Levante UD

Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (Spanish: [leˈβante wˈnjon depoɾˈtiβa]) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community.

Levante

Full name	Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Granotes (The Frogs) Los Azulgranas
Founded	6 September 1909; 115 years ago (1909-09-06)
Ground	Estadi Ciutat de València
Capacity	26,354[1]
President	Pablo Sánchez
Head coach	Julián Calero
League	Segunda División
2023–24	Segunda División, 8th of 22
Website	www.levanteud.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Founded on 6 September 1909, Levante play in the Segunda División, holding home games at Ciutat de València Stadium.^[2][3][4]

History

Early years (1909–1935)

Levante CF vs Valencia CF in 1932

Levante UD was formerly registered as Levante Football Club on 9 September 1909^[5][6] (celebrating its 100th anniversary on 9 September 2009).^[7] Thus Levante is the most senior football club in Valencia, with rival team Valencia CF not being formed until 1919.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Levante shares its name with the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, with Spain's east coast, the coast over which the sun rises (levantar in Spanish),^[12] with the Levant wind that comes from the east, and with the Levante beach in La Malvarrosa where Levante Football Club played some of its earliest fixtures.

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 became 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 built 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 founding 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][15]

Merging: Gimnástico and Levante (1939)

Pennat of Gimnàtic de València and Levante FC, the two teams that created the Levante UD

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.^[16] Levante UD can thus trace its origin back to at least 1909 through both Levante FC and Gimnástico FC. The merged club was at first named Unión Deportiva Levante-Gimnástico, then changed it a few years later to Levante Unión Deportiva. The current club colours date 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. Levante UD also inherited from Gimnástico FC their nickname, Granota, the Frogs.^{[17][18][11][9][19]}

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, and also achieved a 5–1 home win against Barcelona in the 1964–65 campaign, but was 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.

Johan Cruyff in his debut with Levante, March 1981

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 with several matches to go that the club would be playing in the second division in 2008–09. 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 strike during the season-ending game at Real Madrid. The threat was withdrawn when league officials announced that a benefit game would be played between a Levante XI and a Primera División XI, with all receipts going to pay the Levante players' wages.

On 13 June 2010, Levante returned to La Liga after a 3–1 home win against already relegated Castellón, making its final round 0–4 defeat at Real Betis irrelevant.^[20] Under the manager who led the team back to the top flight, Luis García Plaza, Levante finally retained its top division status in the 2010–11 season. At one point in the league's second round of matches, Levante was third in the table behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, after losing just once (against Real Madrid) in 12 games.^[21]

Chart of Levante UD league performance 1929–2023

On 26 October 2011, during round nine of the season, Levante defeated Real Sociedad 3–2 to move top of the first division table for the first time in the club's history, with 23 points.^[22] In the process, it recorded seven straight wins after drawing its first two games.^[23] The club eventually finished sixth 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.^[24] There, they made it to the last 16 before a 2–0 extra-time loss to Russia's FC Rubin Kazan.^[25]

Deportivo de La Coruña vs. Levante.

In the 2015–16 season, Levante was relegated after defeat by Málaga and finished last. The club was promoted back to the top 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 5–4 (having led 5–1 early in the second half), with Emmanuel Boateng scoring his first ever career hat-trick.^[26] This win ended Barcelona's hopes of achieving an unbeaten season.^[27]

In the 2021–22 season, Levante was relegated after being defeated 0–6 by Real Madrid, ending their five years in the top tier.

Seasons

Recent history

Before a game in March 2013

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
2021–22	1D	19th	38	8	11	19	51	76	35	2nd round	Relegated
2022–23	2D	3rd	42	18	18	6	46	30	72	Last 16	Promotion Play-offs Runners-up
2023–24	2D	8th	42	13	20	9	49	45	59	2nd round

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

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 19th 2nd round 2022–23 2 2ª 3rd Round of 16 2023–24 2 2ª 8th 2nd round 2024–25 2 2ª First round

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• 16 seasons in La Liga
• 41 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 3 February 2025^[28]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Andrés Fernández (4th captain) 4 DF  ESP Adrián de la Fuente 5 DF  ESP Unai Elgezabal 6 MF  GEO Giorgi Kochorashvili 7 FW  ESP Roger Brugué 8 MF  ESP Ángel Algobia 9 FW  ESP Iván Romero 10 MF  ESP Vicente Iborra (captain) 11 FW  ESP José Luis Morales (3rd captain) 13 GK  ESP Alfonso Pastor 14 DF  ESP Jorge Cabello 16 DF  ESP Diego Pampín

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  ESP Ignasi Miquel 19 FW  ESP Álex Forés (on loan from Villarreal B) 20 MF  ESP Oriol Rey 21 MF  ESP Sergio Lozano 22 DF  ESP Manu Sánchez 23 MF  ESP Pablo Martínez (vice-captain) 24 FW  ESP Carlos Álvarez 29 DF  ESP Marcos Navarro 30 FW  ESP Víctor Fernández 31 DF  ESP Xavi Grande 32 GK  ESP Álex Primo 38 FW  ESP Carlos Espí

Reserve team

Main article: Atlético Levante UD

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  ESP David Sellés 27 MF  ESP Edgar Alcañiz

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 DF  ESP Borja Cortina

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ESP Pablo Cuñat (at Cartagena until 30 June 2025) — GK  ESP Dani Martín (at Marbella until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ALG Chemseddine Bekkouche (at Recreativo until 30 June 2025) — MF  ESP Óscar Clemente (at Cartagena until 30 June 2025)

Club officials

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Julián Calero
Assistant head coach	Antonio Carmona
Fitness coach	Roberto Ovejero
Goalkeeper coach	Dani Ayora
Chief analyst	Ignacio Aizpurúa
Chief of medical services	Joel Gambín
Doctor	Salvador Chang
Rehab fitness coach	Javier Olmo Sánchez
Rehab coach	Cristóbal Fuentes Nieto Luis Miguel González Cuesta
Physiotherapist	Tomás Coloma Martínez Martín Badano Javier Torres Macías Luis Escudero Soria
Nutritionist	Ana García
Chiropodist	Santiago Muñoz Crespo
Delegate	José Antonio Gómez Gómez
Maintenance chief	José Ramón Ferrer Bueno
Equipment manager	Ángel Martínez Manolo Motos

Last updated: 20 November 2024
Source: Levante UD (in Spanish)

Notable former players

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

See also: Category:Levante UD footballers

• 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
• Enis Bardhi
• 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
• José Campaña
• Víctor Casadesús
• Ángel Cuéllar
• Asier del Horno
• Iñaki Descarga
• Ernesto Domínguez
• Javier Farinós
• Rubén García
• Sergio García
• Fernando Giner
• Sergio González
• Jason
• Jofre
• Juanfran
• Juanlu
• Vicente Latorre
• Pedro López^[29]
• José Francisco Molina
• Nando
• David Navarro
• Miguel Pallardó
• Sergio Postigo
• 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)
• Pepe Balaguer (1998–2000)
• José Carlos Granero (2000–01)
• Pepe Balaguer (2001–2002)
• 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)
• Alessio Lisci (2021–22)
• Mehdi Nafti (2022)
• Javier Calleja (2022–2024)
• Felipe Miñambres (2024)
• Julián Calero (2024–present)

Honours

National competitions

• Copa de la España Libre
  • Winners (1): 1937^[15]
• Segunda División
  • Winners (2): 2003–04, 2016–17
• Segunda División B
  • Winners (5) - joint record: 1978–79, 1988–89, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99
• Tercera División
  • Winners (7): 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 ^[30]
  • Winners: 1972, 1974, 1977
• Trofeo Comunidad Valenciana ^[31]
  • Winners: 1986
• Trofeo Ciutat de València
  • Winners: 1995
• Trofeo Ciudad de Valencia
  • Winners: 1997
• Trofeo de la Generalitat Valenciana
  • Winners: 2000

See also: Category:Levante UD managers

Stadium

Main article: Estadi Ciutat de València

Estadi Ciutat de València^[4][3] was opened on 9 September 1969, with capacity for 25,354 spectators. The pitch measures 107 by 69 metres.

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.^[32]

Rivals

Main article: Valencia derby

Levante contest the Derbi Valenciano, also known as the Derbi del Turia or Derbi Valentino, with local rivals Valencia.^[33] The fixture has been played 38 times competitively, with Valencia winning 21 times to Levante's 8.

See also

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