Levante's Legendary 1963 Promotion

The Vallejo Promotion of 1963

Since Levante U.D. was transformed as the fusion of two clubs, Levante FC and Gimnástico, the constant and sole obsession of Levante fans and club directors was to promote to the newly formed Spanish League First Division. Left out when the teams who would form the First Division were chosen after the Spanish Civil War, it seemed Levante would earn its way in early on. However, as Levante fans, all too accustomed to suffering and disappointments, know too well, Levante U.D. slowly slipped away and distanced itself over the next decade and a half from promoting and instead lived a few relegations to the lower divisions.

It was not until June 2nd, 1963, after a few close calls (Levante had even played a few ties of direct promotion games without luck in earlier years), when Levante could finally celebrate the long desired promotion.

The monumental accomplishment occurred in the legendary former stadium Vallejo. With a squad full of Levante legends wearing the club blaugrana, Dominguez, Wanderlei, Valls, Currucale, Camarasa and company.

That day Levante defeated Deportivo La Coruña and marched its way into the Spanish Primera. It was a time of immense happiness for the loyal and stoic Levante fan base. The months and indeed years ahead would be some of the happiest and most enjoyable for a generation.

Levante managed to avoid relegation in the 1963-64 campaign with some gutsy football, an offensive and risky style of play that ended up condemning the team a year later in the 1964-65 campaign.

It would not be until the 2003-04 campaign, 40 years after the first season in Primera, that Levante would again return as a member of the elite. Since then, Levante has become somewhat a fixture of the Spanish First Division. However, the 40 years in between the Vallejo Promotion and the Manolo Preciado led promotion of 2004 were some of the most trying times for Levante fans.

It is for that stoic nature of the Levante fans, and for a generation of Levante fans for whom this golden moment was the only time they would see their beloved Levante among the elite clubs in Spain, that we celebrate the 50 years (50 anys) that have passed since the Vallejo promotion. May Levante fans long remember where we have come from and never forget our humble roots.

Video footage of the Levante promotion of 1963:

Granota Green Shirts

In today's edition of  "Retro" we discover the history behind Levante's traditional 1st and 2nd kits, as well as the surprising precedent for this year's "Granota Green" shirts.

Check out our coverage of the 2012-13 Kit Release:
 Official Kits (2012-13) 

Granota Green Shirts

Like most football clubs, Levante are known for having a standard, classic kit by which their team and club are identified. However, Levante's kit tradition goes even farther than its well known blaugrana 1st kit. Indeed, Levante's kits tell a great deal about the club's 103 year history. The blaugrana blue and maroon kit pays homage to Gimnástic FC, who merged with Levante FC in 1939 to form the current Levante U.D. Per club tradition, Levante's second kit invokes the history of Levante FC, the other half of Levante's storied tradition. This second kit is composed of black and white, traditionally in the form of vertical stripes.

Michel wearing the 2012-13 Green Kit in Hannover

This year, in a new marketing push in part originated by Levante's new equipment supplier Kelme, Levante have opted for making their second kit a frog green for the 2012-13 season. It is hoped that fans will embrace the new color, symbolic of the club's mascot, the frogs. Levante have worn the new shirt in several Europa League (at Hannover) and Liga matches this season.

1977-78 Green Kit
Source: Granotas.net user Syme

What caught many granotas by surprise (Made In Orriols' Editor included), was that there was actually a historical precedent for the Granota Green Kit, which many thought would be a first in Levante's history.

On the contrary, it was in the 1977-78 season that Levante presumably first used a green kit. Pictured below is a pre-match photo from that campaign with the historic green kit. In this version the blaugrana strip runs vertical as opposed to the horizontal strip in the current season's green kit.

Time will tell if the Green kit becomes a standard in the future, though it seems that Levante is no different from other clubs in the sense that the third kit is used for constant experimentation in the hopes of creating some sort of novelty shirt that fans will purchase. Just last campaign, Levante wore the senyera, the Valencian flag, in an adapted kit version in what turned out to be a huge commercial success for the club. The amount of senyera shirts sold last season will not go overlooked and surely an updated version will be used as the 3rd kit in the near future.