Levante

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Levante UD was formerly registered as Levante Football Club on 9 September 1909 (celebrating the 100th anniversary of Levante on September 9, 2009). Levante Union Deportiva (Football Club) is located in the eastern region in the Iberian Peninsula as its namesake. Levante is the Spanish east coast, the part of the coast which is where the sun never sets (rise in Spanish as levantar). Levante UD's name can also be due to the Levant winds that originate from the east, and is reminiscent of Levante beach located in La Malvarrosa, where Levante Football Club (as Levante Union Deportiva was initially referred to) played with the earliest matches of the club. The club has been historically backed. Levante Union Deportiva is the most senior soccer team in Valencia. The local rival team Valencia CF was not formed until 1919.

The first Levante games took place in La Platjeta, near the docks, on land that was owned by a perfume business. The second ground was located near the port area and Levante gradually started to be more popular with the working-class. In 1919, Levante FC took on Valencia CF for the first timeand lost 0-1 The game was the opening ceremony of the recently built new ground in Algiros. It was in 1928 that Levante FC won its first trophy in the form of that of the Valencian Championship.

1909 also saw the birth of Gimnastico Football Club, which originally played at Patronato de la Juventud Obrera, being then named Gimnastico-Patronato. It was in 1919 that Gimnastico won the Campeonato de Valencia, beating CD Castellon in two leg finals. In the following year, the club changed its name to Real Gimnastico Football Club, after receiving Royal patronage from Alfonso XIII, and they made it to the finals of the Campeonato Regional de Levante, however, they lost to Club Deportivo Aguileno. In 1931, as a result of the establishment from the Second Spanish Republic, the club eliminated the Real in its name.

In 1934-35 in 1934-35, the teams Levante and Gimnastico were first introduced as part of the 2nd division in which the league was enlarged by a number of teams from 10 to. The year 1935 saw Levante took home the Campeonato Levante-Sur tournament, which comprised players from Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia which later made it to the semi-finals in the Spanish Cup, consecutively beating Valencia and Barcelona before losing to the eventual runners-up Sabadell.

In during the Spanish Civil War, Levante and Gimnastico were part of Gimnastico and Levante played in the Mediterranean League, finishing fifth and sixth respectively . Teams from this league also participated with the Copa de la Espana Libre ("Free Spain Cup"). The original plan was for the four top teams of the league would be eligible to compete in the competition, however Barcelona chose to play in Mexico as well as Mexico and the United States, and as the result, Levante took its place. The initial round of the tournament was a mini-league, with two of the best squads, Levante and Valencia, getting into the final. On July 18, 1937 Levante beat its local rivals by 1-0 at Montjuic.

In the Civil War, Levante's ground was destroyed, however Levante's team remained. On the other hand, Gimnastico had a ground, Estadio de Vallejo, however they had lost most the players. This led to the fact that in 1939, Levante FC and Gimnastico FC joined to form Levante Union Deportiva. Levante UD thus having origin in 1909 or earlier from each of Levante FC and Gimnastico FC. The club was initially called Union Deportiva Levante-Gimnastico, then changing it afterwards in to Levante Union Deportiva, with the club's current colours being from this time (the blue-granet, blaugrana, and blue-garnet home colours were initially those that were the colours of Gimnastico FC, while the black and white away kit were the colors for Levante FC). Furthermore, Levante UD not only took their colours of Gimnastico FC but also their nickname, "Granota", the Frogs.

Levante was waiting until the mid-1960s to make their La Liga debut. The club was in the league when it came in as runners-up in the second group of the division, beating Deportivo de La Coruna 4-2 in aggregate during playoffs for promotion. The first premier league season the club managed to beat both teams against Valencia and managed an impressive 5-1 win at home against Barcelona in the 1964-65 period but was nevertheless relegated following being eliminated in the finals to Malaga. The team spent the majority of the rest of the decade in the third and second divisions. Segunda Division B would not be established until 1977.

In the 1980s, Dutch star Johan Cruyff played half a season with the club before then stepping down after three seasons. After winning the second division in 2003-04, Levante returned to the highest level, but only for one season. The team finished third in 2005-06. it was back for two more seasons, with the most important match during the 2006-07 season was the 4-2 win at home against Valencia thanks to Riga Mustapha (two goals), Salva and Laurent Courtois.

Levante's financial situation deteriorated, however, there was a report that the players only received around one-fifth of the contractual amount. Reports from the media stated that the club was in the sum of EUR18 million in due payments the players. The team fell down the rankings and it was later confirmed that the club will be within the 2nd division for 2008-09, with a few games to play. The players were furious over their inability to pay at the time, and refused to move for a couple of seconds following the first whistle against Deportivo and later announcing they were going to take an action against the team during the game that ended the season at Real Madrid. The dispute was settled after league officials announced the benefit game was scheduled to play between Levante team members and the team comprised comprising players of first division and all the benefits would be used to pay wages due for the team.

On June 13, 2010 Levante made its return to La Liga after a 3-1 home victory over already delegated Castellon. The team was defeated in the final game 0-4 against Real Betis, but its opponents could only be able to finish the season with the same score as fourth. Under the management of the man who guided the team back to highest level, Luis Garcia Plaza, Levante was able to keep its status as a division in its 2010-11 campaign. At one point in Levante's league's 2nd round of matches Levante was third at the bottom of the Liga table, just two points behind Barcelona as well as Real Madrid after losing just one time in 12 games in a match against Real Madrid.

On October 26, 2011, in round nine of the season Levante beat Real Sociedad 3-2 to move at the top of the table. 23 points.[] This is the very first time that in club's history that they reached the highest position at the top of the division. It won seven straight games after drawing the first two games. The club ended up in sixth place after beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at home in the final match of the season which allowed them to qualify for UEFA Europa League for the first time in the history of the club. In the final round, they advanced to the last 16 stage before losing 2-0 in extra time against Russian club FC Rubin Kazan.

For the season 2015-16 Levante was dropped from the league after a defeat by Malaga and was last in the league. The club was relegated to the first league in the 2016-17 season and won the Segunda Division title. The 2017-18 campaign saw the team was able to secure their league safety and on the 13th of May, it defeated the champions Barcelona with a score of 5-4 (initially in the lead 5-1) and Emmanuel Boateng scoring his first ever hat-trick in his career. The victory ended Barcelona's hopes of having an unbeaten campaign.

In the 2021-22 campaign, Levante was knocked out of the league after being defeat by Real Madrid, ending their five seasons in the top division.

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• 16 seasons in La Liga
• 39 seasons in Segunda División
• 12 seasons in Segunda División B
• 16 seasons in Tercera División
• 1 season in Categorías Regionales

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• 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

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

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

Estadi Ciutat de Valencia inaugurated on September 9, 1969. It was able to accommodate 25354 spectators. Dimensions are 107x69 metres.

Due to the season's tardy conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the work to renovate the stadium Levante ended their campaign in a closed-door manner at the Estadi Camilo Cano Olimpic situated in La Nucia, Province of Alicante.

Levante play Levante play the Derbi Valenciano, also known as the Derbi del Turia or Derbi Valentino in conjunction with their local opponents Valencia. The game has ever been played in competition but Valencia having 21 victories to Levante's eight.