Levante celebrate their birthday on 9 September, the day in 1909 when Levante Football Club was formally registered in Valencia. On 9 September 2027 the Frogs turn 118. They are the oldest club in the city, and their shirt is really the legacy of another team.

Next to the port

Levante FC's first games were played at La Platjeta, near the port of Valencia, on land owned by a perfume businessman. The team also played some early matches on Levante beach, in Malvarrosa.

The same year, 1909, also brought Gimnástico FC to the city, as well as the Valencian football federation. Thanks to these roots, today's Levante is seen as the "decano", meaning the senior club of Valencia.

A name from the east

"Levante" is the name of Spain's eastern coast and is related to the verb "levantar", "to rise". It is the side where the sun rises, and it is also the name of the region's easterly wind.

The beach where the team played in its early years has the same name, so the link with the city's sea is a double one.

A cup in wartime

During the Spanish Civil War Levante played in the Mediterranean League and took Barcelona's place in the Copa de la España Libre, after the Catalans left on a tour of Mexico and the USA. On 18 July 1937, at Montjuïc, they beat Valencia 1-0 in the final.

The trophy stayed in limbo for decades. The Spanish Football Federation only officially recognised it on 25 March 2023.

The merger that brought blue and claret

The war destroyed Levante's ground, but its squad stayed intact. Gimnástico had its own ground, the Vallejo, but had lost most of its players, and there was only one solution.

On 6 August 1939 the two teams merged as UD Levante-Gimnástico, and in 1941 the new club took the name Levante UD. From Levante FC it kept the name and the black and white for the away kit.

The main colours, blue and claret, came from Gimnástico. According to FC Barcelona, they had been brought in by a Catalan Jesuit, Narcís Basté, who wanted the team to look like Barça.

The Frogs and the big names

The nickname "granotes", meaning "frogs", also came from Gimnástico. The Vallejo stood next to an old riverbed full of frogs, and that is where the name came from.

Since 1969 the team has played at the Ciutat de València, originally named after club president Antonio Román. There, in 1981, one of the greatest players of all time, Johan Cruyff, played ten matches.

Arouna Koné is the club's top scorer in the Primera with 17 goals, and Felipe Caicedo scored 13 goals in the 2010-11 season. In 2025 Levante finished top of the Segunda and returned to the top flight.

In its best years the team finished sixth in La Liga and made its European debut in the Europa League. In the 2018-19 season it reached 22,500 season-ticket holders, a club record, in a stadium with about 26,000 seats.

Celebrate with us

From a plot next to the port to the stands of the Ciutat de València, Levante have kept the history of two clubs alive on a single shirt. Happy 118th birthday to the granotes, Amunt Llevant!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Inside the Ciutat de València stadium – Francesc Fort, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.