Udinese Calcio

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Udinese
logo
Full name Udinese Calcio SpA
Nickname(s) Bianconeri ("White-blacks"),
Zebrette ("little zebras")
Founded 1896
Ground Stadio Friuli,
Udine, Italy
(Capacity 41,652)
Chairman Flag of Italy Franco Soldati
Head Coach Flag of Italy Pasquale Marino
League Serie A
2007-08 Serie A, 7th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Udinese Calcio (in short Udinese) is an Italian football club. Based in Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, northern Italy), the club currently plays in Serie A. The traditional team home kit is black and white striped shirt, black shorts, and white socks. The club plays in the Stadio Friuli, which can seat 41,652. It has a good number of fans in Friuli and surrounding areas, and it is sometimes seen as the best symbol of Friulian pride.[citation needed] Udinese is also known for having one of the youngest senior sides in football, having just 2 footballers born outside of the 80s era.

Contents

[edit] History

Stadio Friuli, Udinese's ground
Stadio Friuli, Udinese's ground

The club was founded in 1896 as part of the Società Udinese di Ginnastica e Scherma. In its very first season, the club won a regional tournament organised by the National Federation of Gymnastics (FGNI). This is considered by some the first national Italian football title.

The club played in the regional leagues until 1929 when it joined Serie B. Never outstandingly successful, the club was quickly relegated and did not return to that division until 1939. Promotion to the top division was first achieved in 1950, and a final second place was reached in 1955, but the club was relegated in that same year, following a nine point deduction for irregularities; the club bounced back the next season.

The club was relegated in 1961-62 and fell all the way to Serie C by 1964. The club remained in C for fourteen seasons before returning to B, and then reaching A in 1979. The club stayed in A until 1987 and then moved between the top two divisions for a time before re-establishing themselves in A from 1995, with the club's second highest finish after 1955 coming in 1997-98 when they were third.

The club has never had success at the top level or in European competition. They have been Serie B champions twice (1955-56 and 1978-79), Serie C champions three times (1938-39, 1948-49, and 1977-78), they won the Anglo-Italian Cup once (1978), the Mitropa Cup once (1980), the Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy once (1999) and the UEFA Intertoto Cup once (2000).

At the end of 2004-2005 season, the club gained the fourth position in the Italian league, and subsequently qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history, however not achieving qualification from the group stage.

Udinese will participate in the first round of the UEFA Cup for the 2008-2009 campaign.

[edit] Honours

[edit] First team squad

As of 2008-02-01[1]

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Brazil GK Saulo
2 Flag of Colombia DF Cristián Zapata
3 Flag of Ghana FW Asamoah Gyan
4 Flag of Italy MF Gaetano D'Agostino
5 Flag of Nigeria MF Christian Obodo
6 Flag of Italy DF Andrea Coda
7 Flag of Italy FW Simone Pepe
8 Flag of Italy DF Andrea Dossena
10 Flag of Italy FW Antonio Di Natale (captain)
11 Flag of Italy MF Giampiero Pinzi
14 Flag of Italy MF Antonio Candreva
15 Flag of Chile MF Mauricio Isla
16 Flag of Argentina FW Federico Laurito
17 Flag of Italy DF Riccardo Colombo
19 Flag of Brazil DF Felipe
No. Position Player
20 Flag of Italy MF Giandomenico Mesto
21 Flag of the Czech Republic DF Tomáš Zápotočný
22 Flag of Slovenia GK Samir Handanovič
23 Flag of Finland MF Roman Eremenko
24 Flag of Serbia DF Aleksandar Luković
25 Flag of Italy GK Antonio Chimenti
27 Flag of Italy FW Fabio Quagliarella
29 Flag of Italy MF Raffaele De Martino
30 Flag of Switzerland DF Igor Djurić
32 Flag of Italy DF Damiano Ferronetti
83 Flag of Italy FW Antonio Floro Flores
86 Flag of Brazil FW Guilherme Siqueira
88 Flag of Switzerland MF Gökhan İnler
99 Flag of Brazil DF Moreno

For all transfers and loans pertaining to Udinese for the current season, please see: 2007–08 transfers.

[edit] Notable former players

Including only players with at least 100 appearances in the club, a topscorer title during their stay with the club, or an appearance in a FIFA World Cup edition

[edit] Managerial history

 
Name Nationality Years
Bora Milutinović Flag of Yugoslavia 1987–1988
Giovanni Galeone Flag of Italy 1994–1995
Alberto Zaccheroni Flag of Italy 1995–1998
Francesco Guidolin Flag of Italy 1998–1999
Luciano Spalletti Flag of Italy 2000–2001
Roy Hodgson Flag of England 2001-2002
Luciano Spalletti Flag of Italy 2002–2005
Serse Cosmi Flag of Italy 2005–2006
Loris Dominissini Flag of Italy 2006
Giovanni Galeone Flag of Italy 2006–2007
Alberto Malesani Flag of Italy 2007
Pasquale Marino Flag of Italy 2007–present

[edit] World Cup winners

[edit] Famous coaches

[edit] References

  1. ^ Prima squadra - Stagione 2007/2008 (Italian). Udinese Calcio. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.

[edit] External links