The Valencia CF Academy signs off season with great results

VCF Academy has won trophies in the top flight at Juvenil, Cadete and Infantil level competitions and a total of 12 championships between 11- side and 8-a-side teams, the best results in 20 years.

The Valencia CF Academy signs off this June a 2022/23 season having fulfilled the various objectives set at the start of the season both in terms of the training of the 450 players who train every day at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna as well as results wise.

Key players for the first team

Developing players for the first team is the main objective of the VCF Academy. And in this sense, once again this season, the first team has given the opportunity to young talents such as Javi Guerra, Diego López, Alberto Martí, Fran Pérez, Cristhian Mosquera and Rubén Iranzo, who have helped to achieve the objectives at different stages of the season.

With the debuts this season of Diego López, Fran Pérez and Alberto Marí, there are now 110 players in the last 30 years who have debuted in an official match with the first team, having played at least previously for VCF Mestalla.

Also in the women's first team this season there have been several players trained at the VCF Academy who have helped to achieve the objectives: Ainoha Alguacil, Olga San Nicolás, Elena Gil, Saray López, Sara Tamarit, Marta Mascarell and Sandra Perera. 

The sixth best Academy in Europe

This season, moreover, the VCF Academy has consolidated its position as one of the best in European football in the training of players for the elite. It is the sixth with the most trained players competing in the 5 big leagues: England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, according to the latest CIES Football Observatory report.

This is the fourth consecutive season in which the VCF Academy has been in the top 10 clubs in Europe with the most trained players -who have completed a minimum of 3 seasons between the ages of 15 and 21- competing in the 5 big leagues.

20 International players

The high level of the players trained at the VCF Academy is also shown by the high number of players who are internationals with the youth teams of their respective national teams.

Up to 20 players between the ages of 15 and 20 have been internationals this season for the Spanish, Uruguayan, Norwegian, Lithuanian and Bulgarian national teams.

The cases of Facu González, U-20 World Champion with Uruguay, Yarek Gasiorowski, who this July will represent Spain at the U-19 European Championship in Malta, and Raúl Jiménez, Spain's first-choice goalkeeper at the last U-17 European Championship, stand out.

12 champion teams

In terms of results, up to 12 11-a-side football teams and 8-a-side football teams have been champions in their respective competitions, with another 5 teams being runners-up.

Of the 27 VCF Academy teams, 17 of them have been champions or runners-up, taking into account that five other teams competed in the same leagues in which other VCF Academy teams have ended up as champions. 

VCF Mestalla, on the brink of promotion to Primera RFEF

In the men's 11-a-side level, VCF Mestalla, after last season's promotion to Segunda RFEF, finished third in Group III and competed for promotion to Primera RFEF.

Miguel Ángel Angulo's side were eliminated in the last minute of the promotion play-off semi-finals. They also reached the semi-finals of the Premier League International Cup, an international U21 competition organised by the Premier League, where they lost on penalties to Crystal Palace FC.

Triple Crown: Juvenil A, Cadete A and Infantil A

In the Juvenil, Cadete and Infantil age groups, the VCF Academy teams have won the titles in the top competitions in each category, a Triple Crown that has not been achieved since 2007 and that only Valencia CF has achieved in the Valencia region.

- VCF Juvenil A retained their Group VII División de Honor title, and in addition to participating in the Copa del Rey Juvenil and the Copa de Campeones, they were also finalists in the Al Abtal International Cup.

- VCF Cadete A were crowned champions of the Lliga Autonòmica Cadete, completing a great comeback in the second round of the competition.

- VCF Infantil A were also champions in the Lliga Autonòmica Infantil, with great numbers and reaching almost 100 points in a competition they dominated from start to finish.

In the same Lliga Autonòmica, Fundació VCF Cadete, with first year players, finished fourth behind VCF Cadete A, Levante UD and Villarreal CF, while Fundació VCF Infantil finished fifth behind VCF Infantil A, and the A teams of Villarreal CF, Levante UD and Elche CF.  

VCF Infantil B also won the title in Group II of the Primera Regional Infantil.

VCF Femenino: VCF Femenino D, champions and VCF Alevín A runners-up

The Valencia CF women's grassroots have completed their second season at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna facilities this year following the full integration of the entire structure into the VCF Academy.

VCF Femenino D have retained their title as champions of Group II Primera Regional Valenta, enjoying a great season and an epic celebration at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna. For their part, VCF Alevín A Femenino finished runners-up in the second year of the Alevín Medium Level League after falling just short of the title on the final matchday.

For their part, VCF Femenino B, after last season's title and promotion, have had a good season in which they finished in seventh place in Grupo Sur de Segunda Federación, completing a great comeback in the second round, while VCF Femenino C finished fourth in the Lliga À Punt Valenta and VCF Femenino Infantil also finished fourth in the GIX de 2 Provincial Valencia.

International Recognition

This integration of women's grassroots football into the structure of the VCF Academy was a finalist in the ECA (European Football Association) awards in the Women's Football category, which were presented last September.

Recently, the ECA also invited the Valencia CF Academy to present its working method at the ECA Youth Knowledge Exchange, a knowledge exchange conference held in Lyon in which the VCF Academy Director, Luis Martínez, and the Technical Areas Coordinator, José Bargues, participated.  

Growth of the Academy Programs

In this season 2022.23 the VCF Academy has also consolidated its two strategic projects to expand its presence both locally and internationally.

In the international arena, Valencia CF, through the VCF Academy Programs, has different VCF Soccer Academies in strategic markets in America, Asia, Africa and Europe, an internationalisation strategy that was a finalist in the World Footbal Summit 2022 awards. 

In this season 2022.23 the agreement with the VCF Soccer Academy in Houston and the VCF Soccer Academy in New York in the USA has been renewed, while the VCF Soccer Academy in Wakayama has been reactivated once normality has been fully recovered in Japan after the COVID-19 health crisis, and a new headquarters has been opened in Japan in Kanazawa. 

VCF Academy World Cup II edition

A large number of VCF Soccer Academies are taking part in the II VCF Academy World Cup, an international U12 tournament which from 29 June to 2 July will bring together at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna around 150 players from all over the world to take part in the competition or in the Elite Campus which will be held with a selection of players.

New Technical Partners...

The VCF Academy has also extended its links with different clubs of which it is a technical partner with the new agreements signed with The Bridge SC in Jordan, Mellihea SC in Malta and Poliesportiva Bruinese in Italy, in addition to those already in place with 1st11 Academy London and Eagleclaw FC in Seattle, and the international alliance with Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania.

...and visits from all over the world

The interest in learning about the working methodology of the VCF Academy is also shown in the many visits and training stages that have taken place this season at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna with more than 1000 coaches and players from 70 clubs and groups from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Austria, China, Japan, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, Puerto Rico, Netherlands, Belgium and France.  

Women's Camps in Saudi Arabia

Within the VCF Academy Programs, Valencia CF has also held numerous VCF Soccer Camps in different countries such as USA, Canada, Venezuela, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, Lithuania, Switzerland... In total, more than 3000 players have participated in these VCF Soccer Camps.  

Particularly noteworthy was the Valencia CF Campus that VCF Academy coaches held last January in Saudi Arabia, a campus that included a female version in which around 30 players took part, helping to broaden the footballing horizons of this Middle Eastern country.   

In addition, as every summer, Valencia CF holds its Summer Campus at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna, which sold out three months in advance and has 600 participants from more than 25 countries.

A step forward for Escoles VCF

On a local level, the Escoles VCF programme has expanded to 44 schools throughout the Valencia and Murcia regions, with the aim of expanding the passion for Valencia CF, providing these schools with more work tools, helping to implement the VCF Academy methodology and attracting talented players among the youngest players.

During the season, players from the various partner clubs have taken part in training sessions at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna and recently around 500 coaches from Escoles VCF took part in an update course for coaches organised by the RFEF and the FFCV at Mestalla.

VCF Educa

At the VCF Academy, the training of players goes far beyond the pitch. In this season 2022.23 the players of the teams that train at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna have participated in the different social actions that make up the #AcademiaEnComunidad programme and in the complementary workshops of the #Academia360 programme with the aim of providing comprehensive training for players, but also for their parents and family members. 

With the collaboration of the VCF Foundation throughout this season, various actions have been carried out in collaboration with the Red Cross, the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition, Casa Caridad, the San Vicente Ferrer Imperial School for Orphaned Children, Bombers pel Món, Payasospital and the Food Bank.

Values on the social networks

In addition to the social actions and training workshops, this season the VCF Academy has also launched the VCF Educa programme on social media. By means of small formative and informative pills the departments of the VCF Academy, coordinated by the Psycho-Educational department, have prepared for the RRSS various messages and reflections on different situations that players may find themselves in, and to be able to apply in each case the values that are worked on within the VCF Academy philosophy: Sentiment, Valentia and Germanor.  

Agreement with the Mas Camarena Educational Complex

Education is one of the essential pillars in the training of our players and in accordance with the VCF Academy's motto: We Educate People, We Train Footballers, we have strengthened our collaboration with the Mas Camarena Educational Complex, a leading educational centre in the Valencia Region and the fourth best in Spain, which from this season has become an official educational partner of the VCF Academy.

Agreements with universities and federations

In the area of training, the VCF Academy also has collaboration agreements with the Catholic University of Valencia, the University of Valencia, the UCAM of Murcia, the FFCV (Football Federation of the Valencia Region) to improve the training of its coaches.

In addition, the VCF Academy also signed an agreement with the FHCV (Hockey Federation of the Valencian Community), the latter entity which, together with the Spanish Army, has collaborated in the multisport programme through which the youngest members of the VCF Academy have received notions of judo, hockey, handball or rugby to broaden their knowledge and take advantage of various techniques that can be transferred into the practice of football.