Levante UD

Levante

Full name	Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Granotes (The Frogs)
Founded	9 September 1909; 112 years ago (1909-09-09)
Ground	Ciutat de València
Capacity	26,354[1]
President	Quico Catalán
Head coach	Alessio Lisci
League	La Liga
2020–21	La Liga, 14th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

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

Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in La Liga, holding home games at Ciutat de València Stadium.^[2][3][4]

History[]

Early years (1909–1935)[]

Levante UD was formerly registered as Levante Football Club on 9 September 1909^[5][6] (celebrating its 100th anniversary on 9 September 2009^[7]). Levante Union Deportiva (Football Club) has the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula as its namesake. Levante is Spain's east coast, the coast where the sun always rises (rise in Spanish being levantar).^[8] Levante UD's name is likewise attributed to the Levant wind that comes from the east and reminiscent of the Levante beach in La Malvarrosa, where Levante Football Club (as Levante Union Deportiva was originally named) clashed some of its earliest fixtures. Historically backed, Levante Union Deportiva is the most senior football club in Valencia. Local rival team Valencia CF was not formed until 1919.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Levante'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 CF 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 its first trophy, the Valencian Championship.

1909 also saw the birth of Gimnástico Football Club, which originally played at Patronato de la Juventud Obrera, being then named Gimnástico-Patronato. In 1919, Gimnástico became the champion of the Campeonato de Valencia, beating CD Castellón in two leg finals; the next year, the club had become Real Gimnástico Football Club, after being granted royal patronage by Alfonso XIII, and they reached the final of Campeonato Regional de Levante, but lost to Club Deportivo Aguileño. In 1931, with the emergence of the Second Spanish Republic, the club dropped the Real from its name.

In 1934–35, both Levante and Gimnástico debuted in the second division, when the league was expanded from 10 teams to 24. In 1935, Levante won the Campeonato Levante-Sur, a competition that featured teams from Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia,^[13] and subsequently reached the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup, consecutively beating Valencia and Barcelona before losing to eventual runners-up Sabadell.

During the civil war: Copa de la España Libre (1937)[]

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 its city rivals 1–0 at the Montjuïc.^[14]

Merging: Gimnástico and Levante (1939)[]

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, in 1939 Levante FC and Gimnástico FC merged into Levante Unión Deportiva.^[15] Levante UD thus having origin from at least 1909 from both Levante FC and Gimnástico FC. At first being named Unión Deportiva Levante-Gimnástico, then changing it a few years later to Levante Unión Deportiva, with current club colours also dating from this era (the blaugrana, blue-garnet, home colours were originally those of Gimnástico FC, while the black and white away kit, were the colours of Levante FC). Moreover, Levante UD not only inherited their colors from Gimnástico FC but also their nickname, "Granota", the Frogs.^{[16][17][12][10][18]}

La Liga: relegations and promotions (1963–present)[]

Levante had to wait until the 1960s to make its La Liga debut. In 1963, the club finished runner-up in Group II of the second division, defeating 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 Málaga. It spent most of the following two decades in the second and third divisions; the 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 to its players. The team plummeted down the standings, and it was confirmed that the club 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 La Liga after a 3–1 home win against already relegated 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.^[19] 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, Levante was in third position in the Liga table, only behind Barcelona and Real Madrid after losing just once in 12 games, against Real Madrid.^[20]

On 26 October 2011, during round nine of the season, Levante defeated Real Sociedad 3–2 to move top of the table with 23 points.^[21] It was the first time in the club's history it reached the highest ranking in the top division. In the process, it recorded seven-straight wins after drawing its first two games.^[22] The club eventually finished in sixth position after defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 at home in its last match, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time in its history.^[23] There, they made it to the last 16 before a 2–0 extra-time loss to Russia's FC Rubin Kazan.^[24]

In the 2015–16 season, Levante was relegated after defeat by Málaga and finished last. The club was promoted back to the first league in 2016–17, winning the Segunda División title. In the 2017–18 season, the club secured safety in the league and on 13 May, beat the champions Barcelona by a scoreline 5–4 (initially leading 5–1), with Emmanuel Boateng scoring his first ever career hat-trick.^[25] This win ended Barcelona's hopes of achieving an unbeaten season.^[26]

Seasons[]

Recent history[]

Season	Div	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Cup	Notes
2003–04	2D	1st	42	22	13	7	59	33	79	Last 16	Promoted
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
2016–17	2D	1st	42	25	9	8	57	32	84	2nd round	Champions and Promoted
2017–18	1D	15th	38	11	13	14	44	58	46	Last 16
2018–19	1D	15th	38	11	11	16	59	66	44	Last 16
2019–20	1D	12th	38	14	7	17	47	53	49	Last 32
2020–21	1D	14th	38	9	14	15	46	57	41	Semi-finals

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 (a.e.t.)	0–2

Season to season[]

• As Levante FC

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

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

• As Levante UD

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1939–40 2 2ª 1st 1st round 1940–41 2 2ª 3rd Quarter-finals 1941–42 2 2ª 8th 1st round 1942–43 3 1ª Reg. 1st 1st round 1943–44 3 3ª 1st - 1944–45 3 3ª 2nd - 1945–46 3 3ª 1st - 1946–47 2 2ª 6th Round of 16 1947–48 2 2ª 5th 5th round 1948–49 2 2ª 9th 4th round 1949–50 2 2ª 13th 3rd round 1950/51 2 2ª 13th - 1951–52 2 2ª 14th - 1952–53 3 3ª 2nd - 1953–54 3 3ª 1st - 1954–55 2 2ª 15th - 1955–56 3 3ª 1st - 1956–57 2 2ª 11th - 1957–58 2 2ª 4th - 1958–59 2 2ª 2nd Round of 32

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1959–60 2 2ª 6th 1st round 1960–61 2 2ª 6th 1st round 1961–62 2 2ª 6th 1st round 1962–63 2 2ª 2nd Round of 16 1963–64 1 1ª 10th Round of 32 1964–65 1 1ª 14th Round of 16 1965–66 2 2ª 5th 1st round 1966–67 2 2ª 4th Round of 32 1967–68 2 2ª 14th 1st round 1968–69 3 3ª 3rd - 1969–70 3 3ª 4th 3rd round 1970–71 3 3ª 12th 1st round 1971–72 3 3ª 6th 2nd round 1972–73 3 3ª 1st 3rd round 1973–74 2 2ª 19th 5th round 1974–75 3 3ª 2nd 4th round 1975–76 3 3ª 1st 1st round 1976–77 2 2ª 18th 2nd round 1977–78 3 2ª B 4th 3rd round 1978–79 3 2ª B 1st 2nd round

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1979–80 2 2ª 10th 3rd round 1980–81 2 2ª 9th Round of 16 1981–82 2 2ª 19th 3rd round 1982–83 4 3ª 2nd 2nd round 1983–84 4 3ª 2nd 2nd round 1984–85 3 2ª B 11th 2nd round 1985–86 3 2ª B 10th - 1986–87 4 3ª 2nd - 1987–88 3 2ª B 6th 3rd round 1988–89 3 2ª B 1st 2nd round 1989–90 2 2ª 15th 1st round 1990–91 2 2ª 19th 3rd round 1991–92 3 2ª B 11th 3rd round 1992–93 3 2ª B 9th 2nd round 1993–94 3 2ª B 3rd 3rd round 1994–95 3 2ª B 1st 1st round 1995–96 3 2ª B 1st 3rd round 1996–97 2 2ª 9th 2nd round 1997–98 2 2ª 22nd 1st round 1998–99 3 2ª B 1st Round of 16

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1999–2000 2 2ª 7th prem. round 2000–01 2 2ª 8th Round of 32 2001–02 2 2ª 19th Round of 32 2002–03 2 2ª 4th Round of 64 2003–04 2 2ª 1st Round of 16 2004–05 1 1ª 18th Round of 32 2005–06 2 2ª 3rd 1st round 2006–07 1 1ª 15th Round of 32 2007–08 1 1ª 20th Round of 16 2008–09 2 2ª 8th 2nd round 2009–10 2 2ª 3rd 2nd round 2010–11 1 1ª 14th Round of 16 2011–12 1 1ª 6th Quarter-finals 2012–13 1 1ª 11th Round of 16 2013–14 1 1ª 10th Quarter-finals 2014–15 1 1ª 14th Round of 16 2015–16 1 1ª 20th Round of 32 2016–17 2 2ª 1st 2nd round 2017–18 1 1ª 15th Round of 16 2018–19 1 1ª 15th Round of 16

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 2019–20 1 1ª 12th Round of 32 2020–21 1 1ª 14th Semi-finals 2021–22 1 1ª

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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

• 16 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

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 22 February 2022^[27]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Aitor Fernández 2 DF  ESP Son 3 DF  ESP Enric Franquesa 4 DF  ESP Róber Pier 5 MF  SRB Nemanja Radoja 6 DF  CRC Óscar Duarte 7 DF  URU Martín Cáceres 8 MF  ESP Pepelu 9 FW  ESP Roger 10 MF  MKD Enis Bardhi 11 FW  ESP José Luis Morales (captain)[28] 12 MF  MTQ Mickaël Malsa 13 DF  GER Shkodran Mustafi 14 DF  POR Rúben Vezo

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ESP Sergio Postigo (Vice-captain) 16 FW  ESP Roberto Soldado 17 MF  MNE Nikola Vukčević 18 FW  ESP Jorge de Frutos 19 DF  ESP Carlos Clerc 20 DF  ESP Jorge Miramón 21 FW  ESP Dani Gómez 22 MF  ESP Gonzalo Melero 23 DF  ESP Coke 24 MF  ESP José Campaña 29 FW  ESP Álex Cantero 34 GK  ESP Dani Cárdenas — DF  URU Marcelo Saracchi

Reserve team[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 36 DF  ESP 37 GK  ESP 39 MF  ESP

No. Pos. Nation Player 40 FW  SWE 44 DF  ESP Marc Pubill

Out on loan[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ESP Pablo Martínez (at Huesca until 30 June 2022) — MF  ESP Álex Blesa (at Castellón until 30 June 2022)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ESP Brugui (at Mirandés until 30 June 2022)

Club officials[]

Current technical staff[]

Position	Staff
Head coach	Alessio Lisci
Assistant manager	Darío Navarro
Technical assistant	Pedro López
Goalkeeping coach	Gianluca Troilo
Fitness coaches	Javier Navarro Ballester Jordi García Pallás
Technical assistant	Sergio Navarro
Analyst	José Ignacio Aizpurua Alzaga Joan García Llopis
Chief of medical services	Miguel Ángel Buil Bellver
Doctors	Salvador Hyonseob Chang Álvaro Sala
Physiotherapists	José María Baixauli Puchades Martín Badano Tomás Coloma Martínez Eloy Jaenada Luis Escudero Soria Javier Torres Macías
Physical readapter	Javier Olmo Sánchez Luis Miguel González Cuesta
Chiropodist	Santiago Muñoz Crespo
Psychologist	Juan Miguel Bernat
Kit men	Fernando Reyes Córcoles Moises Rodríguez Segura
Delegate	Andrés Garcerá Moncholí
Maintenance chief	José Ramón Ferrer Bueno

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 Nabil Ghilas Pablo Cavallero Gustavo Reggi Mitchell Langerak Andreas Ivanschitz Sávio Wanderley Zé Maria Vladimir Manchev Daniel N'Gom Kome Lauren Albert Meyong Valdo José Veiga Carlos Caszely Edwin Congo Jefferson Lerma 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 Emmanuel Boateng Riga Mustapha Theofanis Gekas Nikolaos Karabelas Loukas Vyntra Ian Harte Damiano Tommasi Giuseppe Rossi

Mohamed Sissoko Issam El Adoua Nabil El Zhar Zouhair Feddal Moha Simão Mate Johan Cruyff Faas Wilkes Obafemi Martins Dariusz Dudka Duda Fahad Al-Muwallad Vladan Kujović Baba Diawara Pape Diop Rémi Gomis Sylvain N'Diaye Alexis Salva Ballesta Sergio Ballesteros

Claudio Barragán Antonio Calpe Diego Camacho Víctor Casadesús Ángel Cuéllar Asier del Horno Iñaki Descarga Ernesto Domínguez Javier Farinós Rubén García Sergio García Fernando Giner Sergio González Vicente Iborra Jason Jofre Juanfran Juanlu Pedro López

José Francisco Molina Nando David Navarro Miguel Pallardó Alberto Rivera Gaspar Rubio Rubén Suárez Vicente Rodríguez Johan Mjällby Fabio Celestini Enes Ünal Shaquell Moore Gustavo Munúa Héctor Núñez Tabaré Silva Cristhian Stuani Emilio Rentería Predrag Mijatović

Coaches[]

Josep Escolà (1955–56) Enrique Orizaola (1964–65) Mundo (1971) José Juncosa (1972–73) Héctor Núñez (1973–74) Ferdinand Daučík (1974–75) Dagoberto Moll (1975–76) Pachín (1979–81) Joaquim Rifé (1981) Todor Veselinović (1981) Vicente Piquer (1981) Pachín (1984–85) Quique Hernández (1987) Pachín (1987–88)

Antal Dunai (1990) José Antonio Irulegui (1990–91) Luis Costa (1992) José Enrique Díaz (1993–94) Jordi Gonzalvo (1994) Juande Ramos (1994–95) Mané (1996–97) José Enrique Díaz (1997) Jesús Aranguren (1998) José Carlos Granero (2000–01) Carlos García Cantarero (2002–03) Manuel Preciado (2003–04) Bernd Schuster (2004–05) José Luis Oltra (2005)

Mané (2005–06) Juan Ramón López Caro (2006–07) Abel Resino (2007) Gianni De Biasi (2007–08) José Ángel Moreno (2008) Luis García (2008–11) Juan Ignacio Martínez (2011–13) Joaquín Caparrós (2013–14) José Luis Mendilibar (2014) Lucas Alcaraz (2014–15) Rubi (2015–16) Juan Muñiz (2016–18) Paco López (2018–21) Javier Pereira (2021–)

Honours[]

National competitions[]

• Copa de la España Libre
  • Winners: 1937
• Segunda División
  • Winners: 2003–04, 2016–17
• Segunda División B
  • Winners: 1978–79, 1988–89, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99
• Tercera División
  • Winners: 1931–32, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1972–73, 1975–76

Regional competitions[]

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

Friendly tournaments[]

• Trofeo Costa de Valencia ^[29]
  • Winners: 1972, 1974, 1977
• Trofeo Comunidad Valenciana ^[30]
  • Winners: 1986
• Trofeo Ciutat de València
  • Winners: 1995
• Trofeo Ciudad de Valencia
  • Winners: 1997
• Trofeo de la Generalitat Valenciana
  • Winners: 2000

Stadium[]

Estadi Ciutat de València^[4][3] was opened on 9 September 1969, with capacity for 25,354 spectators. Dimensions are 107x69 meters.

Due to the 2019–20 season's late finish because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and renovation work at their stadium, Levante concluded the campaign behind closed doors at the Estadi Olímpic Camilo Cano in La Nucia, Province of Alicante.^[31]

Rivals[]

Levante contest the Derbi Valenciano, also known as the Derbi del Turia or Derbi Valentino, with local rivals Valencia.^[32] The fixture has only been played 33 times competitively, however, with Valencia currently holding 19 wins to Levante's seven.

See also[]

• Atlético Levante UD, reserve team of Levante UD
• Levante UD Femenino, women's team
• Levante UD (beach soccer), beach soccer department

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Levante UD.

• Official website (Spanish, Valencian, English)
• LaLiga Levante Unión Deportiva 1909 Forever
• Levante UD at UEFA (in Spanish)