2017–18 Valencia CF Femenino season
The Valencia CF Femenino 2017–18 season was the ninth season of the women's football section of Valencia CF. The team ended the championship in 5th position and was eliminated in the national cup's quarterfinals by league champion Atlético Madrid.
| 2017–18 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman |  Anil Murthy | |||
| Manager |  Jesús Oliva | |||
| Stadium | Antoni Puchades Stadium | |||
| Primera División | Fifth | |||
| Copa de la Reina | Quarterfinalist | |||
| Top goalscorer | María Paz Vilas (19) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 1,600 | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 100 | |||
|
| ||||
Season summary
The 2016–17 season had seen the team attain its best result in the championship yet, third position, and play for the first time in the club's main venue, the Mestalla Stadium. The ambitious project behind this successful season was reported as a personal initiative of president Lay Hoon Chan,[1] but she resigned in mid-season due to the disappointing season by the men's team. The departure of manager Cristian Toro after five seasons was reported in May with one game remaining,[2] and on 20 June, a few days after the team was eliminated in the Copa de la Reina's semifinals by FC Barcelona, his second in command Jesús Oliva was appointed his successor.[3] Oliva, a coach at Valencia Femenino since the team's establishment in 2009, had been the manager of the club's B team that topped the 2015–16 Segunda División's Group 7.[4]
Most of the previous season's key signings left the team, as Estefanía Banini and Yanara Aedo returned to Washington Spirit, and Christiane Endler was transferred to Paris Saint-Germain, with the €30,000 fee to Valencia the first paid transfer in Spanish women's football.[5] Another notable loss was the departure of Claudia Zornoza, who left for Real Sociedad. Jennifer Vreugdenhil, coming from the Eredivisie, replaced Endler as the team's first-choice goalkeeper, and Valencia signed Noelia Bermúdez, Marta Carro, Sandra Hernández and Anair Lomba within the Primera División market. After the championship was underway the team was joined by Nadezhda Karpova, the first Russian to play in the Primera División.
Facing a harsh championship start, the team suffered more defeats in the six first games than in the whole previous campaign against top teams Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, and wasn't able to dislodge them from the three top positions for the remainder of the season. The team suffered a chain of injuries,[6] and so in the winter window transfer Mandy van den Berg, who had finished her WSL campaign with Reading, was signed to make up for the long-time absences of Natalia Gaitán and Paula Nicart in the team's defense.
Unlike the previous season, the Valencia derby on 9 December was scheduled for the team's usual ground at the Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna rather than in the Mestalla, and it was reported in the media that the club intended to reserve its main venue for the male team.[7] All political parties in the Valencian Courts issued an institutional statement demanding the club to allow the team to play in Mestalla.[8] Hours later the club replied with a statement defending its social policies for gender equality and women's sport, regretting the criticisms as an alleged lack of awareness of its commitment and leaving an open door to eventual future appearances of the women's team in Mestalla.[9] Months later, the away derby fixture was staged in Levante's main venue, the Ciutat de València Stadium, before a crowd of 14,000.[10]
By mid-April, a seven games non-winning streak left Valencia in sixth position, with a 4 points advantage to defend in the last four games in order to qualify for the Copa de la Reina.[11] Valencia won all four games and surpassed Betis in the table, ending fifth. The Cup's draw matched Valencia with league champion Atlético, which resulted in defeats in both games. One week later Jesús Oliva was sacked, but he stayed in the women's team as its academy's coordinator, while Óscar Suárez succeeded him as the team's new manager.[12]
Transfers
| In | Out | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Pos. | Player | Origin | Date | Pos. | Player | Destination | |
| 2017–07–04 [13] | MF | Sandra Hernández | Barcelona | 2017–06–19 [14] | MF |  Estefanía Banini |  Washington Spirit | |
| 2017–07–06 [15] | GK |  Noelia Bermúdez | Levante | 2017–06–22 [16] | MF | Esther Romero | Retirement | |
| 2017–07–06 [17] | GK | Andrea Esteban | Levante | 2017–06–27 [18] | FW |  Yanara Aedo | Washington Spirit | |
| 2017–07–11 [19] | DF | Marta Carro | Madrid | 2017–06–29 [20] | GK | Esther Sullastres | Zaragoza | |
| 2017–07–14 [21] | MF | Anair Lomba | Espanyol | 2017–07–03 [22] | DF | Sara Micó | Sporting Plaza de Argel | |
| 2017–07–18 [23] | GK |  Jennifer Vreugdenhil | ADO Den Haag | 2017–07–05 [24] | GK | Christiane Endler |  Paris Saint-Germain | |
| 2017–09–22 [25] | FW |  Nadezhda Karpova | Chertanovo | 2017–07–05 [26] | MF | Claudia Florentino | Albacete | |
| 2018–01–08 [27] | DF | Mandy van den Berg |  Reading | 2017–07–10 [28] | MF | Claudia Zornoza | Real Sociedad | |
| 2017–07–28 [29] | MF |  Maya Yamamoto | Zaragoza | |||||
Results
Win Draw Loss Postponed
Pre-season
| 4 August 2017 COTIF – G1 | Valencia | 1–0 | Levante | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} L'Alcúdia (Els Arcs) |
| 19:15 | Borini  67' |
Report | Attendance: 1,600 Referee: Fuentes Molina |
| 7 August 2017 COTIF – G2 | Valencia | 2–0 | Atlético Madrid | L'Alcúdia (Els Arcs) |
| 17:30 | Borini 42' Cubedo 49' |
Report | Referee: Frigols Sancho |
| 9 August 2017 COTIF – G3 | Valencia | 2–0 | Albi | L'Alcúdia (Els Arcs) |
| 17:30 | Peiró 5' Esteban 22' |
Report | Stadium: Els Arcs Referee: Tórtola García |
| 10 August 2017 COTIF – G4 | Valencia | 0–1 | Morocco (national team) | L'Alcúdia (Els Arcs) |
| 19:15 | Report | Meryem 55' |
Stadium: Els Arcs Referee: Barceló Gómez |
| 11 August 2017 COTIF – F | Valencia | 1–3 | Atlético Madrid | L'Alcúdia (Els Arcs) |
| 20:15 | Borini 28' |
Report | Bermúdez 21' Carro 25' (o.g.) Bautista 44' |
Stadium: Els Arcs Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Amorós Ramírez |
| 14 August 2017 MIFT – G1 | Valencia | 1–2 | Montpellier |  Fuenlabrada (La Aldehuela) |
| 11:00 |
| 15 August 2017 MIFT – G2 | Valencia | 0–3 | Anderlecht | Fuenlabrada (La Aldehuela) |
| 13:00 |
| 16 August 2017 MIFT – G3 | Atlético Madrid | 1–1 | Valencia | Fuenlabrada (La Aldehuela) |
| 13:00 |
Primera División
| 2 September 2017 1 | Real Sociedad | 0–1 | Valencia |  Usurbil (Zubieta) |
| Report | Vilas 56' |
Attendance: 500 Referee:  Peláez Arnillas |
| 10 September 2017 2 | Valencia | 1–1 | Santa Teresa | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 6' |
Report | Lima 45' |
Attendance: 400 Referee:  Líndez Ciurana |
| 24 September 2017 3 | Athletic Bilbao | 3–2 | Valencia | Lezama (Facilities) |
| Corres 10', 76' Zárate 80' |
Report | Vilas 16' Borini 84' |
Attendance: 471 Referee:  Fernández Ceferino |
| 1 October 2017 4 | Valencia | 1–0 | Sporting Huelva | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Hernández 14' |
Report | Attendance: 450 Referee: Sánchez Miguel |
| 7 October 2017 5 | Valencia | 0–1 | Atlético Madrid | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Report | Corredera 38' |
Attendance: 1,250 Referee:  Martínez Madrona |
| 14 October 2017 6 | Barcelona | 2–0 | Valencia | Sant Joan (Joan Gamper) |
| Duggan 28' Putellas 76' |
Report | Attendance: 623 Referee:  Huerta de Aza |
| 29 October 2017 7 | Valencia | 4–0 | Madrid | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Lomba 44', 64' Szymanowski 53' Karpova 72' |
Report | Attendance: 400 Referee:  González González |
| 5 November 2017 8 | Granadilla | 0–0 | Valencia | San Isidro (La Palmera) |
| Report | Attendance: 700 Referee: Arregui Gamir |
| 12 November 2017 9 | Valencia | 5–2 | Betis | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Karpova 2', 62' Vilas 40' Lomba 47' Férez 72' |
Report | Borja 48' Moreno 68' |
Attendance: 800 Referee: Líndez Ciurana |
| 18 November 2017 10 | Sevilla | 1–3 | Valencia |  Seville (Viejo Nervión) |
| Morilla 63' |
Report | Szymanowski 16', 40' Peiró 22' |
Attendance: 186 Referee:  Frías Acedo |
| 2 December 2017 11 | Valencia | 1–1 | Espanyol | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 60' |
Report | del Estal 67' |
Attendance: 400 Referee: Casal Fernández |
| 18 November 2017 12 | Rayo Vallecano | 4–2 | Valencia | Madrid (Fundación Rayo) |
| del Álamo 16' Pablos 48', 73' Ponciano 86' |
Report | Vilas 24' Férez 57' |
Attendance: 186 Referee: Prieto Martínez |
| 9 December 2017 13 | Valencia | 2–3 | Levante | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 36' Peiró 90+1' |
Report | Ramos 62' (pen.) Casado 75', 82' |
Attendance: 1,600 Referee: Huerta de Aza |
| 16 December 2017 14 | Zaragoza | 1–3 | Valencia | Zaragoza (Pedro Sancho) |
| Yamamoto 90+2' |
Report | Vilas 6' Férez 72' Peiró 79' |
Attendance: 400 Referee: Acevedo Dudley |
| 7 January 2018 15 | Valencia | 3–0 | Albacete | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Szymanowski 5', 33' Férez 85' |
Report | Referee: Líndez Ciurana |
| 13 January 2018 16 | Valencia | 3–1 | Real Sociedad | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 33', 44', 58' |
Report | Beristain 89' |
Attendance: 650 Referee: Cebollada López |
| 28 January 2018 17 | Santa Teresa | 1–1 | Valencia | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Badajoz (El Viejo Vivero) |
| Merino 28' |
Report | Szymanowski 70' |
Attendance: 600 Referee: Kinga-Hajnalka |
| 4 February 2018 18 | Valencia | 3–1 | Athletic Bilbao | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 6', 44' Hernández 54' |
Report | Cirauqui 16' |
Attendance: 100 Referee: Prieto Martínez |
| 11 February 2018 19 | Sporting Huelva | 1–3 | Valencia | Huelva (La Orden) |
| Castelló 47' |
Report | Vilas 10', 32' Hernández 89' |
Attendance: 100 Referee: Huerta de Aza |
| 17 February 2018 20 | Atlético Madrid | 1–0 | Valencia | Majadahonda (Cerro del Espino) |
| Bermúdez 24' |
Report | Attendance: 463 Referee: Casal Fernández |
| 25 February 2018 21 | Valencia | 1–4 | Barcelona | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Peiró 90+1' |
Report | León 4' Martens 35' Torrejón 45+1' Andonova 62' |
Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Contreras Patiño |
| 10 March 2018 22 | Madrid | 2–1 | Valencia | San Sebastián (Matapiñonera) |
| del Río 72' Geyse 81' |
Report | Peiró 55' |
Attendance: 322= Referee: Martínez Madrona |
| 18 March 2018 23 | Valencia | 0–0 | Granadilla | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Report | Attendance: 400 Referee: Líndez Ciurana |
| 24 March 2018 24 | Betis | 0–0 | Valencia | Seville (Luis del Sol) |
| Report | Attendance: 350 Referee: Sánchez Miguel |
| 31 March 2018 25 | Valencia | 1–1 | Sevilla | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Vilas 73' |
Report | Calderón 35' |
Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Arregui Gamir |
| 15 April 2018 26 | Espanyol | 0–0 | Valencia | Sant Adrià (Dani Jarque) |
| Report | Attendance: 400 Referee: Prieto Martínez |
| 22 April 2018 27 | Valencia | 4–1 | Rayo Vallecano | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Santiago 7' (o.g.) Vilas 32', 44', 49' |
Report | Domínguez 80' |
Attendance: 400 Referee: Rivera Olmedo |
| 28 April 2018 28 | Levante | 0–1 | Valencia | Valencia (Ciutat de València) |
| Report | Lomba 36' |
Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Martínez Madrona |
| 5 May 2018 29 | Valencia | 1–0 | Zaragoza | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| Peiró 90+4' |
Report | Attendance: 900 Referee: Kinga-Hajnalka |
| 12 May 2018 30 | Albacete | 0–2 | Valencia |  Albacete (Andrés Iniesta) |
| Report | García 35' Szymanowski 42' |
Attendance: 250 Referee: Acevedo Dudley |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Athletic Bilbao | 30 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 51 | 41 | 56 | Qualification for the Copa de la Reina |
| 4 | Granadilla | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 48 | 33 | 54 | |
| 5 | Valencia | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 49 | 32 | 50 | |
| 6 | Betis | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 40 | 37 | 46 | |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 37 | 38 | |
Copa de la Reina
| 19 May 2018 QF – L1 | Atlético Madrid | 2–1 | Valencia | Majadahonda (Cerro del Espino) |
| 20:45 | Corredera 57' Sampedro 63' |
Report | Peiró 37' |
Attendance: 916 Referee: Casal Fernández |
| 23 May 2018 QF – L2 | Valencia | 1–2 | Atlético Madrid | Paterna (Antoni Puchades) |
| 21:00 | Szymanowski 90+5' |
Report | Sampedro 9' Falcón 90+3' |
Attendance: 1,700 Referee: Acevedo Dudley |
Primera División statistics
| No. | Pos. | Born | Since | FIFA | Player | Games | Goals | Disciplinary record | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | FC |  |  | |||||||
| 1 | GK | 1994 | 2017–18 | Costa Rica | 2014 | Noelia Bermúdez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | 1990 | 2017–18 | Netherlands | 2010 | Mandy van den Berg | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | 1994 | 2014–15 | Spain | 2015 | Paula Nicart | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | 1992 | 2010–11 | Spain | Salomé Navalón | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 5 | DF | 1994 | 2009–10 | Spain | 2015 | Ivana Andrés | 29 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | 1997 | 2017–18 | Spain | 2018 | Sandra Hernández | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | 1988 | 2015–16 |  Brazil | 2017 | Joyce Borini | 26 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | 1998 | 2016–17 | Spain | Ángeles Carrión | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 9 | FW | 1998 | 2016–17 | Spain | Marta Peiró | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | FW | 1988 | 2013–14 | Spain | 2008 | María Paz Vilas | 28 | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | 1990 | 2016–17 | Argentina | 2014 | Marianela Szymanowski | 27 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | 1995 | 2017–18 | Netherlands | 2018 | Jennifer Vreugdenhil | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | 1991 | 2014–15 | Spain | 2015 | Carol Férez | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | 1991 | 2017–18 | Spain | 2018 | Marta Carro | 29 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | 1989 | 2017–18 | Spain | Anair Lomba | 21 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |
| 17 | MF | 1989 | 2016–17 | Spain | 2012 | Débora García | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | 1991 | 2015–16 |  Colombia | 2011 | Natalia Gaitán | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | 1995 | 2017–18 | Russia | 2016 | Nadezhda Karpova | 22 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | 1989 | 2013–14 | Spain | Georgina Carreras | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 21 | FW | 1996 | 2017–18 | Spain | Andrea Esteban | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | DF | 1998 | 2013–14 | Spain | Cintia Montagut | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | DF | 1997 | 2016–17 | Spain | Neus Llinares | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | MF | 1998 | 2017–18 | Spain | Paula Sancho | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | DF | 1999 | 2017–18 | Spain | Cristina Cubedo | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| DF | 1997 | 2017–18 | Spain | Lidia Navarro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MF | 2000 | 2017–18 | Spain | Alejandra Serrano | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MF | 2017–18 | Spain | Julia Aguado | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
References
- Valencia Femenino, the personal project of Layhoon. Deporte Valenciano (in Spanish), 7 March 2017.
- Cristian Toro leaves the bench of Valencia CF Femenino. EFE (in Spanish), 19 May 2017.
- Jesús Oliva confirmed as Valencia Femenino's new manager. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 20 June 2017.
- Femenino B, Segunda champion!! Diario de Mestalla (in Spanish), 16 May 2016
- Endler, who moves to PSG, is the first female player for whom a club pays a transfer. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 20 June 2017.
- Plague of injuries in Valencia Femenino. BeSoccer (in Spanish), 2 November 2017.
- Women's football [is left] out of Mestalla. El Mundo (in Spanish), 30 November 2017.
- Les Corts reprimand València CF for expelling its women's team from Mestalla. El Diario (in Spanish), 1 December 2017.
- Valencia CF replies to Les Corts. Cadena SER (in Spanish), 1 December 2017.
- Galicia's Lombi decides a Valencian derby with 14,000 attendants. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish), 28 April 2018.
- Valencia Femenino, point-by-point closer to the Cup. Superdeporte (in Spanish), 15 April 2018
- Óscar Suárez replaces Jesús Oliva as the manager of Valencia CF Femenino. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 1 June 2018.
- Sandra Henrández signs for Valencia Cf for two seasons. Diario AS (in Spanish), 4 July 2018.
- Argentina's Estefania Banini rejoins NWSL's Washington Spirit. The Washington Post (in English), 19 June 2017.
- Noelia Bermúdez, from Levante UD to Valencia CF. Las Provincias (in Spanish), 7 July 2018.
- . Las Provincias (in Spanish), 22 June 2017.
- Valencia signs Andrea Esteban and Noelia Bermúdez. Diario AS (in Spanish), 6 July 2018.
- . Vavel (in English), 28 June 2017.
- Valencia CF signs Marta Carro from Madrid CFF. Super Deporte (in Spanish), 11 July 2018.
- Esther Sullastres returns to Zaragoza CFF. Aragón Digital (in Spanish), 29 June 2017.
- Valencia CF signs 'Lombi', coming from RCD Espanyol. Las Provincias (in Spanish), 14 July 2018.
- Sara Micó, a deluxe reinforcement for Sporting Plaza de Argel. Diario Información (in Spanish), 3 July 2017.
- Valencia CF Femenino signs Dutch goalkeeper Jennifer Vreugdenhil. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish), 18 July 2017.
- Historic transfer of Christiane Endler to women's PSG. Vavel (in Spanish), 5 July 2017.
- Nadezhda Kárpova signs for VCF Femenino. Vavel (in Spanish), 22 September 2017.
- Funda makes its first signing. Aúpa Alba (in Spanish), 5 July 2017.
- Valencia CF Femenino signs Netherlands' Mandy van den Berg. Diario AS (in Spanish), 8 January 2018.
- Claudia Zornoza, third signing of Real Sociedad. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish), 10 July 2017.
- Zaragoza Femenino signs Japan's Maya Yamamoto. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish), 28 July 2017.