S.S.C. Napoli

History

The first club was founded as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1904 by English sailor William Poths and his associate Hector M. Bayon. Neapolitans such as Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi were also involved, the latter of whom was the club's first president. The original kit of the club was a sky blue and navy blue striped shirt, with black shorts. Naples' first match was a 3–2 win against the English crew of the boat Arabik with goals from MacPherson, Scafoglio and Chaudoir. The name of the club was shortened to Naples Foot-Ball Club in 1906.

Early into its existence, the Italian Football Championship was limited to just Northern clubs, so Southern clubs competed against sailors or in cups such as Thomas Lipton's Lipton Challenge Cup. In the cup competed between Naples and Palermo FBC, Naples won three finals. The foreign contingent at the club broke off in 1912 to form Internazionale Napoli, in time for both club's debut in the Italian Championship of 1912–13. Though the sides had a keen rivalry in the Campania section, they were not as successful outside of it and a few years after World War I, they merged as Foot-Ball Club Internazionale-Naples, also known as FBC Internaples.

Associazione Calcio Napoli

Under the presidency of Giorgio Ascarelli, the club changed its name to Associazione Calcio Napoli on 23 August 1926. After a poor start, with a sole point in an entire championship, Napoli was readmitted to Serie A's forerunner National Division by the Italian FA, and began to improve thanks in part to Paraguayan-born Attila Sallustro, who was the first fully fledged hero to the fans. He was a capable goal-scorer and eventually set the all-time goal-scoring record for Napoli, which still stands today.

Napoli entered the Serie A-era under the management of William Garbutt. During his six-year stint, the club would be dramatically transformed, frequently finishing in the top half of the table. This included two third-place finishes during the 1932–33 and 1933–34 seasons, with added notables such as Antonio Vojak, Arnaldo Sentimenti and Carlo Buscaglia. For the years leading up to World War II Napoli went into decline, surviving relegation in 1939–40 by goal average.

Napoli lost a closely contested relegation battle at the end of 1942 and were relegated to Serie B. They moved from Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli to Stadio Arturo Collana and stayed in Serie B until after the war. When play continued, Napoli earned the right to compete in Serie A, but were relegated after two seasons for a bribery scandal. The club bounced back to ensure top flight football at the start of the 1950s. Napoli moved to their new home ground Stadio San Paolo in 1959. Despite erratic league form with highs and lows during this period, including a further relegation and promotion, Napoli had some cup success when they beat SPAL to lift the Coppa Italia in 1962, with goals from Gianni Corelli and Pierluigi Ronzon. Their fourth relegation cut celebrations short the following season.

Napoli on the rise: Maradona era

As the club changed their name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli on 25 June 1964 they began to rise up again, gaining promotion in 1964–65. Under the management of former player Bruno Pesaola, they won the Coppa delle Alpi and were back amongst the elite in Serie A, with consistent top five finishes. Napoli came very close to winning the league in 1967–68, finishing just behind AC Milan in second place. Some of the most popular players from this period were Dino Zoff, José Altafini, Omar Sívori, and hometown midfielder Antonio Juliano. Juliano would eventually break the appearance records, which still stands today.

The trend of Napoli performing well in the league continued into the 1970s, with third place spots in 1970–71 and 1973–74. Under the coaching of former player Luís Vinício, this gained them entry into the early UEFA Cup competitions; in 1974–75 they reached the third round knocking out Porto 2–0 on the way. During the same season, Napoli finished second in Serie A; just two points behind champions Juventus. Solid performances from locally born players such as Bruscolotti, Juliano and Esposito were relied upon during this period, coupled with goals from Giuseppe Savoldi.

After beating Southampton 4–1 on aggregate to lift the Anglo-Italian League Cup, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for 1976–77, where they reached the semi-finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Anderlecht. The club won their second Coppa Italia trophy in 1975–76, knocking out Milan and Fiorentina en route, before beating rivals Verona 4–0 in the final. In terms of the Italian league, Napoli were still very much a consistent top six side for much of the late 1970s. Even into the earliest two seasons of the 1980s, the club were performing respectably with a third-place finish in 1980–81, however by 1983 they had slipped dramatically and were involved in relegation battles. Napoli broke the world transfer record fee, turning to Diego Maradona with a €12 million deal from Barcelona on 30 June 1984. The squad was gradually re-built, with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Salvatore Bagni, and Fernando De Napoli filling the ranks. The rise up the tables was gradual, by 1985–86, they had a third-place finish under their belts, but better was yet to come. The 1986–87 season was the landmark in Napoli's history; they won the double, securing the Serie A title by three points and then beating Atalanta 4–0 to lift the Coppa Italia.

Because a mainland Southern Italian team had never won the league before, this turned Diego Maradona into a cultural, social and borderline religious icon for Neapolitans, which stretched beyond the realms of just football.

The club were unsuccessful in the European Cup in the following season and finished runners-up in Serie A. However, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup for 1988–89 and won their first major European title. Juventus, Bayern Munich, and PAOK were defeated on the way to the final, where Napoli beat Stuttgart 5–4 on aggregate, with two goals from Careca and one each from Maradona, Ferrara and Alemão.

Napoli added their second Serie A title in 1989–90, beating Milan by two points in the title race. However, this was surrounded by less auspicious circumstances as Napoli were awarded two points for a game, when in Bergamo, an Atalanta fan threw a £100 lira coin at Alemão's head. A controversial set of events set off at the 1990 World Cup, when Maradona made comments pertaining to North-South inequality in the country and the risorgimento, asking Neapolitans to root for Argentina in the semi-finals against Italy in Naples.

San Paolo was the only stadium during the competition where the Argentine National Anthem wasn't jeered, Maradona bowed to the Napoli fans at the end and his country went on to reach the final. However, after the final the Italian Football Federation forced Maradona to take a doping test, which he failed testing positive for cocaine; both Maradona and Napoli staff later claimed it was a revenge plot for events at the World Cup. Maradona was banned for 15 months and would never play for the club again. The club still managed to win the Supercoppa Italiana that year, with a record 5–1 victory against Juventus, but it would be their last major trophy for 22 years. In the European Cup however, they went out in the second round.

Decline and rebirth

Though the club finished fourth during the 1991–92 season, Napoli gradually went into decline after that season, both financially and on the field. Players such as Gianfranco Zola, Daniel Fonseca, Ciro Ferrara and Careca had all departed by 1994. Nonetheless, Napoli did manage to qualify for the 1994–95 UEFA Cup, reaching the third round and in 1996–97, Napoli appeared at the Coppa Italia final, but lost 3–1 to Vicenza. Napoli's league form had dropped lower, and relegation to Serie B came at the end of 1997–98 when they recorded only three wins all season.

The club returned to Serie A after gaining promotion in the 1999–2000 season, though after a closely contested relegation battle, they were relegated immediately back down the following season. They failed to gain promotion following this and slipped further down. The failed 2001–02 Serie B campaign was costly, the cost of production was €70,895,838, just about €10 million fewer than in 2000–01 Serie A, heavily due to the high amortisation of the player asset (€33,437,075). However value of production was just €21,183736 (excluding player profit) and the net loss was €28,856,093 that season. Net asset on 30 June 2002 was €2,166,997, already including about €20 million recapitalisation. The club once quoted the law "21 February 2003 No.27" to lower the amortisation expense by extending the amortisation period beyond the contract length of players to 10-year (UEFA ruled the Italian special law was not lawful and all club should use IFRS standards, thus causing a re-capitalization crisis in 2006), which some players contract (with a total residual accounting value of €46,601,225) was amortise in special way for €4,660,123 only and the rest for €1,659,088 in 2002–03, however the cost of production was still exceed the value of production for €19,071,218 in 2002–03. By August 2004, Napoli was declared bankrupt with debts estimated up to €70 million. To secure football in the city, film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis refounded the club under the name Napoli Soccer, as they were not allowed to use their old name. FIGC placed Napoli in Serie C1, where they missed out on promotion after losing 2–1 in play-offs to local rivals Avellino in 2004–05 Serie C1.

Despite the fact that Napoli were playing in such a low division, they retained higher average attendances than most of the Serie A clubs, breaking the Serie C attendance record with 51,000 at one game. The following season, they secured promotion to Serie B and De Laurentiis bought back the club's history, restoring its name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli in May 2006. After just one season back in Serie B, they were promoted on the final day, along with fellow sleeping giants Genoa. Napoli finished the season placed eighth in the Serie A, enough to secure a place in the Intertoto Cup third round.

The 2008–09 season saw Napoli qualify for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup. The team was eliminated in the first round, however, by Portuguese team Benfica. At the domestic level, Napoli made a very impressive start, proposing as one of the main candidates for a Champions League spot; results and performances, however, quickly declined in mid-season, causing Napoli to fall down to 11th place in the league table, which led to the dismissal of manager Edy Reja in March 2009, with former Italy manager Roberto Donadoni being appointed as his replacement.

Despite reinforcements in the summer transfer window, Napoli began the 2009–10 season with a number of poor results. After a 2–1 loss to Roma in October 2009, Donadoni was relieved of his duties and replaced by former Sampdoria manager Walter Mazzarri. Under Mazzarri, Napoli climbed up the table, finishing in sixth place to qualify for a Europa League spot. Napoli, under Mazzarri's guide and reinforced by players such as Edinson Cavani, spent part of the 2010–11 season in the second place, finishing third and qualifying directly to the group phase of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

In the 2011–12 season, Napoli ended in fifth place in Serie A, but managed to defeat unbeaten champions Juventus in the Stadio Olimpico to win the Coppa Italia for the fourth time in the club's history, 25 years after their last cup win. Star striker Edinson Cavani scored from a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and Marek Hamšík decided the game in the 83rd minute. Napoli also had a successful season in the Champions League, its first participation in the European Cup since the 1990–91 season. The team finished second in its group behind Bayern Munich, and ahead of Manchester City, progressing to the round of 16, where it was knocked out by eventual winners Chelsea.

In 2012–13, Napoli finished in second place in Serie A, the club's best performance since winning the 1989–90 Scudetto. Edinson Cavani finished as top scorer in the division with 29 goals, which resulted in him being sold to Paris Saint-Germain for a club record fee of £57 million.

In the 2013 close-season, Walter Mazzarri left Napoli to become coach of Internazionale, and was replaced by Spaniard Rafael Benítez, who became the club's first foreign coach since Zdeněk Zeman in 2000. The money from selling Cavani went towards signing three Real Madrid players – Gonzalo Higuaín, Raúl Albiol and José Callejón – and other players including Dries Mertens and Pepe Reina. They finished the season by winning the 2014 Coppa Italia Final, their fifth title in the tournament, with a 3–1 win against Fiorentina with two goals from Lorenzo Insigne and another from Mertens, as well as qualifying for the Champions League by finishing 3rd in Serie A. According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), Napoli was rated the third best club in the world in 2015, despite failing to qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stages.

On 1 December 2015 in the 2015–16 season, a 2–1 home win over league leaders Inter Milan sent Napoli to the top of Serie A for the first time in 25 years.

On 10 January 2016 an away 5–1 victory against Frosinone made Napoli the champion of the first half of 2015–16 Serie A season for the first time since the 1989–90 season, thanks to Sassuolo's 1–0 win against Inter Milan in Giuseppe Meazza.

First team squad

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

Out on loan

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

Retired numbers

In the summer of 2000 Napoli retired the jersey number 10 belonged to former club legend Diego Armando Maradona who played for the club from 1984 to 1991, as a tribute to his class and to the significant contribution made in the seven seasons with the shirt of Napoli. In order, the last players to wear number 10 were Fausto Pizzi (1995–1996), Beto (in 1996–1997), Igor Protti in 1997–1998 was the last player to play and score a goal with the number 10 shirt in Serie A and Claudio Bellucci in 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 in Serie B. However, for regulatory reasons, the number was reissued on blue shirts 2004 to 2006 Serie C1, a tournament where there is the old numbering from 1 to 11. The last player to wear a sign and goals with this shirt in an official match was Mariano Bogliacino in the home match of 18 May 2006 against Spezia, valid for the final leg of the Supercoppa di Lega Serie C1; primacy belongs to him also for last appearance in the championship, 12 May 2006 at the home race of Lanciano. As regards exclusively the championship, however, goes to the Argentine footballer Roberto Sosa the distinction of being the last to wear the 10 at the San Paolo and at the same time to score in the match against Frosinone on 30 April 2006.

Current coaching, technical and administrative staff

Presidents

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

Statistics and records

Giuseppe Bruscolotti holds Napoli's official appearance record, having made 511 over the course of 16 years from 1972 until 1988. Antonio Juliano holds the record for league appearances with 394 (355 in Serie A) over the course of 16 years from 1962 until 1978 .

The all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli is Diego Armando Maradona, with 115 league goals scored. He finished the season of Serie A as the league's topscorer, known in Italy as the capocannoniere, in the 1987–88 season with 15 goals. The record for most goals in the league (also including tournaments Divisione Nazionale) belongs to Attila Sallustro, with 106 goals, while the maximum scorer in Serie A is Antonio Vojak, with 102 goals. The record for most goals in a single tournament maximum number belongs to Gonzalo Higuaín, with 36 goals scored in the season 2015–2016.

The biggest ever victory recorded by Napoli was 8–1 against Pro Patria, in the 1955–56 season of Serie A. Napoli's heaviest championship defeat came during the 1927–28 season when eventual champions Torino beat them 11–0.

On 26 July 2016, Napoli player Gonzalo Higuaín became the third highest football transfer of all-time and highest ever transfer for an Italian club, when he signed for €90 million to Juventus.

Below are appearance and goalscoring records pertaining to Napoli players of all time. Still active players in bold:

As of 19 March 2017

Colours, badge and nicknames

As Naples is a coastal city, the colours of the club have always been derived from the blue waters of the Gulf of Naples. Originally while using the name Naples FBC, the colours of the club implemented two shades of blue. Since the 1920s however, a singular blue tone has been used in the form of azure; as thus they share the nickname azzurri with the Italian national side. The shade of blue has been sky blue in many instances.

One of the nicknames of Napoli is I ciucciarelli which means "the little donkeys" in the local dialect, they were given this name after a particularly poor performance during the 1926–27 season. It was originally meant to be derogatory, as the Neapolitan symbol is a rampant black horse, the club however adopted the donkey as a mascot called 'O Ciuccio, displaying it with pride.

The club badge Napoli are most famous for is a large N placed within a circle. This crest can be traced back to Internazionale Napoli, who used a similar design on their shirts. Since the club officially adopted the N badge as its representative, Napoli have altered it slightly at various times; sometimes it features the club's name around it, sometimes it does not. The main difference between each badge is the shade of blue used. Usually the N is white, although it has occasionally been gold.

Partenopei is a popular nickname for the club and people from the city of Naples in general. It is derived from Greek mythology where the siren Parthenópē tried to enchant Odysseus from his ship to Capri. In the story Odysseus had his men tie him to the ship's mast so he was able to resist the song of the siren; as a result Parthenope, unable to live with the rejection of her love, drowned herself and her body was washed up upon the shore of Naples.

Social commitment

Napoli is a company active in the social field, Napoli has stood out for its support provided to multiple charities.

Through the direct participation of its members, the blue club sponsored initiatives in support of the hospitals towns, as well as initiatives to raise awareness against violence in sport and child poverty. With the 'support association town Scugnizzi, which operates in the juvenile prison of Nisida, Naples supports various projects aimed at the social reintegration of young offenders once granted their punishment.

Through fundraising supported directly and indirectly by its members, the Naples has provided its support to institutions such as the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, Telethon, the Fondazione San Raffaele, the Stefano Borgonovo Foundation and Massimo Leone Foundation .

The Neapolitan club also undertook several initiatives in support of the victims of the earthquake of 2009, from the transfer of the proceeds of the games to raise funds for the construction of a sports center in the capital of the Abruzzo.

Napoli is the fourth most supported football club in Italy with around 13% of Italian football fans supporting the club. Like other top clubs in the country, Napoli's fanbase goes beyond the Italian border; it has been estimated by the club that there are around 6 million fans worldwide. Napoli is reputed to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, with one of the highest average home attendance in Europe.

Rivalries

The Napoli fans have always had bad relations especially with the teams from the North of Italy. One of the first historical rivalries was with Hellas Verona, and later on in the second half of the 1980s rivalry with Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan was born, as Napoli defied the "Triad of the North" for the title of Champions of Italy.

The hostility of the ultras of Napoli with the fans of Lazio comes from the old friendship that Napoli had in the eighties with Roma fans, Napoli fans used to call Roma fans "cousins", friendship then broke after the umbrella gesture of Salvatore Bagni of 25 October 1987 which spawned a very strong rivalry with the Roma fans.

Also there still remain rivalries with Sampdoria, Reggina and also with the Atalanta, Avellino, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Lecce, Salernitana, Vicenza and Udinese. Other minor rivalry with Foggia, Perugia, Pisa, Pistoiese and Ternana.

Derbies

Unlike other Italian cities such as Genoa, Milan, Rome and Turin, Napoli is the only major football club in the city and therefore there is no derby in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, the fans of Napoli do co-star in two particular derbies in Italy against other regional teams:

Derby della Campania generally refers to a rivalry with regional clubs, mainly Avellino and Salernitana. However, both teams have largely played in the lower divisions and meetings are largely limited to the Coppa Italia.

Derby of the Sun (also called Derby of the South), at the height of its popularity in the seventies and eighties, starring Napoli and Roma.

Friendships

The twinning between supporters of the clubs Napoli and Genoa football club is one of the oldest in Italian football which started back on 16 May 1982 following a 2–2 draw in Naples between the two teams on the final day of the 1981–1982 Serie A season, a result that allowed the escape of Genoa from relegation and condemned AC Milan for the second time to relegation from Serie A to Serie B in its history. The history and friendship got even stronger for both teams when on the last day of the season in Serie B in the 2006–2007 season when both teams finished with a 0–0 draw at Genoa, ensuring both teams promotion to Serie A. Genoa ultras could be seen holding up banners saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano", meaning "Welcome, Neapolitan brother". The historic partnership between the two groups of supporters was also honoured and supported by marketing initiatives.

There is also a strong supporter of friendship with Ancona and there are good relations with the fans of Catania and Borussia Dortmund.

A sympathy and good friendship was born with supporters of the Romanian football team Universitatea Craiova following the elimination of rivals FC Steaua Bucureşti from the Europa League at the hands of Napoli. They have a long-standing friendship with Bulgarian fans of Lokomotiv Plovdiv; Napoli gave birth to the name Napoletani Ultras Plovdiv and that is how the friendship arose.

S.S.C. Napoli as a company

S.S.C. Napoli was expelled from the professional league in 2004. Thanks to Article 52 of N.O.I.F., the sports title was transferred to Napoli Soccer (later the new Napoli) in the same year, while the old Napoli was liquidated. In the eve of bankruptcy, the club was in deep financial trouble to achieve positive operating income (excluding windfall profit from players trading). At that time clubs using cash plus player swap to boost short term profit (€28,329,090 in 2000–01; €17,721,534 in 2001–02 season), but also increased the long term cost (as amortization) by purchasing players. In the second last season before bankruptcy, the club was partially saved by the non-standard accounting practice of amortization. it was due to Silvio Berlusconi, owner of Milan and prime minister of Italy, introduced Italian Law 91/1981, Article 18B. Napoli was dramatically reduced the amortization from €33,437,075 to €1,659,088 + €4,660,123, due to €46,601,225 of the intangible asset (player contract), was deferred to amortize in 10-year installments, instead of varying from 1 to 5 years by the length of player contract. However, the practice was unable to save the club from the financial aid from the sugar daddy, which the owner withdrew.

Since refound in 2004, S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. had a sustainable management strategy. The club has one of thee largest supporting group in Italy (or fourth, behind Juventus and Milan teams) which was the main source of income, in terms of gate revenue and TV rights. Except the first few seasons, Napoli made an aggregate profit in successive years: in 2004–05 and 2005–06 season the net loss were €7,061,463 and €9,088,780. In 2006–07 Serie B, Napoli made its first profit of €1,416,976 The first Serie A season made new born Napoli had a net profit of €11,911,041 It followed by a net profit of €10,934,520, due to the income from European matches was offset by the increase in cost. In 2009–10 season, Napoli heavily invested on players, made that season had a net profit of just €343,686. In 2010–11 Serie A, Napoli returned to the right track with €4,197,829 net profit. It was due to the new collective TV rights of Serie A, as well as qualified to 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.

Napoli shareholder equity on 30 June 2005 was a negative of €261,466, which the club started from €3 million capital and re-capitalized €3.8 million during 2004–05 Serie C1. On 30 June 2006 the equity was increased to €211,220, as the net loss was backup by a re-capitalisation of €9.3 million + €261,466 for previous net loss. On 30 June 2007 the equity was increased to €1,961,975, due to the net profit and a re-capitalised of €288,780 (to make the share capital back to €500,000). On 30 June 2008 the equity was increased to €13,829,015 with a capital increase of just €1,000. The net income contributed the increase in equity on 30 June 2009, which was €24,763,537. On 30 June 2010 the equity was at €25,107,223. On 30 June 2011 the equity was increased to €29,305,052. Though less than €17 million equity contribution in total from Filmauro, Napoli achieved self-sustainability by good management and its large fans base.

National titles

European titles

Minor titles