| Clubname: | Levante |
| Upright: | 0.74 |
| Fullname: | Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. |
| Nickname: | Granotes (The Frogs) Los Azulgranas |
| Ground: | Estadi Ciutat de València |
| Capacity: | 26,354[1] |
| Chrtitle: | President |
| Chairman: | Pablo Sánchez |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Julián Calero |
| Website: | http://www.levanteud.com/ |
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| Current: | 2024–25 Levante UD season |
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (pronounced as /es/) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community.
Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in the Segunda División, holding home games at Ciutat de València Stadium.[2] [3] [4]
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 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]
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]
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.
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] 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] 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.
| Season | Div | Pos. | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Cup | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 2D | align=right | 1st | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 59 | 33 | 79 | Last 16 | Promoted | |
| 2004–05 | 1D | align=right | 18th | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 39 | 58 | 37 | Relegated | ||
| 2005–06 | 2D | align=right | 3rd | 42 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 53 | 39 | 74 | 1st round | Promoted | |
| 2006–07 | 1D | align=right | 15th | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 42 | Last 16 | ||
| 2007–08 | 1D | align=right | 20th | 38 | 7 | 5 | 26 | 33 | 75 | 26 | Last 16 | Relegated | |
| 2008–09 | 2D | align=right | 8th | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 59 | 59 | 64 | |||
| 2009–10 | 2D | align=right | 3rd | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 63 | 45 | 71 | Promoted | ||
| 2010–11 | 1D | align=right | 14th | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 41 | 52 | 45 | Last 16 | ||
| 2011–12 | 1D | align=right | 6th | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 54 | 50 | 55 | Quarter-finals | Qualified to UEFA Europa League | |
| 2012–13 | 1D | align=right | 11th | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 40 | 57 | 46 | Last 16 | Last 16 UEFA Europa League | |
| 2013–14 | 1D | align=right | 10th | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 35 | 43 | 48 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2014–15 | 1D | align=right | 14th | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 34 | 67 | 37 | Last 16 | ||
| 2015–16 | 1D | align=right | 20th | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 34 | 66 | 29 | 1st round | Relegated | |
| 2016–17 | 2D | align=right | 1st | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 57 | 32 | 84 | 2nd round | Champions and Promoted | |
| 2017–18 | 1D | align=right | 15th | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 44 | 58 | 46 | Last 16 | ||
| 2018–19 | 1D | align=right | 15th | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 59 | 66 | 44 | Last 16 | ||
| 2019–20 | 1D | align=right | 12th | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 47 | 53 | 49 | Last 32 | ||
| 2020–21 | 1D | align=right | 14th | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 46 | 57 | 41 | Semi-finals | ||
| 2021–22 | 1D | align=right | 19th | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 51 | 76 | 35 | 2nd round | Relegated | |
| 2022–23 | 2D | align=right | 3rd | 42 | 18 | 18 | 6 | 46 | 30 | 72 | Last 16 | Promotion Play-offs Runners-up | |
| 2023–24 | 2D | align=right | 8th | 42 | 13 | 20 | 9 | 49 | 45 | 59 | 2nd round |
| 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 | 0–2 |
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See main article: Atlético Levante UD.
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 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 Josep Escolà (1955–56) Enrique Orizaola (1964–65) Mundo (1971) José Juncosa (1972–73) Pachín (1979–81) Joaquim Rifé (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) 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–)See 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 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.[32]
See 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.