The club was founded in 1909 as "Levante Football Club". In 1939 Levante FC and Gimnástico FC merged into "Levante Unión Deportiva". Levante UD thus having origin since, at least, 1909 from both merged teams, Levante FC and Gimnástico FC. Today, Levante UD is the oldest senior football club in Valencia. Local rival Valencia CF was not formed until 1919.[1][2][3][4][5]
During theSpanish Civil War bothLevante FC andGimnástico CF played in theMediterranean League, finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Teams from this league also competed in theCopa de la España Libre (Free Spain Cup). It was originally intended that the top four teams from the league would enter the cup, but FC Barcelona opted to tourMexico and the United States. As a result,Levante FC took their place. The first round of the competition was a mini-league with the top two teams,Levante FC andValencia CF, then qualifying for the final. On 18 July 1937,Levante FC beat their city rivals 1–0 at theMontjuïc.
