On A Day Like Today: Fairs Cup and Copa del Rey glory for VCF

June 26th has been the date of several golden moments in Valencia CF history. In 1963, the club were crowned Fairs Cup winners for the second consecutive year, whilst in 1999 they won their sixth Copa del Rey at La Cartuja, Seville.

The 1963 European achievement took place at Mestalla in front of 50,000 fans against Dinamo Zagreb. Valencia CF had won the first leg 1-2, through goals from Urtiaga and Waldo, and on June 26th they had a chance to seal their defence of the cup. Daniel Mañó would score to settle the nerves of the Valencianistas in attendance, and Héctor Núnez put the win beyond doubt with his goal off a Waldo assist.

The lineup for the final was: Ricardo Zamora, Vicente Piquer, Juan Carlos Quincoces, Chicao Dos Santos, Paquito García, José Sastre, Daniel Mañó, José Sánchez Lage, Waldo Machado, Enrique Ribelles and Héctor Núñez.

In 1999, Valencia CF ended a run of two trophyless decades, stretching back to 1979 domestic cup win. In Seville, Claudio Ranieri's team dominated Atletico Madrid from start to finish, with Claudio López providing a brace and Gaizka Mendieta one of the best goals in the history of the competition.

Along the way to the final, VCF had eliminated Levante UD in a derby, FC Barcelona in the quarter finals and  Real Madrid in the semifinals -including a spectacular 6-0 first leg.

Over 30,000 Valencia CF fans headed to the La Cartuja stadium in southern Spain to take in the final, and they weren't disappointed. The team once again made June 26th a day to remember.