Valencia Basket was founded on 27 September 1986, after Valencia CF decided to fold its basketball section.[3]
On 4 May 1988, while in its second season in the Primera División B, which was the second tier league of Spanish basketball at that time, the team won its first promotion to the Spanish top-tier levelACB,[4] where the team remained until the 1994–95 season. In 1995, Valencia was relegated to the Spanish 2nd-tier level EBA League, after falling in the league's relegation playoff against Somontano Huesca. In the next season, after being the runner-up in Liga EBA, in a non-promoting season, Valencia BC bought Amway Zaragoza's ACB place to join the top league, where it has remained until nowadays.
Continuing on with some of the club's best years, the 2001–02 ACB season was historic for the club, as it reached the Spanish ACB League finals, where they could not win any games in their series against FC Barcelona. Before this first success in reaching the finals of the Spanish league's playoffs, Pamesa Valencia won its first European-wide title, by defeating Krka Novo Mesto in the 2002–03 ULEB Cup, which would then also allow the club to make its debut in the European top-tier levelEuroLeague.
In its first EuroLeague participation, Pamesa Valencia qualified for the Top 16, but was eliminated there, after not contesting its game at Nokia Arena against Maccabi Tel Aviv, adducing security issues in Israel.[5]
On 18 April 2010, Power Electronics Valencia won its second European title, by beating Alba Berlin, 67–44, in the 2010 EuroCup Finals, which was played in Vitoria-Gasteiz.[6] This allowed the club to come back to the top level EuroLeague, seven years after its first participation in the tournament. This time, Valencia reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals, where it was eliminated by Real Madrid, who won the playoff series by a 3–2 margin.
On 5 June 2017, Valencia Basket qualified for its second Spanish Liga ACB Finals series, after defeating Baskonia in the semifinals of the 2017 national league playoffs. This time, the club won its first ever Spanish national domestic league championship, on 16 June 2017, by defeating Real Madrid with a 3–1 series score in the ACB league's finals.[7] In the same season, the club also reached the finals of both the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup), and the EuroCup, but they lost those finals to Real Madrid, and fellow Spanish side, Unicaja, respectively. By winning the Spanish League championship, Valencia also sealed their return to the next season's top-tier level EuroLeague competition, for the 2017–18 season.
During its first season of existence, the team played its home games at the La Canaleta Sports Complex in the municipality of Mislata.[8]
Since 1987 Valencia Basket plays its home games at the 8,500 seat Font de Sant Lluís arena.[9] The arena is better known as La Fonteta.
The club is expected to move to a new 15,600 seat arena called Roig Arena (previously proposed as Casal España Arena),[10] with the inauguration scheduled for 2024.[11][12]
Sponsorship naming
Valencia Basket has had several sponsorship names over the years:
In compliance with ACB's homegrown player policy, only 2 overseas players can be in the roster for every given match, with the exception of those holding a European citizenship, or from any country with an association treaty, such as the Cotonou Agreement. In addition to that, at least 4 of the players in a 12 or more player roster must "cupo" players (i.e., they are Spanish, or must have been in the youth systems of a Spanish club for at least 3 years).[9][10] Euroleague Basketball does not have any policy in regards of players' origin, so it is possible for teams to call more than two overseas players for a match in Euroleague competitions.
The women's team of Valencia Basket was created in 2014 and promoted to Liga Femenina in 2018, winning the final game against Real Club Celta de Vigo in Valencia. This access to the first division and the relegation of CB Estudiantes made Valencia Basket the only club with masculine and feminine representation in the first division in the 2018-2019 season.
In the first season competing on the first division, Valencia Basket achieved a ticket to their first Copa de la Reina de baloncesto, celebrated in Vitoria between the 28th of February and the 3 of June. Also, they achieve a spot to participate in the playoffs, losing against Perfumerías Avenida on the semifinals, but achieving the opportunity to play his first European tournament the next season.
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