- Udinese Calcio
Infobox Football club
clubname = Udinese
fullname = Udinese Calcio SpA
nickname = "Bianconeri" ("White-blacks"), "Zebrette" ("little zebras")
founded = 1896
ground =Stadio Friuli ,Udine ,Italy
capacity = 30,900 | chairman = flagicon|ItalyFranco Soldati
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager = flagicon|ItalyPasquale Marino
league =Serie A
season = 2007-08
position = Serie A, 7th
pattern_la1= _pinstripesonwhite|pattern_b1=_thinstripesonwhite|pattern_ra1= _pinstripesonwhite
leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=0000FF|body2=0000FF|rightarm2=0000FF|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=0000FFUdinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in
Udine ,Friuli-Venezia Giulia , which currently plays inSerie A .The traditional team home kit is black and white striped shirt, black shorts, and white socks. The club plays in the
Stadio Friuli , which has a capacity of 30,900. It has a large number of fans inFriuli and surrounding areas, and it is sometimes seen as the best symbol of Friulian pride.History
Foundation and early years
Udinese Calcio was established in 1896 as part of the "Società Udinese di Ginnastica e Scherma", (Udinese Society of Gymnastics and Fencing). In its inaugural year, the club won the Torneo FNGI in
Treviso beating Ferrara 2-0; however this title but is not recognised as official.On
July 5 ,1911 some gymnasts of Udinese, headed by Luigi Dal Dan, founded the A. C. Udinese which joined theFIGC . The new side made its debut in a friendly against Juventus Palmanova, and won 6-0.It was only in 1912-13 when Udinese first took part in an official FIGC championship. In that year they enrolled in the "Campionato Veneto di Promozione", which consisted of just three teams, (the others were Petrarca and Padova). With two victories against Padova (3-1 and 5-0), Udinese finished the tournament in second place behind Petrarca and were promoted to
Serie A , then known asPrima Categoria . In Prima Categoria, Udinese failed to reach the national stage, always knocked out in the "Eliminatoria Veneta".The 20s: Coppa Italia final
The 1920-21 season, which ended with the Friuliani eliminated in the "Eliminatoria Veneta", was memorable because it was the debut of
Gino Bellotto , who is still the player who has played more seasons with Udinese than any other, spending a total of 17 seasons with the "Zebrette".In 1922, Udinese, taking advantage the absence of big clubs, entered the C.C.I. Italian Football Championship and reached the
Coppa Italia final losing 1-0 againstF.C. Vado , thanks to an extra time goal.In the league, Udinese came second in "Girone Eliminatorio Veneto", which allowed them to remain in the top flight for the next season, despite a reform of the championships that reduced the number of sides in the competition.
The 1922-23 season was a disastrous one for Udinese, as they came last in and were relegated to the second division. The team risked failure for debts in 1923. On
August 24 ,1923 AS Udinese separated from AC Udinese Friuli, and the club was forced to set up a budget and an autonomous board. Fortunately, all debts were paid by President Alessandro Del Torso through the sale of some of his paintings and Udinese could thus join the Second Division in which they came fourth.The 1924-25 season was memorable. The team was included in Group F II Div. The championship was very even and at the end of the tournament, three teams were in contention to win: Udinese, Vicenza and Olympia River. Playoffs were needed to determine who would reach the final round.
Udinese beat in Olympia in a playoff 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Vicenza. In the play-off standings, Udinese and Vicenza were still in the lead with 3 points each. Another play-off was then played to determine the winner. After a first encounter finished 0-0, Udinese lost a replay 2-1 but were awarded to win as Vicenza fielded an ineleigble player, a Hungarian called Horwart. Udinese reached the finals in place of Vicenza.
In the final round, Udinese finished first and was promoted, alongside Parma, to Prima Categoria. In the following season, Udinesefinished 10th and was relegated again. However, the format of the championship was again reformed and Udinese had another chance to reclaim their place in the top flight. They competed in play-offs with seven other sides for the right to play in Serie A. The winner would remain in the top flight. The club, however, not lost in the play-off against Legnano and lost their place in the top flight.
They remained in Seconda Categoria until the end of the 1928-29 season when
Serie A andSerie B were created, with Prima Categoria becoming the third tier (Terza Serie). The first season in Terza Serie was a triumphant one and Udinese were promoted up toSerie B .The 30s and 40s
The stay in Serie B lasted only two years, and after the 1931-32 season, the team returned to the third division. Udinese remained in Prima Categoria, the third tier, (later renamed
Serie C in 1935) until 1938-39, when coming second in Girone Finale Nord di Serie C, they were promoted to Serie B.The Zebrette remained in Serie B for a dozen years, with average performances and were relegated to Serie C at the end of the 1947-48 season due to a reform of the championships. This relegation, however, was followed by two consecutive promotions, and thanks to an excellent second place finish in the
Serie B 1949-50 , the Friuliani won a historic promotion toSerie A .The 50s: Second place in A, and relegation back to B
Udinese remained in Serie A for five seasons and almost claimed an historic Scudetto in the 1954-55 season, when they came second only behind Milan. It was after that season, however, that Udinese was relegated because of an offence committed on
May 31 ,1953 , the last day of the championship, which was exposed two years later. The Friuliani returned to Serie A after one season in B and in the following season was confirmed among the best Italian teams with an excellent fourth place finish.The 60s and 70s: Decline
A decline followed those good seasons, however, with Udinese first relegated back down to Serie B in 1961-62 and then to Serie C in 1963-64. Udinese remained in C for about fifteen years missing promotion back to B on numerous occasions. It was only after the 1977-78 season that the Friuliani, led by manager
Massimo Giacomini , returned to B winning Girone A. In the same season, they won the Coppa Italia Semiprofessionisti, beating Reggina and also won theAnglo-Italian Cup .The 80s: Mitropa Cup and the scandal of 1986
During the next season, Udinese with Giacomini as their manager, won
Serie B and returned after more than two decades toSerie A . In their first year back after so long, the team survived after a disappointing 15th place finish. In Europe, they fared much better, winning theMitropa Cup , a European Cup for teams that had won the previous season of Serie B.In subsequent seasons the team managed to survive relegation without any particular difficulty also managing an impressive sixth place in 1982-83. At that time Udinese had on its books, one of the club's all time greatest players, the Brazilian
Zico .At the end of the 1985-86 season, the team was embroiled in a betting scandal and was penalised nine points for the 1986-87 season. Despite a desperate comeback the towards the end of the season, Udinese were relegated to
Serie B . Had they not been deducted points, Udinese would have survived the drop.The 90s and 2000s: Europe
During the following years, Udinese became a yo-yo club, frequently being promoted to Serie A and relegated back to B. This situation lasted until the 1995-96 season, from which point on, they established themselves in Serie A.
The 1996-97 season saw Udinese qualify for the
UEFA Cup , withAlberto Zaccheroni as manager. The following season, they managed a resounding third place finish behind Juventus and Inter, largely thanks toOliver Bierhoff 's 27 goals.In
March 2001,Luciano Spalletti was appointed manager, replacingLuigi De Canio . Spalletti managed to lead the team to survival on the penultimate matchday. Following brief periods withRoy Hodgson andGiampiero Ventura on the bench, Spalletti was again appointed manager of Udinese at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, finding an organized and ambitious club which again reached theUEFA Cup , playing attacking and entertaining football.The surprising fourth place finish at the end of the 2004-05 season saw Udinese achieve their first qualification for the
UEFA Champions League in the history of the club. At the end of that same season, Spalletti announced his intention to leave Udinese.The following season, Udinese played in the Champions League preliminary round, beating Sporting Lisbon 4-2 on aggregate. Udinese were drawn in a tough group alongside Panathinaikos,
Werder Bremen andF.C. Barcelona . Despite their first match ending in a brilliant 3-0 win over PAO, courtesy of a brilliantVincenzo Iaquinta hattrick, the team failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, coming third in their group, equal on points with second placed Werder and behind eventual champions Barcelona.After a year in the Champions League, Udinese finished 10th and returned once more to midtable mediocrity. The turning point occurred during the summer of 2007, when the club announced the appointment of Sicilian manager
Pasquale Marino and also made various quality purchases includingFabio Quagliarella andGökhan Inler .The 2007-08 season started well with a draw at home against champions Internazionale, but the enthusiasm was quickly erased after the first home match which finished in a 5-0 loss to newly promoted Napoli. After this match, Udinese's fortunes changed, starting with a victory over Juventus thanks to a late
Antonio Di Natale goal. Approaching the end of the season, Udinese found themselves in fourth position surprising everyone. They could not maintain this pace however, and fell to 7th. The team continued to fight until the penultimate round for a Champions League place with Milan and Sampdoria, however had to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup.At the start of the 2008-09 season, during the press conference to present the new season's shirt, the new official website was also presented, and an absolute novelty in the Italian championship, the first Web TV channel dedicated to a football club called Udinese Channel was launched, totally free and visible worldwide.
Honours
*
UEFA Intertoto Cup : 1
**2000*
Mitropa Cup : 1
**1980*
Anglo-Italian Cup : 1
**1978*
Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy : 1
**1999*
Coppa Italia Primavera : 1
**1993Current squad
"As of
October 4 2008 " [cite web|publisher=Udinese Calcio|language=Italian|accessdate=2008-07-22|url=http://www.udinese.it/squadra/|title=Udinese Calcio 2008/2009]Out on loan
"For all transfers and loans pertaining to Udinese for the current season, please see: 2007–08 transfers".
Notable former players
"Including only players with at least 100 appearances in the club, a topscorer title during their stay with the club, or an appearance in a
FIFA World Cup edition"Italy
*flagicon|ItalyValerio Bertotto
*flagicon|ItalyMarco Branca
*flagicon|ItalyFranco Causio
*flagicon|ItalyMorgan De Sanctis
*flagicon|ItalyFrancesco Dell'Anno
*flagicon|ItalyLuigi Del Neri
*flagicon|ItalyGiuliano Giannichedda
*flagicon|ItalyVincenzo Iaquinta
*flagicon|ItalyPaolino Pulici
*flagicon|ItalyDino Zoff Brazil
*flagicon|Brazil Edinho
*flagicon|BrazilZico
*flagicon|BrazilMárcio Amoroso Germany
*flagicon|GermanyOliver Bierhoff
*flagicon|GermanyCarsten Jancker Argentina
*flagicon|ArgentinaRoberto Nestor Sensini
*flagicon|ArgentinaAbel Balbo
*flagicon|ArgentinaDaniel Bertoni Spain
*flagicon|SpainRicardo Gallego Denmark
*flagicon|DenmarkThomas Helveg
*flagicon|DenmarkMartin Jørgensen Ghana
*flagicon|GhanaSulley Muntari
*flagicon|GhanaStephen Appiah Czech Republic
*flagicon|Czech RepublicMarek Jankulovski Chile
*flagicon|ChileDavid Pizarro Belgium
*flagicon|BelgiumJohan Walem Peru
*flagicon|PeruGerónimo Barbadillo Managerial history
World Cup winners
*
Franco Causio (Spain 1982)
*Vincenzo Iaquinta (Germany 2006)Famous coaches
*flagicon|Italy
Alberto Zaccheroni
*flagicon|ItalyLuciano Spalletti References
External links
* [http://www.udinese.it Official website] it icon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.