Empoli F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Full name | Empoli Football Club SpA | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Azzurri (the Blues) | |||
| Founded | 1920 | |||
| Ground | Stadio Carlo Castellani, Empoli, Italy (Capacity: 19,847) |
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| Chairman | Fabrizio Corsi | |||
| Manager | Salvatore Campilongo | |||
| League | Serie B | |||
| 2008–09 | Serie B, 5th | |||
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Empoli Football Club is a football club based in Empoli, Tuscany, formed in 1920 though its first official match was 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, quite a record for a town of only 45,000 inhabitants, whose team founds its fortunes on their youth divisions, among the most renowned in Italy. As of season 2008-09, Empoli has been situated in Serie B.
The team's colours are blue and white.
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[edit] 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 season in a respectable 10th place. 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.
In 2007-08, 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] Cagni was re-appointed on March 31, 2008 but the team faced relegation after the final match of the season. Cagni quit and Empoli hired Silvio Baldini to lead the team during the 2008–09 season. However, Baldini's guidance 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. The 2009–10 season will see Empoli being guided by a new head coach, Salvatore Campilongo, formerly a striker for the azzurri in the 1980s.
[edit] Current first team squad
- As of 24 November 2009.[2]
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable former players
Gianluca Berti
Marco Bresciano- Antonio Di Natale
Johnny Ekström- Sebastian Giovinco
- Vincenzo Grella
- Massimo Maccarone
- Vincenzo Montella
- Tommaso Rocchi
- Francesco Tavano
Marcelo Zalayeta- Luciano Spalletti
- See also: Category:Empoli F.C. players
[edit] Notable former managers
[edit] References
- ^ "Empoli axe Cagni". Football Italia. 2007-11-26. http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/nov26p.html. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Squadra" (in Italian). Empoli FC. http://www.empolicalcio.it/interno.php?sez=5. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
