Levante UD

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Levante

Full name	Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Granotes (The Frogs) Los Azulgranas
Founded	6 September 1909; 115 years ago (1909年09月06日)
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

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

Founded on 6 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ドル 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	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

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Home	Away	Aggregate
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Scotland Motherwell	1–0	2–0	3–0
		Group L	Netherlands Twente	3–0	0–0	2nd
			Germany Hannover 96	2–2	1–2
			Sweden Helsingborg	1–0	3–1
		Round of 32	Greece Olympiacos	3–0	1–0	4–0
		Round of 16	Russia Rubin Kazan	0–0	0–2 (a.e.t.)	0–2

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

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 Spain ESP Andrés Fernández (4th captain) 4 DF Spain ESP Adrián de la Fuente 5 DF Spain ESP Unai Elgezabal 6 MF Georgia (country) GEO Giorgi Kochorashvili 7 FW Spain ESP Roger Brugué 8 MF Spain ESP Ángel Algobia 9 FW Spain ESP Iván Romero 10 MF Spain ESP Vicente Iborra (captain) 11 FW Spain ESP José Luis Morales (3rd captain) 13 GK Spain ESP Alfonso Pastor 14 DF Spain ESP Jorge Cabello 16 DF Spain ESP Diego Pampín

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

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 Spain ESP David Sellés 27 MF Spain ESP Edgar Alcañiz

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 DF Spain ESP Borja Cortina

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 Spain ESP Pablo Cuñat (at Cartagena until 30 June 2025) — GK Spain ESP Dani Martín (at Marbella until 30 June 2025)

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

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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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]

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.

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

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

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