Levante Win A Trophy

Levante are the other team in Valencia. The one supported by thos living in the port and beach areas. They do not have a great history but now their only ever trophy is to be remembered. Could this be a sign that finally the Spanish are coming to terms with the stupidity of the divisions caused by the Civil War from 1936-9? Hopefully it is.

The article is taken from the Guardian newspaper and the url is here.

Levante pick up football trophy - 70 years on

Levante sit bottom of the Spanish football league, with a single point, and were thrashed 4-1 by Barcelona on Saturday. But Levante will be picking up one trophy this year - even if it is 70 years overdue. The Spanish parliament has voted to recognise Levante's victory in the Republican Cup final of July 18 1937, a game that had long been wiped from the official records.

In 1937 Spain was divided; the fascist forces of Franco occupied just over half of the country, while the republicans were besieged on the other side. Football still had its place, and the eight clubs on the republican side organised their own league, with the four top-placed teams competing for the Republican Cup, an offshoot of the King's Cup, the Spanish equivalent of the FA Cup. That year Barcelona, having won the league, went on a tour of the US and Mexico to raise money for the republic, allowing fifth-placed Levante to take their place in the cup. Levante went on to beat their cross-town rivals Valencia 1-0 to lift the only trophy the club has ever won.

But Franco's regime rejected the republican league and cup, removing all mention of Levante's victory from the record books. The only evidence of Levante's win comes from newspaper reports and their fans' memories. One fan in particular was desperate to get the history books rewritten. Xavier Rius appealed to the Spanish football federation to reinstate their victory, but initially met with little success. He went to the Valencian MP Isaura Navarro of the leftwing IU-IVC, who took the issue to parliament. Success was achieved last week, with the help of a rebellious centre-right People's party MP. Parliament approved a call for the football federation to recognise the Republican Cup. Seventy years on, Levante's long-suffering fans can finally celebrate their one trophy.