LALIGA returns to the Ciutat de València, and with the start of the 2026-2027 season, an initiative that in recent years has turned the VIP box into a space for memories is back. On this occasion, the Champions Cup of the I Costa de Valencia Trophy will take center stage in the match between Levante UD and Real Betis, corresponding to the third round of the league calendar.

It is a historic piece that remained for decades as a testament to an era and that, after a meticulous process of recovery and restoration, once again displays the splendor it had more than half a century ago.

A trophy with history and a Levante seal

There are objects that seem to remain motionless and unaffected by the passage of time, but a closer look reveals that they are true containers of memory. The Champions Cup of the I Costa de Valencia Trophy is one of them. Its silhouette, its shapes, and the crafted metal that composes it allow us to travel back to the summer of 1972, when Levante participated in the first edition of a tournament designed to unite the name of the city of Valencia with that of its main football representative.

The "granota" team was crowned champion of that inaugural edition and claimed the trophy permanently after defeating Nacional de Montevideo and Rapid Bucharest on the field. Now, 54 years later, that cup once again occupies a prominent place in the surroundings of the Ciutat de València.

Valencia's 1972 commitment to summer football

To understand the significance of that trophy, one must return to Valencia in the 1970s and, especially, to the figure of Manuel Grau Torralba, president of Levante during that period and one of the main promoters of the initiative. Grau Torralba assumed the presidency with a clear idea: to strengthen the identification between Levante and the city.

In an era of splendor for summer football, where both large and small clubs organized national and international tournaments to turn their stadiums into grand showcases, Levante's proposal went a step further. With the invaluable collaboration of the City Council of the capital of Turia, the initiative sought to associate the club's name with that of Valencia, leveraging one of its main attractions: its coast and beaches.

In July 1972, Grau Torralba presented the details to the Valencian press, thus giving birth to a tournament with a purpose that went beyond the strictly sporting. The ambition of the board even led to the trophies being displayed in a well-known commercial establishment before the competition, anticipating the importance given to the event.

An open door to "granota" memory

That cup has now returned to the present. After being recovered and restored to restore the luster it displayed in 1972, its presence in the VIP box of the Ciutat de València will not only be the exhibition of a trophy but also an invitation to look back.

It represents a journey to a time when Levante strengthened its ties with the city, summer tournaments marked the football calendar, and a new generation of fans built their own memories. The Champions Cup of the I Costa de Valencia Trophy will shine once again to emphasize that there are objects that never stop telling stories.