Valencia Club de Fútbol also known as Valencia CF, Valencia or Los Che) are a Spanish football club based in Valencia. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish football and European football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups (which was the predecessor to the UEFA Cup), one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and two UEFA Super Cup’s. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row, losing to La Liga rivals Real Madrid in 2000 and German club Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1–1 draw in 2001. Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them.
Valencia were founded in 1919 and have played their home games at the 55,000-seater Mestalla since 1923. They were due to move into the new 75,000-seater Nou Mestalla in the north-west of the city in 2013, but the final move date has been postponed while the stadium is still being built. Valencia have a fierce rivalry with fellow Valencian club Villarreal CF, with whom they contest the Derby de la Comunitat.[4] The rivalry is further fueled by the fact that they are the two most successful clubs in the region. They also have a long-standing rivalry with Levante UD, also located in the city of Valencia, and with two other clubs in the Valencian region, Hércules CF and CD Castellón.
Valencia is the third-most supported football club in Spain, behind heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona.[5] It is also one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with more than 50,000 season ticket holders and another 20,000+ season ticket holders on the waiting list, who can be accommodated in the new 75,000-seater stadium.
Over the years, the club has achieved a global reputation for their prolific youth academy, or “cantera.” Products of their academy include world-class talents such as Raúl Albiol, Andrés Palop, Miguel Ángel Angulo, David Albelda, Gaizka Mendieta and David Silva. Current stars of the game to have graduated in recent years include Isco, Jordi Alba, Juan Bernat, and Paco Alcácer.