Empoli F.C.

Empoli
Full name Empoli Football Club SpA
Nickname(s) Azzurri (the Blues)
Founded 1920
Ground Stadio Carlo Castellani,
Empoli, Italy
(Capacity: 19,847)
Chairman Fabrizio Corsi
Manager Guido Carboni
League Serie B
2010–11 Serie B, 9th
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours

Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.

In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions. Most recently, Empoli was relegated from Serie A to Serie B in 2004, but secured promotion back to Serie A in the next season, finishing first in Serie B. 2007–08 was the seventh Serie A season for Empoli, particularly impressive for a team in a city of only 45,000 inhabitants. Empoli relies on extremely successful youth divisions which are among the most renowned in Italy. However, as of 2011-2012, Empoli currently competes in Serie B.

Contents

History

Empoli's history was relatively obscure before the 1980s when they attained Serie B status. In 1986, this small-town club managed the remarkable feat of promotion to Serie A. Playing their first few home games in Florence, Empoli's Serie A debut resulted in a 1–0 win over Inter. Helped by a 9-point deduction from Udinese, they just avoided relegation with only 23 points and 13 goals in 30 games. Empoli themselves received a 5-point penalty the following season, and were relegated despite an improved showing. They were relegated again to Serie C1 in 1989.

They then spent several seasons in Serie C1 before returning to Serie B in 1996 and achieving a second successive promotion in 1997. With Luciano Spalletti at the helm, Empoli defied the odds to finish in 12th place and avoid relegation. Relegation the following year began a three-year stay in Serie B, in which time the club became renowned for nurturing its own outstanding young talent.

Promotions to Serie A in 2002 and 2005 have seen the club emerge as brave battlers against relegation. They ended the [[2005–06 Serie A}2005-06]] season in a respectable 10th place in top-flight. As a result of the Serie A match-fixing scandal at the end of that season, they gained qualification for the UEFA Cup for the following season, however bizarrely they did not play in it because the club management failed to ask for a UEFA License. In the 2006–07 season, the club gained once again qualified for the UEFA Cup.

European debut and Relegation

With the prospect of European football approaching, the management proceeded to strengthen the squad, most notably signing a number of young players from big Serie A clubs such as Rincón of Internazionale, Ignazio Abate and Lino Marzorati of Milan and Sebastian Giovinco, Claudio Marchisio and Rej Volpato of Juventus on loan or co-ownership deals. Empoli marked their debut in the UEFA Cup with a two-legged match against FC Zurich, losing 4–2 on aggregate. A poor showing in the initial part of the season then led chairman Fabrizio Corsi to sack Luigi Cagni, who led the Tuscans to UEFA Cup qualification, and replace him with Alberto Malesani.[1] However, the club's fortunes did not change and Malesani was sacked after a 2-0 defeat to Sampdoria which left them at the bottom of the table. Cagni was re-appointed on 31 March 2008 but the team suffered a last-minute relegation. Cagni resigned and was replaced by Silvio Baldini ahead of the 2008–09 season. However, Baldini's tenure did not prove to be successful, as the Tuscans ended the season only in fifth place, and were later defeated in the promotion playoffs by Brescia.

Serie B

Despite modest results, Baldini was sacked. By December 2011, the club had gone through four coaches since the 2009-10 season.

Colors and badge

The team's colours are blue and white.

Players

Current first team squad

As of 22 August, 2011[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Renato Dossena
2 DF Ricardo Chará
3 DF Vasco Regini (on loan from Sampdoria)
4 MF Roberto Guitto
5 MF Davide Moro
6 MF Mirko Valdifiori
7 FW Flavio Lazzari
8 FW Gastón Brugman
9 FW Claudio Coralli
10 FW Francesco Tavano
11 FW Christian Cesaretti
12 MF Manuel Coppola (on loan from Parma)
13 DF Gregorio Mazzanti
14 FW Nicolao Dumitru (on loan from Napoli)
15 MF Franco Signorelli
17 MF Leonardo Bianchi
No. Position Player
18 FW Stefano Castellani
20 FW Manuel Pucciarelli
21 DF Lorenzo Stovini
22 FW Riccardo Saponara
24 MF Antonio Buscè
25 DF Daniele Mori
25 GK Matteo Ricci
27 GK Alberto Pelagotti
31 DF Emanuele la Rocca
33 MF Gaston Camano
34 DF Lorenzo Tonelli
77 FW Irakli Shekiladze
87 DF Alessandro Vinci
88 MF Ivan Fatic (on loan from Chievo)
93 GK Jacopo Furlan
99 FW Levan Mchedlidze

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
MF Gianluca Musacci (at Parma)
DF Simone Iacoponi (at F.C. Südtirol)
FW Salvatore Caturano (at A.S.G. Nocerina)
GK Davide Bassi (at Sassuolo)

Notable former players

Players with international caps, appearances in Olympic Games or 100 league appearances with Empoli

Notable former managers

See Category:Empoli F.C. managers.

References

  1. ^ "Empoli axe Cagni". Football Italia. 26 November 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071128121509/http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/nov26p.html. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
  2. ^ "Squadra" (in Italian). Empoli FC. http://www.empolicalcio.net/squadre_scheda.php?idsquadra=4. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 

External links

AlbinoLeffe · Ascoli · Bari · Brescia · Cittadella · Crotone · Empoli · Grosseto · Gubbio · Juve Stabia · Livorno  · Modena · Nocerina · Padova · Pescara · Reggina · Sampdoria · Sassuolo · Torino · Varese · Verona · Vicenza
Serie B seasons
Lega Calcio Serie B seasons
1929–30 · 1930–31 · 1931–32 · 1932–33 · 1933–34 · 1934–35 · 1935–36 · 1936–37 · 1937–38 · 1938–39 · 1939–40 · 1940–41 · 1941–42 · 1942–43 · 1943–44 · 1944–45 · 1945–46 · 1946–47 · 1947–48 · 1948–49 · 1949–50 · 1950–51 · 1951–52 · 1952–53 · 1953–54 · 1954–55 · 1955–56 · 1956–57 · 1957–58 · 1958–59 · 1959–60 · 1960–61 · 1961–62 · 1962–63 · 1963–64 · 1964–65 · 1965–66 · 1966–67 · 1967–68 · 1968–69 · 1969–70 · 1970–71 · 1971–72 · 1972–73 · 1973–74 · 1974–75 · 1975–76 · 1976–77 · 1977–78 · 1978–79 · 1979–80 · 1980–81 · 1981–82 · 1982–83 · 1983–84 · 1984–85 · 1985–86 · 1986–87 · 1987–88 · 1988–89 · 1989–90 · 1990–91 · 1991–92 · 1992–93 · 1993–94 · 1994–95 · 1995–96 · 1996–97 · 1997–98 · 1998–99 · 1999–00 · 2000–01 · 2001–02 · 2002–03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2006–07 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10
Lega Serie B seasons
Other†
†Championships recognized as official by the Italian Football Federation
Overview
International
Leagues
League competitions
Cup competitions
Youth competitions
Women's competitions
Awards
Miscellaneous