Valencia CF Mestalla

Valencia Mestalla

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Full name	Valencia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Che
Founded	1944
Ground	Antonio Puchades Stadium, Paterna, Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Ground Capacity	4,000
Chairman	Amadeo Salvo
Manager	Curro Torres
League	2ªB – Group 3
2015–16	2ªB – Group 3, 8th
Home colours Away colours

Valencia Club de Fútbol B, also named Mestalla, is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, it is the reserve team of Valencia CF and currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home games at Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna, with a 4,000-seat capacity.

Unlike in England, reserve teams in Spain play in the same football pyramid as their senior team rather than a separate league. However, reserve teams cannot play in the same division as their senior team. Therefore, the team is ineligible for promotion to La Liga, the division in which the main side plays. Reserve teams are also no longer permitted to enter the Copa del Rey.

The team is officially known as Valencia CF Mestalla on the club's official promotion and website, but Professional Football League rules prohibit B teams from having different names than their parent team.

History

Founded in 1944 as Club Deportivo Mestalla, an independent club, Valencia B managed to play in more than 20 second division seasons from 1947 to 1973. In the 1951–52 campaign, the team finished in a best-ever second position in the league, but was ineligible for La Liga promotion as the first team was also playing in that category.

In the following decades, Valencia B – who merged with the Che organization in 1991 – played mainly in the fourth level, but also appeared 16 times in the third, eight of those consecutive (1992–2000), with three appearances in the promotion playoffs.

Season to season

• As CD Mestalla

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1944/45 Regional — 1945/46 Regional — 1946/47 3ª 2nd 1947/48 2ª 8th 1948/49 2ª 12th 1949/50 2ª 6th 1950/51 2ª 8th 1951/52 2ª 2nd 1952/53 2ª 6th 1953/54 2ª 15th 1954/55 3ª 2nd 1955/56 2ª 6th 1956/57 2ª 17th 1957/58 3ª 1st 1958/59 3ª 2nd 1959/60 2ª 11th 1960/61 2ª 10th

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1961/62 2ª 12th 1962/63 2ª 9th 1963/64 2ª 4th 1964/65 2ª 8th 1965/66 2ª 6th 1966/67 2ª 9th 1967/68 2ª 8th 1968/69 2ª 17th 1969/70 3ª 2nd 1970/71 3ª 1st 1971/72 2ª 13th 1972/73 2ª 20th 1973/74 3ª 2nd 1974/75 3ª 5th 1975/76 3ª 18th 1976/77 Regional — 1977/78 3ª 6th

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1978/79 3ª 10th 1979/80 3ª 5th 1980/81 3ª 8th 1981/82 3ª 3rd 1982/83 3ª 1st 1983/84 3ª 3rd 1984/85 3ª 1st 1985/86 3ª 5th 1986/87 3ª 5th 1987/88 2ªB 16th 1988/89 3ª 3rd 1989/90 3ª 2nd 1990/91 3ª 4th

• Merged with Valencia

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1991/92 3ª 1st 1992/93 2ªB 12th 1993/94 2ªB 13th 1994/95 2ªB 3rd 1995/96 2ªB 4th 1996/97 2ªB 14th 1997/98 2ªB 14th 1998/99 2ªB 10th 1999/00 2ªB 17th 2000/01 3ª 2nd 2001/02 2ªB 2nd 2002/03 2ªB 6th 2003/04 2ªB 17th 2004/05 3ª 1st 2005/06 3ª 2nd 2006/07 2ªB 16th 2007/08 3ª 2nd 2008/09 2ªB 12th 2009/10 2ªB 18th

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 2010/11 3ª 1st 2011/12 2ªB 13th 2012/13 2ªB 16th 2013/14 2ªB 16th 2014/15 2ªB 14th 2015/16 2ªB 8th 2016/17 2ªB

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• 21 seasons in Segunda División
• 19 seasons in Segunda División B
• 28 seasons in Tercera División
• 3 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Current squad

As of 4 December 2015

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

No. Position Player GK Ángel Ovejero GK Álex Sánchez GK Antonio Sivera DF Charlie I'Anson DF Carlos Akapo DF Ibrahim Diallo DF Javi Jiménez DF Diego Caballo DF Lato DF Nacho Vidal DF José Moreno (on loan from Once Caldas) DF Sergio Ayala MF Sito MF Tropi

No. Position Player MF Carlos Soler MF Fernando Cano MF Rai MF Jorge Muñoz MF Fran Villalba MF Wilfried Zahibo FW Fran Navarro FW Cedric (on loan from Mallorca) FW Víctor Ruiz FW Ibán FW Cristian Arango (on loan from Envigado) FW Toni Martínez FW Rafa Mir FW Nacho Gil

External links

• Official website
• Futbolme team profile (Spanish)