Empoli F.C.

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	Silvio Baldini
League	Serie B
2008–09	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 while Genoa were in last position in Serie B. 2007–08 is 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.

The team's colours are blue and white.

[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.

[edit] Current first team squad

As of 2009-02-09 ^[2]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Davide Bassi
3	DF	Adam Kokoszka
4	DF	Felice Piccolo
5	MF	Davide Moro
6	MF	Mirko Valdifiori
7	FW	Francesco Flachi
8	MF	Francesco Marianini
9	FW	Nicola Pozzi
10	MF	Ighli Vannucchi (captain)
11	FW	Luca Saudati
14	DF	Gabriele Angella
15	FW	Claudio Coralli
16	DF	Lino Marzoratti

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Gianluca Musacci
18	FW	Nicolao Dumitru
19	DF	Rocco Sabato
21	MF	Francesco Lodi
22	DF	Alessandro Vinci
23	DF	Andrea Cupi
24	MF	Antonio Buscè (vice-captain)
27	FW	Daniele Corvia
32	GK	Gianmarco D'Oria
34	FW	Cristian Pasquato
37	GK	Renato Dossena
63	DF	Gianluigi Bianco
77	FW	Matteo Negrini