Empoli F.C.

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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

Maurizio Sarri

League

Serie B

2012–13

Serie B, 4th

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.

The club has spent most of the last decade bouncing between Serie A and Serie B. Most recently, Empoli was relegated to Serie B in 2004, but secured promotion back to Serie A in the next season, finishing first in Serie B and qualified for European football for the first time in their history with a respectable 7th place finish. 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 2012-2013, Empoli currently competes in Serie B.

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 only 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 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 Marzoratti 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.

Current squad

As of 30 January 2014.^[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
2	DF	Vincent Laurini
3	DF	Luca Martinelli
4	MF	Luca Castiglia (on loan from Juventus)
5	MF	Davide Moro (captain)
6	MF	Mirko Valdifiori
7	FW	Massimo Maccarone (on loan from Sampdoria)
8	MF	Franco Signorelli
9	FW	Levan Mchedlidze
10	FW	Francesco Tavano
11	MF	Daniele Croce
17	FW	Irakli Shekiladze
18	MF	Simone Verdi (on loan from Torino)

No.	Position	Player
19	MF	Ronaldo Pompeu
20	FW	Manuel Pucciarelli
21	DF	Pietro Accardi
22	GK	Alberto Pelagotti
23	DF	Elseid Hysaj
24	DF	Daniele Rugani (on loan from Juventus)
25	MF	Mirko Eramo (on loan from Sampdoria)
26	DF	Lorenzo Tonelli
28	GK	Davide Bassi
29	DF	Mário Rui
30	DF	Federico Barba
32	DF	Francesco Pratali

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
		GK	Matteo Ricci (at Pontedera)
		FW	Stefano Castellani (at Renate)
		FW	Fabian Himcinschi (at Poli Timișoara)

Youth team

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	Matteo Biggeri
	GK	Brando Corsini
12	GK	Francesco Pacini
	DF	Alessio Agrifogli
13	DF	Matteo Bachini
	DF	Matteo Brumat
	DF	Andrea Gemignani
	DF	Francesco Iozzi
	DF	Leonardo Mattiello
14	DF	Giacomo Risaliti
	DF	Matteo Zavatto
	MF	Kadher Diomande
	MF	El Hadji Assane Diousse

No.	Position	Player
	MF	Michael Fontanelli
16	MF	Ludovico Gargiulo
15	MF	Dramane Konaté
	MF	Carlo Menichetti
	MF	Matteo Santi
	MF	Tudor Sbarcea
31	MF	Roberto Silvestri
	MF	Enrico Taddei
	MF	Paul Thiongo
	FW	Elia Angeli
27	FW	Diego Frugoli
	FW	Filippo Nuti
	FW	Alessandro Piu

Notable former players

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

See also: Category:Empoli F.C. players

Notable former managers

See Category:Empoli F.C. managers.

References

↑ "Empoli axe Cagni". Football Italia. 26 November 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
↑ "Prima Squadra" (in Italian). Empoli F.C. Retrieved 13 November 2013.

External links

Empoli's official website

v t e Serie B

2013–14 clubs	Avellino Bari Brescia Carpi Cesena Cittadella Crotone Empoli Juve Stabia Latina Modena Novara Padova Palermo Pescara Reggina Siena Spezia Ternana Trapani Varese Virtus Lanciano

Former clubs	Acireale Alba Trastevere AlbinoLeffe Alessandria Alzano Virescit Ancona Arezzo Arsenale Taranto Ascoli Atalanta Barletta Biellese Bologna Bolzano Brindisi Cagliari Campobasso Carrarese Casale Casertana Castel di Sangro Catania Catanzaro Cavese Centese Chievo Como Cosenza Crema Cremonese Derthona Fanfulla Fermana Fidelis Andria Fiorentina Fiumana Foggia Forlì Frosinone Gallaratese Gallipoli Genoa Grion Pola Grosseto Gubbio Juventus L'Aquila Latina Lazio Lecce Lecco Legnano Licata Liguria Livorno Lucchese Maceratese Magenta Mantova Marzotto Massese M.A.T.E.R. Matera Messina Mestre Milan Molinella Monfalcone Monza Napoli Nocerina Parma Pavia Perugia Piacenza Piombino Pisa Pistoiese Portogruaro Potenza Prato Pro Gorizia Pro Patria Pro Sesto Pro Vercelli Ravenna Reggiana Rieti Rimini Roma Salernitana Sambenedettese Sampdoria Sampierdarenese Sanremese Sassuolo Savoia Savona Scafatese Seregno Sestrese Siracusa Sorrento SPAL Suzzara Taranto Torino Trani Treviso Triestina Udinese Venezia Verona Viareggio Vicenza Vigevano Vita Nova Vogherese

Statistics	Records

v t e 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	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

Other^†	Serie B-C Alta Italia 1945–46

^†Championships recognized as official by the Italian Football Federation

v t e Football in Italy

Overview	National association League system List of clubs List of venues Records Scudetto Capocannoniere

International	Italy Under-21 Under-20 Under-19 Under-18 Under-17 Under-16 Under-15 Italy women

Leagues	Lega Serie A Lega Serie B Lega Pro Lega Nazionale Dilettanti Lega Calcio (defunct)

League competitions	Serie A Serie B Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie D Eccellenza Promozione Prima Categoria Seconda Categoria Terza Categoria

Cup competitions	Coppa Italia Supercoppa Italiana Coppa Italia Lega Pro Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione Supercoppa di Lega di Seconda Divisione Coppa Italia Serie D Coppa Italia Dilettanti

Youth competitions	Campionato Nazionale Primavera Coppa Italia Primavera Supercoppa Primavera Torneo di Viareggio Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti

Women's competitions	Serie A Coppa Italia

Awards	Oscar del Calcio AIC Italian Football Hall of Fame

Miscellaneous	Totonero 1980 Totonero 1986 2004–10 Italian football scandal 2006 Italian football scandal 2011–12 Italian football scandal Foreign Serie A players Foreign Serie B players

Seasons	1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13

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