A Comical Lawsuit
Valencia CF’s football crest has been in use since the club started, albeit as a different iteration. Yet, American comics publisher DC Comics tried to sue Valencia CF for using the bat symbol! Too bad that Batman was only created in 1939 — too late for Valencia to steal the look.
The bat was instead borrowed from Valencia’s coat of arms, where fellow Valencia-based team Levante UD (around since 1909!) derived their design from as well.
There are two theories to the bat’s origin. The first being that a bat landed on Jaume I’s (Count of Barcelona and King of Aragón) flag as he entered the city, which he interpreted as a good omen. The other, less dramatic theory is that there were just a lot of bats in the city.
Or maybe Jaume I is Batman himself. Who knows.
From Dislocation to Dissolution
The first president of Valencia CF, Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz, was decided at the toss of a coin in 1919! However, it is said that his co-founders had already decided it, since Milego had founded another club prior, even playing as the centre forward.
That club was the Spanish Sports Club (SSC). While its activities were not well documented, part of Milego’s diary detailed the last match the club would play. It was a friendly in Elche, and the match resulted in a broken leg for player Luis Bonara, then misdiagnosed as a harmless dislocation.
His illness would worsen, culminating in a stroke that took his life at the age of 21 — taking the SSC down with him. After the dissolution of the club, Milego would only take a short break before kicking off Valencia CF that same year, with help from his club friends.
Bonara would be proud that his death was not in vain.
A Groom’s Donation
Valencia CF’s name is near synonymous with its home stadium, Estadio Mestalla. With a capacity of 52,600 seats, it is a landmark in Valencia city itself, but the club did not always play here.
They started humbly in Camp de l’Algirós, 500 metres away from where Mestalla stands. The empty field, measuring only 91x47m, was first renovated to add locker rooms and perimeter fencing.
These renovations would end up costing 25,000 pesetas, which in today’s money means at least €50,000.
Milego’s partner, Gonzalo Medina, took the money from his wedding fund, initially appearing as an anonymous donor. Was he hoping to stay under his fiancée’s radar? Hopefully it worked out for him in the end.
Valencia CF would move out in just four years, and the field no longer exists.
The Mestalla
The Mestalla the club moved into in 1924 was very different from today’s Mestalla. It only had capacity for 17,000 people (then an impressive feat), and would later be badly damaged during World War II when it served as a military storehouse.
So, in the mid-40s, Mestalla was rebuilt, expanding into the surrounding land. This would take 15 years, and cost the club 100 million pesetas — roughly 102 million Euros today. A far cry from Medina’s wedding money!
A Trove of Trophies
The first tournament Valencia CF participated in was a local one, and they had their first match on their home field, on the 25th of July, 1919. They were up against Gimnástico FC (later merging with Levante), whom they drew with not once, not twice, but thrice. The Ches finally came out on top in the fourth and final game. Nonetheless, Gimnástico FC would go on ahead and clinch the trophy.
Afterwards, the club would go on to win LaLiga six times, Copa del Rey eight times, the Europa League three times, and the UEFA Super Cup twice, along with a swathe of other tournaments and events.
That makes for a rather loaded trophy case! Hopefully, more is to come.
20
20
