Levante UD

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Levante UD

Full name

Levante Unión Deportiva

Nickname(s)

Granotes

Founded

1909

Ground

Ciudad de Valencia,
Valencia, Spain
(Capacity 25,354)

Chairman

Manager

League

La Liga, 15th





Home colours





Away colours

Levante Unión Deportiva (Spanish), also known as Llevant Unió Esportiva (Valencian), is a Spanish football club based in Valencia. They currently play in La Liga after winning promotion from the Segunda División at the end of the 2005-06 season. The 2007-8 season is the fifth season the club has played in La Liga.

They are the older of two main clubs based in Valencia. The club was originally formed in 1909 as Levante FC, taking their name from Levante, the name used to refer to the eastern coast of Spain. Their local rivals Valencia CF were not formed until 1919. In 1937 Levante FC won the Copa de la España Libre, a cup competition organised in the Republican area of Spain. They adopted their current name in 1942 following a merger with Gimnástico FC. During the early 1980s Johan Cruyff briefly played for the club.

1 History
2 Current squad
- 2.1 Unregistered players
3 Selected Former Players
4 Famous coaches
5 Honours
6 Recent History
7 References
8 External links

Levante FC was originally formed in 1909 and was one of the pioneering football clubs in Valencia. However another club Cabanyal FC had been playing since 1903. The club’s earliest games were played at La Platjeta, near the docks on a plot of land owned by a perfume entrepreneur. Their next ground was also near the port area and the club gradually began to become associated with the working class. In 1919 they played Valencia CF for the first time and lost 1-0. The game marked the inauguration of the recently formed club’s new ground at Algirós. In 1928 Levante FC won their first trophy, the Campeonato de Valencia.

1913 saw the formation of Gimnástico FC. They originally played at the Patronato de la Juventud Obrera and started out as Universitario FC. By 1920 they had become Real Gimnástico CF after they were granted royal patronage by Alfonso XIII. In 1920 they 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 both Levante FC and Gimnástico CF made their debut in the Segunda División, when the division was expanded from ten teams to twenty four. In 1935 Levante FC won the Campeonato Levante-Sur, a competition that featured teams from Valencia, Murcia and Andalucia, and subsequently reached the semi-finals of the Copa de España. In the early rounds they beat Valencia CF and FC Barcelona before losing to the eventual runners-up, CE Sabadell.

During the Spanish Civil War both Levante FC and Gimnástico CF played in the Mediterranean League, finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Teams from this league also competed in the Copa de España Libre or the Free Spain Cup. It was originally intended that the top four teams from the league would enter the cup, but FC Barcelona opted to tour Mexico and the United States. As a result Levante FC took their place. The first round of the competition was a mini-league with the top two teams, Levante FC and Valencia CF, then qualifying for the final. On July 18 1937 Levante FC beat their city rivals 1-0 at the Montjuïc.

During the Civil War the Levante FC ground was destroyed but their squad remained intact. In contrast Gimnástico CF had a ground, the Campo de Vallejo, but had lost most of their players. As a result the two clubs merged in 1939 to become Unión Deportiva Levante-Gimnástico. In 1941 they adopted their current name Levante Unión Deportiva. The clubs colours also date from this era. The azulgrana home colours were originally the colours of Gimnástico CF. They have also used a black and white away kit, the original Levante FC colours.

Levant UD had to wait until the 1960s to make their La Liga debut. In 1963 they finished as runners-up in Segunda División Group 2 and then beat Deportivo de La Coruña 4-2 on aggregate in a promotion play-off. During their first season in La Liga they managed to a do a double over their rivals Valencia CF and during the following season they managed a 5-1 win against FC Barcelona. However they survived just two seasons in La Liga and were relegated in 1965 after losing a play-off to CD Malaga. After winning the Segunda División in 2004 they returned to La Liga but survived only one season. They were promoted to La Liga again in 2006 after finishing third in the Segunda División. A win over their city rivals Valencia CF in the penultimate game of the 2006-7 season guaranteed their place in La Liga for the 2007-8 season.

As of December 7, 2007^[1]^[2]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Vladan Kujović
2	DF	Manolo
3	DF	David Castedo
4	DF	Alvaro
5	DF	Bruno Cirillo
6	MF	Javi Fuego
7	MF	Felix Ettien
8	MF	Emilio Viqueira
9	FW	Shota Arveladze
10	FW	Riga Mustapha
11	MF	Sávio
12	MF	Mathieu Berson
13	GK	Marco Storari

No.	Position	Player
14	MF	Pedro León
15	MF	Damiano Tommasi
16	MF	Miguel Ángel
17	DF	Luis Rubiales
18	DF	José Manuel Serrano
19	FW	Alexandre Geijo
20	FW	Christian Riganò
21	MF	Laurent Courtois
22	MF	Juanma
23	DF	Iñaki Descarga (captain)
24	DF	Miquel Robusté
25	MF	Laurent Robert