page_title: Valencia CF
section_title: Stadium
hierarchical_section_title: Valencia CF / Stadium
caption_attribution_description: Panoramic view of inside Mestalla, Valencia CF's stadium. Taken December 28th, 2001. Panorama assembled with PtGUI-Smartblend. Camera: Nikon E700
context_page_description: Valencia Club de Fútbol, commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional football club in Valencia. They play in La Liga. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, eight Copa del Rey titles, one Supercopa de España and one Copa Eva Duarte. In European competitions, they have won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row, losing to La Liga rivals Real Madrid in 2000 and German club Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1–1 draw in 2001. Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs and since its end has been part of the original members of the European Club Association. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them.
  Valencia were founded in 1919 and have played their home games at the 55,000-seater Mestalla since 1923. They were due to move into the new 75,000-seater Nou Mestalla in the northwest of the city in 2013, but the final move date has been postponed while the stadium remains under construction.
context_section_description: Valencia played its first years at the Algirós stadium, but moved to the Mestalla in 1923. In the 1950s, the Mestalla was restructured, which resulted in a capacity increase to 45,000 spectators. Today it holds 49,500 seats, making it the fifth largest stadium in Spain. It is also renowned for its steep terracing and for being one of the most intimidating atmospheres in Europe.
  On 20 May 1923, the Mestalla pitch was inaugurated with a friendly match between Valencia and Levante UD.
  A long history has taken place on the Mestalla field since its very beginning, when the Valencia team was not yet in the Primera División. Back then, this stadium could hold 17,000 spectators, and in that time, the club started to show its potential in regional championships, which led the managers of that time to carry out the first alterations of Mestalla in 1927. The stadium's total capacity increased to 25,000 before it became severely damaged during the Civil War; the Mestalla was used as a concentration camp and a junk warehouse. It would only keep its structure, since the rest was a lonely plot of land with no terraces and a stand broken during the war. Once the Valencian pitch was renovated, the Mestalla saw how the team managed to bring home their first title in 1941.
  During the 1950s, the Valencia ground experienced the deepest change in its whole history. That project resulted in a stadium with a capacity of 45,500 spectators, that eventually saw destruction by a flood in October 1957 that arose from the overflowing of the Turia River. Nevertheless, the Mestalla not only returned to normality, but also some more improvements were added, like artificial light, which was inaugurated during the 1959 Fallas festivities.
  During the 1960s, the stadium kept the same appearance, whilst the urban view around it was quickly being transformed. Moreover, the ground held its first European matches, with Nottingham Forest being the first foreign team to play at the Mestalla, on 15 September 1961.
  From 1969, the expression "Anem a Mestalla" ("Let's go to the Mestalla"), so common among the supporters, began to fall into oblivion. The reason of this was due to a proposed name change of the stadium to honor Luis Casanova Giner, the club's most successful president. Giner admitted he was completely overwhelmed by such honour, but requested in 1994 that the original name of Mestalla remained.
  In 1972, the head office of the club, located in the back of the numbered terraces, was inaugurated. It consisted of an office of avant-garde style with a trophy hall, which held the founding flag of the club. In the summer of 1973, more goal seats, which meant the elimination of fourteen rows of standing terraces, were added to provide comfort. Club management also considered the possibility of moving the Mestalla from its present location, to land On the outskirts of the town, before deciding against it.
  Mestalla also hosted the Spain national football team for the first time in 1925. It was chosen as the national team's group venue when Spain staged the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. All of Spain's matches up to the final were held at Mestalla, as they won Gold. Mestalla has been the setting for important international matches, has held several Cup finals, and has also been the home of Levante. The ground also provided a temporary home for Castellón and Real Madrid for European games due to stadium development.
caption: Panoramic of the Mestalla.
exif: {"Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint.NET v3.30"}