Valencia's Football Team: Valencia Club de Fútbol
Football, or soccer for the anyone in America, is a way of life in Spain. If you live in Valencia you almost certainly support Valencia Club de Futbol. Although not as well known as their bigger rivals from Barcelona and Madrid they are one of the most successful clubs in the country. They are also one of the most popular with a huge local following.
Valencia CF is pretty clearly the third club in Spain. They trail behind there rivals at Real Madrid and Barcelona and have become known as the best of the rest. They are the third most popular club in the country as well as the third most successful. They rank third in domestic titles as well as in European titles won by Spanish clubs. It seems unlikely that they will ever reach the level of Real Madrid or Barcelona and will probably have to continue as the number three team in the country. They simply don't have the financial resources to compete with the larger clubs as was recently evidenced by the sale of star David Villa to Barcelona. They simply offered too much money for Valencia to be able to retain him.
Valencia CF is not the only football club in town but they are the oldest having been founded in 1919 as well as the most popular. There cross town rivals are Levante although this rivalry has lost some of it's lustre in recent years with Levante not really fielding a competitive team. They also have strong rivalry with Villareal which is located in the suburbs of Valencia. They have been much more successful in recent years than Levante and have started supplant them as Valencia CF's main rival.
The club have played their home matches at the Estadio Mestella since 1923 but they plan to move into a new stadium in 2011. The new stadium is long overdue for a club as popular as Valencia CF. They have had a lengthy waiting list for seasons tickets for years and the move to a larger stadium will allow more fans to see them play. The new stadium is one of the largest in Spain and has a FIFA five star rating. That means it can host major international football matches.
Valencia CF are far and away the most popular football club in the city and one of the most popular in Spain. Unfortunately visitors to the city are unlikely to be able to see them play in person, there is a lengthy waiting list for seasons tickets and extra match day tickets are hard to come by. The next best option is to watch a match at a pub with the local supporters, it will give you an excellent chance to see just how popular the club is in the city.