VALENCIA CF

League: La Liga

City: Valencia, Spain

Founded: 1919

League Champs: '42, '44, '47, '71, '02, '04

Valencia Club de Fútbol is one of the biggest and most successful clubs in Spain and all of Europe. It is also a team steeped in history. The club was formed in 1919 by founding team president Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz. At the time Velencia already had several clubs but did not have a dominant side. Valencia CF began to surface as the dominant team from the area, beating the other local clubs.

With the fan base growing, new team president Ramon Leonarte bought new land in 1923 to build what would become Mestalla. The original Estadio Mestalla was built in time for the 1923 season and with remodeling and expansion, remains the teams home stadium and will remain the team home pitch until 2009 when they plan on moving into new 75,000 seat Nou Mestalla.

After World War II, the team was taken over by the Spanish government and government officials were appointed to team President and Vice President. However, this didn't hinder the teams success, which enjoyed its best football during the 1940s, winning 3 La Liga Championships during that era.

The club's success last until the early 1980's. The team failed to succeed on the field which led to a drop in fan base. The team had also just invested heavily into renovating their stadium, which had left them with much debt. With financial woes looming over the team, the club changed team president and other management positions but this did not help matters. With so much debt, the club could hardly pay their players salaries and because of this failed to sign new players. The club struggled in 1986 and was demoted to La Liga's second division.

However, many soccer historians claim that this demotion helped Valencia more than it hindered. It allowed the team to regroup and get its finances in order. By 1988, the club was once again back in the first division and playing well. The nineties followed with moderately successful years which built foundations for the new millennium. In 2002, Valencia beat Deportivode La Coruña to take La Liga crown and the club took it home again in 2004, outlasting FC Barcelona.

The current squad has four players from EURO '08 winning Spanish national team including David Silva and David Villa, who has scored 70 goals in 130 appearances for Valencia. The team also includes international players Éver Banega (Argentina), Nikola Žigić (Serbia), and Hedwiges Maduro (Netherlands).

On the teams' crest, a bat appears at the top. Why a bat? The explanation is that Valencia was conquered in 1238 by King James I of Aragon. While King James was attempting to take Valencia for his kingdom, a bat landed upon one of his flags. King James took this as a good sign and after defeating the Moors in battle, a bat was added to his and the cities crest.