Experiencing Levante
Many head to the city of Valencia to take in Mestalla but don't sleep on Levante a fellow LaLiga club with a rich history and passionate fanbase.
Think of the city of Valencia and people will tell you Mestalla and Valencia the historic club, Oranges the city is famous for, the beaches, Paella, maybe even bats, it might go some way down the list before someone mentions Levante.
The club it’s fair to say has lived in the shadows of it’s more illustrious city rival Valencia despite being founded 10 years before them.
The club also have a bat on their badge similar to Valencia, the bat is a part of the city of Valencia’s folklore. During the reconquista as the story goes a bat alerted King James I forces to a surprise attack from the Moors whch led to the city of Valencia falling back into Christian hands. Since then the bat has been known to bring good fortune and a symbol of victory.
Yet ask someone about what club has a bat on their badge and I reckon 99 out of 100 would say Valencia and not mention Levante, even in their rivals worst season in 1986 when Valencia fell out of LaLiga, Levante found themselves stuck in the fourth tier.
Levante’s greatest ever moment came during the countries worst when they won the Copa de la Espana Libre in 1937, the cup was a competition played out between clubs in the Republican held areas of Spain and they beat Valencia 1-0 in the final at Montjuic.
It took until 2023 for the Spanish federation to recognise this as an official tournament although it wasn’t recognised as that years Copa del Rey it finally gave Levante the honour they felt they were owed.
Los Granotes were the second game I was taking in on my weekend in Valencia and while it might have felt like the undercard in comparison to experiencing Mestalla a ground on most groundhoppers bucket list experiencing Levante was one of my most enjoyable experiences in Spanish football.
It took Levante until 1963 to make it to LaLiga, for many they almost seem an established LaLiga club with 15 of their 17 seasons in the top flight having come since 2004.
They captured plenty of neutrals hearts with their care-free attacking style, players like Jose Luis Morales “El Comandante” and Enis Bardhi became cult heroes for LaLiga watchers.
Valencia enjoy dominance in the city in terms of support and history and have never lost a top flight game at home to Levante, Los Granotes have always felt on the edge of the city. The clubs name derives from the region on the east coast where the sun rises and indeed the club began life playing virtually on the beach at La Malvarrosa.
While Mestalla is a 20 minute leisurely stroll from the centre to the ground the Ciutat de Valencia is 45 minutes walk.
I took a bus out to the area that houses the club, Mestalla was hustle and bustle with bars everywhere you look, the Ciutat de Valencia had a shopping centre attached and a street with a couple of bars, a Burger King and a Ramen restaurant.
At Mestalla a large crowd were outside the ground drinking, at Levante the atmosphere outside the ground was more subdued. Levante were hosting a club who in a lot of ways were the Levante of their own city in Espanyol.
Both have had to deal with a bigger and louder neighbour and both are on the edge of the city they call home with a shopping centre attached to their ground. Speaking to Valencia fans the night before about what to expect at Levante many told me Levante play away 38 times a season as even at home they’re outnumbered by away fans.
Walking around the ground I was fearing they might be right with Espanyol fans everywhere and having commandeered the first couple of bars I saw.
