Valencia CFLos Che And The Valencia Experience
The History Of Valencia CFA late arrival on the Spanish football scene and some shady dealings in the boardroom haven't stopped Valencia CF from becoming one of the most flamboyant clubs in Europe. The third most popular team in Spain, Valencia produce moments of footballing genius, guarantee helter-skelter emotions and for sheer entertainment value are always a favourite with the fans.Late on the SceneUnlike the earthier working-class origins of football in other parts of Spain, in Valencia the beautiful game was originally introduced to the locals by British citrus merchants.But as Valencia is a port, visiting sailors were soon kicking balls about with the locals and the game grew in popularity throughout the early years of the twentieth century.
In 1923, Valencia CF won the Campeonato Valenciano - which qualified them for their first participation in the Copa del Rey - and with local stars Montesinos and Cubells were popular enough to move from their original ground Algirós to 17,000-capacity Mestalla in May of the same year. The Symbol of the CityThat both Valencians and Valencia CF fans are known as Los Che - which means something like 'The Blokes' in the Valencian dialect - shows how closely the people of Valencia identify with the club.With the city behind them, in 1923 Valencia CF were not only ambitious enough to open Mestalla but also to take on their first professional coach - the Czech Anton Fivebr. But full recognition of their status was to take some time. In the inaugural Liga of 1928-29 - given their lack of history and relatively few participations in the Copa del Rey - Valencia CF were placed in the Second Division. The side played well and were promoted to Primera by the end of the 1930-31 season. The club was still in the top flight when the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. and brought an interesting evolution in the balance of power of Spanish football. Free Spain formed the Catalan-Valencian Championship, which the then Republican Real Madrid applied to join. But both Barcelona and Valencia vetoed the madridistas' participation and the two clubs lack of solidarity is still a retort when Real Madrid are accused of being the Regime's team. The First Golden AgeThe whole of north-eastern Spain was scarred by the Spanish Civil War but Los Che rebuilt the badly-bombed Mestalla and extended the capacity to 22,000.Under the club's second post-war president - Luís Casanova - a golden period began.
All three finals were played in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc - not surprisingly to this day Los Che consider the stadium jinxed. But Valencia CF was by now firmly established as a 'grande' of Spanish football and went on to win the Liga again in 1947 and another Copa in 1949. Confirmation in EuropeAlthough the fifties heralded in a period of dominance for Barcelona and then two decades of almost total hegemony by the Madrid clubs, Valencia were firmly established as a footballing force to be reckoned with.And just to show that the forties hadn't been a flash in the pan they took the Copa del Generalísimo trophy again in 1954, beating Barça 3-0 in Real Madrid's Chamartín Stadium. In their star player Puchades, the club also boasted a rival to Barcelona's Kubala and Real Madrid's Di Stéfano and Valencia CF steadily grew in popularity. By the mid-fifties, Los Che were Spain's third most popular club and Mestalla had to be enlarged to a capacity of 45,000. UEFA recognised Valencia CF's importance in 1961 when the club participated in the invitation-only Fairs Cup. They dismissed Nottingham Forest - the first foreign club to play in Mestalla - in the early rounds and then went on to beat Barcelona in the final. The club took trophy again in 1963 against Dynamo Zagreb and a year later, a third consecutive Fairs Cup title was only snatched from them when they lost to Spanish rivals Zaragoza in the final. Europe had definitely woken up to the the Mighty Che. Back Again In The SeventiesApart from a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the final of the Copa del Generalísimo in 1967, the Sixties were a relatively fallow period and Valencia had to wait for the next decade for a return to the glory days.In April 1970, legendary ex-Real Madrid player Alfredo di Stéfano joined Valencia as coach at a low point in the club's fortunes. The new season started badly with Los Che hovering around the relegation zone but after beating Barça 2-0 in a legendary game in in Camp Nou confidence came back to the side and they began to scale positions.
Kempes won the Pichichi - Spain's top goalscorer - in his first two seasons and the cry of 'Don't say Kempes, say Goal!' rang through the streets of Valencia. What's more even after winning the World Cup with Argentina in 1978, he chose to stay. Major titles were soon being celebrated in Valencia. The 1979 Copa del Rey against Real Madrid was followed by a European Cup Winners' Cup win against Arsenal and the European Super Cup against old rivals Nottingham Forest in 1980. It looked as if Valencia were back to stay. Rock BottomThe glorious thing about Valencia is that you never know what's going to happen next. The team was on a high but it was at this point that some very shady characters began to occupy the club's boardroom.In the 1982-83 season financial problems and infighting began to plague the club. The unstable atmosphere was soon reflected on the pitch and Valencia were only saved from relegation when their direct rivals all lost in the last game of the season. The following season the club's debt was standing at 2,000 million pesetas and to add insult to injury Kempes was sold to humble Hércules, another club from the Valencian Community. In 1985, the club was unable to pay the players and even the return of Di Stéfano couldn't stop the inevitable from happening. At the close of the 1985-86 season, Valencia were relegated putting an end to 55 seasons in top-flight football. But far from deserting their beloved club, fan numbers increased and Di Stéfano took advantage of the single season in Segunda to put together a younger, fresher, more competitive side. Despite not increasing the trophy haul, Valencia CF played out the rest of the eighties in Primera and when they became a Sociedad Anonima Deportiva - a Public Limited Sports Company - in 1992, it seemed that financial worries were a thing of the past. The Last DecadeUnder different managers, talented Valencia sides played some great football but the boardroom infighting and shady financial dealings continued throughout the nineties.Under Claudio Ranieri in 1998-99, a great Valencia CF led by Gaizka Mendieta and Claudio 'Piojo' López finished fourth in the Liga and conquered the Copa del Rey by beating Atlético 3-0 in a fantastic final. Los Che were back in Europe and had the first new silverware in twenty years. The signing of Kily González and the conquest of the Spanish Super Cup in 1999, heralded in the start of Valencia's most successful period ever. They lost the all-Spanish Champions League final in 2000 to Real Madrid and then were runners-up again the following year - this time to Bayern Munich on penalties! At the start of the new millenium, Valencia were by far the most attractive side in Spain and sure enough the trophies started to fall. A Liga title in 2002 was soon followed by 2004 - Valencia's crowning year - when they won the Liga, the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup. Surely, Los Che would establish themselves amongst the greats in Europe and have the wherewithal to stay there. But with rumours of shady deals abounding, a couple of mediocre seasons followed and everything culminated in 2008-09 with the most surreal situation of them all. After a so-so start, coach Quique Sánchez Flores was sacked and replaced by ex-Barça star Ronald Koeman - a golden boy of football if ever there was one. But the side fell into a kamikaze spiral, winning only 4 games out of 22, and with noises of financial crisis coming from the boardroom again, Koeman banned Cañizares, Albelda and Angulo - all key players - from the dressing room. He was sacked five games before the end of the season and with the banned players reinstated, the side scaled places to finish in a respectable position. But fans here in Spain are still pinching themselves and trying to work out exactly what happened. Valencia always seem capable of shooting themselves in the foot and perhaps that's why everybody loves them. With 45,000 members and 20,000 waiting to occupy their places in the new Nou Mestalla stadium in 2010, Valencia are a massive club and the fact that they're sure to have a rocky road ahead of them is all part of the fun.
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