Valencia CF Mestalla

Valencia Mestalla
Full name	Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla
Nickname(s)	Los Che; Els Taronges (The Oranges); Valencianistes ; Los Murciélagos (The Bats); Mestalleta
Founded	1944
Ground	Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna, Valencia,; Valencian Community, Spain
Capacity	2,300
Owner	Peter Lim
President	Layhoon Chan
Head coach	Miguel Ángel Angulo
League	Segunda Federación – Group 3
2022–23	Segunda Federación – Group 3, 3rd of 18
Home colours	Away colours

Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3, 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.

History

Founded in 1944 as Club Deportivo Mestalla, the club spent 21 seasons in the Segunda División in the period between 1947 and 1973, including a best ever finish of second place in the southern section in 1951–52; they went on to finish top of the promotion play-off group, but were ineligible for promotion to La Liga as the reserve team of Valencia CF, who were already playing in that division.

In 1972–73, the club finished bottom of the Segunda División and was relegated to the Tercera División; three years later, they were relegated again to the Valencian Regional Preferente, the top division of regional football in Spain. However, their stay was short-lived as a reorganisation of the Spanish league saw them reinstated to the Tercera División, now the fourth tier of the national football pyramid. They were briefly promoted back to the Segunda División B for the 1987–88 season, but were relegated again after finishing just one point from safety. In 1991, after three more seasons in the Tercera División, they merged fully with Valencia CF, officially becoming the club's B team.

In their first season as Valencia B, they finished top of their Tercera División and were promoted back to the Segunda División B. Since then, they have played all but five seasons in the Segunda División B, reaching a peak of second place in their group in 2001–02.

Season-by-season

As CD Mestalla

Season	Tier	Division	Place
1944–45	5	2ª Reg.	1st
1945–46	4	1ª Reg.
1946–47	3	3ª	2nd
1947–48	2	2ª	8th
1948–49	2	2ª	12th
1949–50	2	2ª	6th
1950–51	2	2ª	8th
1951–52	2	2ª	2nd
1952–53	2	2ª	6th
1953–54	2	2ª	15th
1954–55	3	3ª	2nd
1955–56	2	2ª	6th
1956–57	2	2ª	17th
1957–58	3	3ª	1st
1958–59	3	3ª	2nd
1959–60	2	2ª	11th
1960–61	2	2ª	10th
1961–62	2	2ª	12th
1962–63	2	2ª	9th
1963–64	2	2ª	4th

Season	Tier	Division	Place
1964–65	2	2ª	8th
1965–66	2	2ª	6th
1966–67	2	2ª	9th
1967–68	2	2ª	8th
1968–69	2	2ª	17th
1969–70	3	3ª	2nd
1970–71	3	3ª	1st
1971–72	2	2ª	13th
1972–73	2	2ª	20th
1973–74	3	3ª	2nd
1974–75	3	3ª	5th
1975–76	3	3ª	18th
1976–77	4	Reg. Pref.	3rd
1977–78	4	3ª	6th
1978–79	4	3ª	10th
1979–80	4	3ª	5th
1980–81	4	3ª	8th
1981–82	4	3ª	3rd
1982–83	4	3ª	1st
1983–84	4	3ª	3rd

Season	Tier	Division	Place
1984–85	4	3ª	1st
1985–86	4	3ª	5th
1986–87	4	3ª	5th
1987–88	3	2ª B	16th
1988–89	4	3ª	3rd
1989–90	4	3ª	2nd
1990–91	4	3ª	4th

Merged with Valencia

Season	Tier	Division	Place
1991–92	4	3ª	1st
1992–93	3	2ª B	12th
1993–94	3	2ª B	13th
1994–95	3	2ª B	3rd
1995–96	3	2ª B	4th
1996–97	3	2ª B	14th
1997–98	3	2ª B	14th
1998–99	3	2ª B	10th
1999–2000	3	2ª B	17th
2000–01	4	3ª	2nd
2001–02	3	2ª B	2nd
2002–03	3	2ª B	6th
2003–04	3	2ª B	17th
2004–05	4	3ª	1st
2005–06	4	3ª	2nd
2006–07	3	2ª B	16th
2007–08	4	3ª	2nd
2008–09	3	2ª B	12th
2009–10	3	2ª B	18th
2010–11	4	3ª	1st

Season	Tier	Division	Place
2011–12	3	2ª B	13th
2012–13	3	2ª B	16th
2013–14	3	2ª B	16th
2014–15	3	2ª B	14th
2015–16	3	2ª B	8th
2016–17	3	2ª B	3rd
2017–18	3	2ª B	11th
2018–19	3	2ª B	13th
2019–20	3	2ª B	16th
2020–21	3	2ª B	10th / 8th
2021–22	5	3ª RFEF	1st
2022–23	4	2ª Fed.	3rd
2023–24	4	2ª Fed.

21 seasons in Segunda División
25 seasons in Segunda División B
2 seasons in Segunda Federación
28 seasons in Tercera División
1 season in Tercera División RFEF

Players

Current squad

As of 1 October 2023.^[3]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	GK	ESP	Nil Ruiz
14	MF	GHA	Ali Fadal
15	DF	ESP	Rubén Iranzo (vice-captain)
16	MF	ESP	César Moreno (on loan from Hércules)
17	MF	ESP	Borja Calvo
18	MF	ESP	Pablo Gozálbez (captain)
19	FW	ESP	Joselu Pérez
21	MF	ESP	Ismael Santana
22	FW	ESP	Diego Aznar (on loan from Huesca)
23	DF	ESP	Yarek Gąsiorowski
25	DF	ESP	Simón Luca Pérez