Napoli

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The first important Neapolitan club was established in 1905 as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1905 by English sailing sailor William Poths and his associate Hector M. Bayon. Neapolitans like Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi were as well, with one of them was the first president of the club. The first kit worn by the club included navy and sky blue stripe shirt, paired with black shorts. Naples's first game was a 3-1 win over their English team of the vessel Arabik with goals scored by William MacPherson, Michele Scafoglio and Leon Chaudoir.

At the beginning of its existence in its early years, the Italian Football Championship was limited to only northern clubs Southern clubs were able to compete against sailors in cups like Thomas Lipton's Lipton Challenge Cup. The cup was contested by Naples as well as Palermo FBC Naples won three finals. The foreign contingent of the club split off in 1912, forming Internazionale Napoli, in time for both clubs' debut during the Italian Championship of 1912-13. In 1922, the two rival clubs, under financial pressure, merged as the Foot-Ball Club Internazionale-Naples, abbreviated as FBC Internaples.

Under the direction under the leadership of Giorgio Ascarelli, Internaples changed its name to Associazione Calcio Napoli on 25 August 1926. After a shaky beginning, and a single point throughout the entire championship Napoli was reinstated to the Serie A's predecessor of the Divisione Nazionale which was supervised through the Italian Football Federation ("FIGC") and started to grow thanks to the Paraguayan born Attila Sallustro, the first full-time hero for the fans. He was a skilled goal scorer and later recorded the record-breaking goal-scoring record for Napoli that was later broken by players such as Diego Maradona and Marek Hamsik.

Napoli began in the Serie A era under the direction under the direction of William Garbutt. In Garbutt's tenure of six years the club would be significantly transformed, and often finish in the top quartile in the league. The club had two third-place finishes in the 1933-34 season and 1932-33 seasons and notable players like Antonio Vojak, Arnaldo Sentimenti and Carlo Buscaglia. But, in the period that followed World War II, Napoli declined, and was the only team being able to avoid relegation in 1939-40 with a goals per game.

Napoli was defeated in a heated contest to be relegated at the conclusion of 1942, and were then dropped in Serie B. They were transferred to the Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli to the Stadio Arturo Collana and remained in Serie B until after the war.

In 1945, the game resumed with two divisions: one comprised from Serie A teams from the north, and a combined division comprised of Serie A and Serie B teams from south and central regions and the top four teams of each division progressing to the national tournament which was held the following year. Napoli took the Centro-Sud Serie A-B, which secured them a place into the Divisione Nazionale (where they placed in fifth place) and an automatic advancement to the following year's Serie A. They were deported after two years due to the corruption scandal. Napoli won an Serie B title that season to ensure top-flight football in the 1950s. Napoli relocated to their new home stadium Stadio San Paolo on the 1st of the year 1959.

Despite the inconsistent league form, with lows and highs throughout this time, and a series of promotions and relegations, Napoli were the first team to win a important trophy when they defeated SPAL to win the Coppa Italia in 1962 thanks to goals scored by Gianni Corelli as well as Pierluigi Ronaldon. The win was a landmark victory, making Napoli their first club to take home the Coppa while playing in Serie B, and they were elevated into Serie A that season. The fourth time they were relegated, their celebrations were cut short for the next season.

The club changed its name to Societa Sportsiva Calcio Napoli on the 25th of June 1964, they began rising up again, eventually gaining promotion between 1964 and 1965. Under the direction under former teammate Bruno Pesaola, they won the Coppa di Alpi[23and were in the top tier of Serie A, with consistent top five finishing. Napoli was close to winning the league between 1967 and 1968 but finished ahead of Milan in second position. Some of the most famous players of the time included Dino Zoff, Jose Altafini, Omar Sivori and hometown midfielder Antonio Juliano. Juliano was to eventually smash the records for appearances, which is in place today.

This trend towards Napoli being successful throughout the season continued through the 1970s, earning third-place spots in the years 1970-71 and 1973-74. Under the guidance from former teammate Luis Vinicio, this gained Napoli entry into the first UEFA Cup competitions. In 1974-75 they reached the third round and knocked out Porto by 2-0 in the process. The same season, Napoli finished second in Serie A, just two points ahead of the champions Juventus. Excellent performances from local players like Giuseppe Bruscolotti, Antonio Juliano and Salvatore Esposito were relied upon in this time, along with goals scored by Giuseppe Savoldi.

The club was awarded the 2nd Coppa Italia trophy in 1975-76 defeating Milan and Fiorentina on the way, before winning against their rivals Hellas Verona 4-0 in the final. In the same season, they beat Southampton 4-1 in aggregate in order to win the 1976 Anglo-Italian League Cup. Napoli were included in the winner's cup of the UEFA Cup in 1976-77. They made it to the semi-finals, but fell the aggregate match 2-1 to Anderlecht. The Italian league Napoli continued to be very well-behaved top six team throughout the course of the latter part of the 1970s. Even in the first two seasons in the 1980s, Napoli was performing admirably with a third place finish in the years 1980-81. However, by 1983 they were falling off drastically and were caught up in the battle for relegation.

Napoli beat the record for world transfers when it acquired Diego Maradona in a EUR12 million deal with Barcelona on the 30th of June, 1984. The squad was rebuilt gradually with players like Ciro Ferrara Salvatore Bagni and Fernando De Napoli making up the squad. The rise to the top of the table was gradual. By the time 1985-86, they were able to boast an impressive third place finish with a few wins however, there was more to be. The 1986-87 campaign was the important moment in the history of Napoli. becoming only the 3rd Italian team to achieve the double, having won their Serie A title by three points. They then beat Atalanta by 4-0 to win the Coppa Italia.

Since the mainland Southern Italian team had never been a winner of the league before it was a turning point for Maradona to become an important cultural, social, and borderline religious symbol for Neapolitans and extended beyond the boundaries of football.

Napoli were not successful at winning the European Cup in the following season, and finished second during Serie A. The club did win, however, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup for 1988-89 and they won their first important European trophy. Juventus, Bayern Munich and PAOK were defeated on their way to the final, in which Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart 5-4 on aggregate and scored two goals from Careca and one goal each from Maradona Ferrara, Maradona and Alemao.

Napoli also won the second Serie A title in 1989-90 winning over Milan 2 points to win the championship. However, this was followed by less favourable circumstances, as Napoli received two points in a gamewhen, in Bergamo the Atalanta fan throws a 100-lira coin at Alemao's head.

An unpopular set of events that began during the 90 World Cup, when Maradona made comments about South-North inequalities in the country and the risorgimento. Maradona asked Neapolitans to support Argentina when they play in semi-finals Italy on the island of Naples.

I'm not happy that people are now demanding Neapolitans to identify as Italian and to help their team for national football. Naples is always regarded as a marginalized city by the other cities of Italy. This is one city which suffers the most discrimination against race.

-- Diego Maradona, July 1990

It was the Stadio San Paolo, the San Paolo stadium was the one place in the tournament where the Argentine national anthem wasn't dissected, Maradona bowed to the Napoli supporters at the end and his nation was able to make it to the final. After the final it was revealed that it was discovered that the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) required Maradona to undergo a doping test. He failed, having a positive test for cocaine. both Maradona as well as the Napoli personnel later claimed that the incident was an attempt to retaliate for the events that took place at the World Cup. Maradona was suspended for 15 months, and would never be a part of the team for another time. They still won it the Supercoppa Italiana that year, by a record 5-1 win against Juventus However, it was their final big trophy for 22 years. When they played in their participation in the European Cup, they were eliminated in the second round.

Although the club was fourth in the 1991-92 season, Napoli gradually went into decline following that period, in terms of finances as well as in the playing field. The players like Gianfranco Zola Daniel Fonseca, Ciro Ferrara, and Careca were all gone in 1994. However, Napoli qualified for the 1994-95 UEFA Cup, reaching the third round. In the 1996/97 season, Napoli appeared at the Coppa Italia final, where they lost by 3-1 against Vicenza. Napoli's league performance had slipped further, and the relegation process into Serie B came at the close of 1997-98, when they had only won two games throughout the season.

The club was relegated in Serie A after gaining promotion during the 1999-2000 season but after a tense fight for relegation the club was immediately sent to the bottom of the league in the following season. In august 2004, Napoli became bankrupt. In order to secure football at the local level, filmmaker Aurelio De Laurentiis re-founded the club with its name Napoli Soccer, as they weren't allowed to keep their old name. FIGC was able to place Napoli on the Serie C1, where they did not make it to the next level following a loss of by 2-1 in play-offs against their local counterparts Avellino between 2004 and 2005.

Despite the fact that Napoli were in the lower division, they had greater average attendances than the majority clubs in Serie A clubs, breaking the Serie C attendance record with 51,000 fans in one match. In the following season they were promoted into Serie B and De Laurentiis returned the club's history by restoring the name Societa Sportiva Calcio Napoli in the month of May 2006. After only 1 season playing in Serie B, they were moved into the highest division alongside their fellow "sleeping gigantics" Genoa. Under director Walter Mazzarri, Napoli finished in sixth position to earn the 2010.11 UEFA Europa League spot. Napoli placed as third during the season 2010-11, and qualified straight for the stage group for the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League.

For the season 2011-12 Napoli finished fifth on the table in Serie A, but defeated unbeaten champions Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico to win the Coppa Italia for the fourth time in club's history. It was 25 years from their last cup win. Napoli came in second place in their group in 2012-12 UEFA Champions League, progressing to the round of 16 which they lost to the eventual winners Chelsea. For 2012-13 Napoli placed in the second position at the bottom of Serie A, the club's most successful performance since winning the 1989-90 Scudetto. Edinson Cavani was the most prolific in the division , scoring 29 , which led to the sale of him for Paris Saint-Germain for a club-record price in the amount of EUR64 million.

The 2013 close-season saw Mazzarri was dismissed from Napoli in the 2013 close-season and Rafael Benitez became the club's manager. They concluded the 2013-14 season with a win in their fourth Coppa Italia Final. It was which was their fifth victory at the event which they won 3-1 against Fiorentina and also being selected for the Champions League, but missed out in the group stage when they fell in the play-off round to Athletic Bilbao in the play-off round. The following season as a team in the Europa League ended when they were defeated 2-1 by FC Dnipro in the semi-finals. The 2014-15 season ended in fifth position, with Benitez departing for Real Madrid and being replaced by Maurizio Sarri.

In the first season of Sarri's charge during the 2015-16 season, Napoli finished in 2nd spot with 82 points. They were eliminated from the Europa League in the round of 32 against Villarreal. The following year, Napoli finished in 3rd spot with 86 points but were eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 against Real Madrid. The year of the breakthrough season for Dries Mertens, who scored 34 goals across every competition after being switched from the left-wing in Milik's injury to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament.

The 2017-18 campaign saw Napoli was a contender for title throughout the entire season and ended up with a an all-time record for the club with 91 points. But the title eventually was awarded to Juventus in the final round of games. On the 23rd of December, 2017 Marek Hamsik overtook Diego Maradona as Napoli's all-time top scorer, scoring the 115th time he scored. In the final stages of the campaign, Sarri quit for Chelsea to be succeeding by Carlo Ancelotti in May 2018. He led the club to another second-place finish however, he was dismissed on December 10, 2019, due to a lack of results during the season 2019-20, which saw the team in seventh place in the table. Gennaro Gattuso was appointed the next day as the head coach. On June 14, 20th, Dries Mertens was Napoli's greatest scorer of all time after the 122nd time he scored during the Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter. Napoli was able to take home their 20th edition of the Coppa Italia in a penalty shoot-out with Juventus at the end of.

Then, in December of 2020 Napoli changed its name to San Paolo in honor of Diego Maradona, after the loss of their beloved club legend.

In 2021-22, Luciano Spalletti replaced Gennaro Gattuso as the head coach and guided the team to third position at the top of Serie A, securing a Champions League spot for the Azzurri following a gap of two years.

As of 31 August 2022

As of 1 September 2022.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Nikita Contini (at Sampdoria until 30 June 2023) — DF  ITA Filippo Costa (at Foggia until 30 June 2023) — DF  ITA Sebastiano Luperto (at Empoli until 30 June 2023) — DF  ITA Francesco Mezzoni (at Ancona until 30 June 2023) — DF  ITA Lorenzo Sgarbi (at Renate until 30 June 2023) — DF  ITA Davide Costanzo (at Alessandria until 30 June 2023)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ITA Leonardo Candellone (at Pordenone until 30 June 2023) — FW  ITA Antonio Cioffi (at Pontedera until 30 June 2023) — FW  ITA Giuseppe D'Agostino (at Juve Stabia until 30 June 2023) — FW  ITA Eugenio D'Ursi (at Foggia until 30 June 2023) — FW  ITA Michael Folorunsho (at Bari until 30 June 2023) — FW  ITA Andrea Petagna (at Monza until 30 June 2023)

As of 19 September 2021

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL Hubert Dawid Idasiak 12 GK  ITA Ciro Pinto 21 GK  ITA Vincenzo Provitolo 22 GK  ITA Valerio Boffelli 2 DF  ITA Benedetto Barba 3 DF  ITA Davide Costanzo 18 DF  ALB Daniel Hysaj 25 DF  ITA Balla Mousa Manè 26 DF  ITA Pasquale Pontillo 27 DF  ITA Johnatan Andrea Spedalieri 28 DF  ITA Matteo Marchisano 29 DF  ITA Francesco Rossi 33 DF  ITA Enrico Giannini 4 MF  ITA Salvatore Longobardi 5 MF  ITA Gennaro Iaccarino 6 MF  ITA Francesco Pio Gioielli 8 MF  ITA Dylan De Pasquale

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  ITA Alessandro Spavone 17 MF  ITA Massimiliano Flora 23 MF  ITA Manuel Di Palma 30 MF  ITA Antonio Vergara 35 MF  ITA Alessio Lettera 37 MF  ITA Francesco De Marco 94 MF  FRA Coli Saco 7 FW  ITA Davide Acampa 9 FW  ITA Antonio Pesce 10 FW  ITA Giuseppe Ambrosino di Bruttopilo 11 FW  ITA Antonio Cioffi 14 FW  ITA Fabio Scognamiglio 19 FW  ITA Domenico Di Dona 24 FW  ITA Pasquale Marranzzino 32 FW  ITA Giuseppe D'Agostino

• Primavera Staff
  • Head Coach:  Nicolò Frustalupi

The summer of 2000 Napoli removed the number 10 from their jersey. 10 belonging to former club legendary Diego Maradona, who played for the club from 1984 until 1991. In order, the final players wearing number 10, were Fausto Pizzi (1995-1996), Beto (in 1996-97), Igor Protti in 1997-1998 was the final player to score a goal wearing the number 10 jersey during Serie A and Claudio Bellucci from 1998-1999 and 1999-2000, as well as 1999 and 2000 in Serie B. Karl Corneliusson had this number shirt between 2004 and 2005 in Serie C. In Serie C the team's starting players were required to wear shirts that had the numbers 1-11

For reasons of regulation the number was reinstated on blue shirts in 2004 and 2006. Serie C1, a tournament which has the previous numbers ranging from 1 to 11. The the last person to score goals wearing this shirt in a formal game is Mariano Bogliacino in the home game on May 18th, 2006 against Spezia that was applicable to the final leg of the Supercoppa di Lega Serie C1 and his supremacy is as well for his final game in the tournament, on May 12th 2006 in the home game against Lanciano. In terms of the championship only however, the honor goes to Argentine soccer player Roberto Sosa, the distinction of being the only one to wear the number 10 on the San Paolo and at the same time scoring during the game against Frosinone on the 30th of April, 2006.

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• UEFA Cup

• Winners: 1988–89

• Serie A

• Winners: 1986–87, 1989–90

• Coppa Italia

• Winners: 1961–62, 1975–76, 1986–87, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2019–20

• Supercoppa Italiana

• Winners: 1990, 2014

• Serie B

• Winners: 1949–50[53]

• Serie C1-South

• Winners: 2005–06 South

• Centro-Sud Serie A-B

• Winners: 1945–46

• Anglo-Italian League Cup

• Winners: 1976

• Coppa delle Alpi

• Winners: 1966

Below is the official presidential history of Napoli, from when Giorgio Ascarelli took over at the club in 1926, until the present day.

 

Position	Staff
First-Team Manager	Luciano Spalletti
First-Team Assistant Manager	Daniele Baldini
First-Team Goalkeeper Coach	Simone Beccaccioli
Technical Coach	Salvatore Russo  Francesco Sinatti
Athletic Trainer	Francesco Cacciapuoti
Deputy Athletic Coach	Alejandro Rosalen Lopez
Match Analyst	Prof. Raffaele Canonico
Social Doctor	Dr. Gennaro De Luca
First-Team Doctor	Marco Rufolo
Nutritionist	Marco Rufolo
Physiotherapist	Marco Di Lullo  Vincenzo Longobardo  Marco Romano  Fabio Sannino  Paolo Tartaglione  Nicola Zazzaro

Napoli has had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team. Here is a chronological list of them from 1926 onwards:

Marek Hamsik holds Napoli's official appearance record, having played 522 appearances. Also, he holds record-breaking appearances in the league with 408 appearances over 12 years between 2007 and 2019.

The all-time top goalscorer at Napoli was Dries Mertens with the most goals with 148. 

Diego Maradona finished the season of Serie A as the league's highest scorer, referred to by the name of Italy by the name of Capocannoniere during the 1987-88 season, scoring 15 goals. The feat was followed with Edinson Cavani, in the 2012-13 season and Gonzalo Higuain during 2015-16.

The record for the highest number of goals scored in this league (also including the Divisione Nazionale tournaments) belongs to Attila Sallustro, who scored scores of 106, while the most prolific goal scorer of Serie A is Dries Mertens with 100 goals. The record for the most goals scored in a single league season is held by Gonzalo Higuain with 36 goals during his 2015-16 Serie A. 

The greatest ever win achieved in the history of Napoli was 8-1 in the match against Pro Patria, in the 1955-56 season of Serie A. Napoli's biggest loss to the championship came in the 1927-28 season , when final champions Torino defeated them 11-0. 

On July 26, 2016 Gonzalo Higuain was the third-highest transfer in football of all time and the most expensive transfer to an Italian club when he signed with Juventus at EUR90 million. 

The 31st of July, 2020 Napoli announced its signing Victor Osimhen from Lille for an amount in the amount of EUR70 million, which makes the most expensive signing for Napoli. 

Since Naples is a city that is located on the coast The colors of the club's colors have always inspired by Blue waters in the Gulf of Naples. In the beginning, taking the title Naples FBC, the colours of the club were based on two blue shades. Since the 1920s, a single blue shade has been employed to represent the color azure. This is why Napoli have the nickname "Azzurri" alongside the Italy the national side. The shade of blue is sky blue in numerous instances.

The most famous nickname associated with Napoli is "I Cicci" which translates to "the donkeys" in the Neapolitan language. Napoli received this nickname following a poor performance in the 1926-27 season. The name was initially intended to be insulting, considering that the Neapolitan symbol depicts a wild black horse. However, the club decided to adopt the donkey as its character mascot that was that was named "'O Ciuccio". 

Napoli's club badge is adorned with the large "N" set within an ellipse. This design is traced into Internazionale Napoli, which used the same design on their shirt. Since the club's official took it as the "N emblem" as their official emblem, Napoli have altered it somewhat at different times with different designs; some of them have the club's name on the crest, and sometimes not. The primary distinction between each badge is the color of blue that is used. The typical "N" has a white shade, but it may be gold. 

"Partenopei" is the well-known name for the club as well as those from Naples and the surrounding city Naples generally.  It comes from Greek mythology, where the siren Parthenope attempted to lure Odysseus by dragging him from the ship Capri. In the tale, Odysseus had his men attach him to the mast of his ship so that he could not be enthralled by the siren. In the end, Parthenope, unable to accept the loss of her lover she drowned herself, and her body found washed up on the shores of Naples.

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Napoli is the fourth most popular soccer club of Italy with about 13 percent of Italian football fans backing the club. As with other top clubs across Italy, the fanbase of Napoli extends beyond the Italian border. In 2018, Napoli's social club's society reported that its club had more than 35 million fans across the globe and 120 million who wished to watch Napoli games.

The next morning, we headed to San Paolo to warm up, Carlos (Tevez) was explaining to me about this stadium, however I've played for Barca so I thought to myself, it shouldn't be this big of a deal! But when I stepped foot on the field, I was struck by something extraordinary distinct. At night, when it was time for the anthem of the Champions League, hearing 80,000 fans yelling at us, I realized the situation the situation was! I was a part of some crucial games in my professional career but when I heard the chant at first,, my legs started shaking! It was at that point I realized that for these individuals, it isn't just a game, it is a deep love similar to the bond between a mother-and-a son! It was the one occasion I was on the field after losing a game for the sake of enjoying the spectacle. 

-- Yaya Toure

In contrast to other Italian cities like Genoa, Milan, Rome and Turin, Napoli is the sole major soccer club in the city. Therefore, there isn't a derby strictly speaking of the word.

The countrywide rivalries are often contested by AS Roma, known as derby of the sun. It is also and a rivalry with Juventus and Juventus, with all three clubs boasting huge fan bases that frequently compete for the title over the course of the season. There is also an rivalry with the other Roman club, Lazio and also play Derby Mezzogiorno in the derby Mezzogiorno against Bari and the derby Bourbon with Foggia.

The derby played in Southern Italy: against Catanzaro in the seventies was thought to be to be one of the most significant derbies of Southern Italy. 

The Napoli fans Napoli have a role to play in two derbies that are played in Italy against clubs from the region: Derby della Campania generally refers to a rivalry against regional clubs, particularly Avellino as well as Salernitana. 

The derby, which is now rare with Savoia was first played on 24 December 1939, in the knockout phase of Italian Cup from 1939 to 1940. The score was 3-3 Savoy Naples. 

Napoli are famous for their long-standing bond with the supporters of Genoa. The club also has a less intimate relationship with fans of the Bulgarian team Lokomotiv Plovdiv; Napoli gave birth to the nickname "Napoletani Ultras Plovdiv" and that's how the friendship began. 

A friendly rivalry between Palermo is in dispute, referred to by the name of Two Sicilies derby, in reference to the historical connection between the former kingdom of Two Sicilies.

Other friendships are also in place as well with Catania, Borussia Dortmund,[86] Paris Saint-Germain, as well as Celtic. 

S.S.C. Napoli was removed from professional football in the year 2004. In accordance with Article 52 of the N.O.I.F., the sports name was changed into Napoli Soccer (later Napoli Soccer (later "new" Napoli) in the same year, and the corporation that ran Napoli's previous title "old" Napoli was liquidated. In the second season prior to bankruptcy the club was saved due to the non-standard accounting method of amortization following Silvio Berlusconi, the owner of Milan and the Prime Minister of Italy introduced Italian Law 91/1981, Article 18B. 

Since its re-founding in 2004 the club's huge number of supporters have been the primary source of revenue especially through gate revenue and television rights. Napoli earned a total profit of $600,000 in the 2006/07 season Serie B. The club has been profitable ever since their return back to Serie A. Napoli Equity in the year 2005 was negative EUR261,466, after starting at EUR3 million of capital. In 2010 the equity stood around EUR25,107,223 when Napoli was self-sustainable.

S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A.separate financial statements

As of 21 June 2021

Rank	Team	Points
18	Shakhtar Donetsk	79.000
19	Lyon	76.000
20	Napoli	74.000
21	RB Leipzig	66.000
22	Villarreal	63.000

• 1926–1929 Divisione Nazionale (1st tier)
• 1929–1942 Serie A (1st tier)
• 1942–1943 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 1943–1946 No contests (World War II)
• 1946–1948 Serie A (1st tier)
• 1948–1950 Serie B (2nd tier) – Champions: 1950
• 1950–1961 Serie A (1st tier)
• 1961–1962 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 1962–1963 Serie A (1st tier)
• 1963–1965 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 1965–1998 Serie A (1st tier) – Champions: 1987, 1990
• 1998–2000 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 2000–2001 Serie A (1st tier)
• 2001–2004 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 2004–2006 Serie C1 (3rd tier) – Champions: 2006
• 2006–2007 Serie B (2nd tier)
• 2007–present Serie A (1st tier)