antonio Irulegui (July 1, 1990 – June 30, 1991) Luis Costa (1992)

José Enrique Díaz (1993–94) Jordi Gonzalvo (1994) José Enrique Díaz (1997) Jesús Aranguren (1998) José Carlos Granero (July 1, 2000–Oct 22, 2001) Carlos García Cantarero (2002–03) José Luis Oltra (May 2, 2005–Oct 31, 2005) José Ángel Moreno (April 17, 2008 – June 30, 2008) Luis García (July 1, 2008 – June 7, 2011) Joaquín Caparrós (July 1, 2013 – May 27, 2014) José Luis Mendilibar (July 1, 2014–Oct 20, 2014) Lucas Alcaraz (Oct 22, 2014–Oct 25, 2015) Rubi (2015–2016)

Stadium

Estadi Ciutat de València was opened on 9 September 1969, with capacity for 25,354 spectators. Dimensions are 107x69 meters.

See also

• Atlético Levante UD, reserve team of Levante UD
• Spain leagues final tables

References

1. Spain – List of Champions of Levante, Valencia and Murcia; at RSSSF
2. Spain – Copa de España Libre 1937; at RSSSF
3. Levante are finally dethroned as La Liga becomes a more boring place; The Guardian, 31 October 2011
4. Levante are back and this time they're ready to take on the world; The Guardian, 17 October 2011
5. Levante pulls off the impossible; Sports Illustrated, 26 October 2011
6. Underdog turns heads at the top in Spain; The New York Times, 28 October 2011
7. "Ghezzal helps Levante secure European place". ESPN Soccernet. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
8. "Primer equipo" [First team] (in Spanish). Levante UD. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links

• Official website (Spanish) (Catalan)
• Levante UD at La Liga (English) (Spanish)
• Levante UD at UEFA (English) (Spanish)