History of SSC Napoli

The club is perhaps most famous for the period when Diego Maradona was a member, between the 1980s and early 1990s, during which he won several awards, including the scudetto and the Coppa Italia twice; they also had success in Europe, where they captured the UEFA Cup.

The origins of Naples FCC can be traced back to William Poths,[1] an Englishman employed by maritime agency named Cunard Lines, he was an avid amateur footballer in his spare time and decided to found a club while in Italy.

Naples were victorious winning the game 3–2, a feat made all the more impressive when considering Arabik had beaten the famed Genoa 3–0 just days earlier.

In this competition, Neapolitan and Sicilian teams faced off against each other annually; the majority of the finals saw Naples playing Palermo Foot-Ball Club.

[2] Meanwhile, Emilio Anatra remained president of Naples FBC which started a footballing rivalry in the city during the following years.

This rivalry continued into its third season in the Campania section of the Championship during 1915, but after the first leg (won by Internazionale 3–0), the competition was called off because of World War I.

[8] On 25 August 1926,[9] the members of Internaples resolved to adopt a new name for their club and Giorgio Ascarelli was appointed as the first president of the Associazione Calcio Napoli.

This is what got them the nickname I ciucciarelli which means "the little donkeys", previously the football club had carried with them the emblem of the city of Naples, which was a horse.

But after the aforementioned season, some in the city derided them as donkeys, the club however adopted O Ciuccio as it was called, making it their mascot and displaying it with pride.

At Napoli, the fans' great pre-war hero was Attila Sallustro, whose family had moved to Naples from Paraguay when he was a child.

1962 was also notable for its cup success: Napoli lifted the Coppa Italia by beating SPAL 2–1 in the final with goals from Corelli and Ronzon, the first time a club competing in Serie B had won the competition.

During this spell for the club, their squad boasted several players who achieved widespread recognition in the game, including future 1982 World Cup winner Dino Zoff, the record breaking striker José Altafini and Naples-born defender Antonio Juliano.

Although their efforts did not earn them the scudetto, it gained the club access into Europe for the 1974–75 UEFA Cup, where they reached the third round of the competition, knocking out Porto 2–0 along the way.

Napoli's second ever Coppa Italia trophy was won the same season, eliminating Milan and Fiorentina en route to the success; they beat Hellas Verona 4–0 in the final, with goals from Ginulfi, Braglia, and two from Giuseppe Savoldi.

In the Anglo-Italian League Cup, Napoli beat English side Southampton 4–1 aggregate, which included a resounding 4–0 victory at home in Naples to win the competition.

In so doing, they also became the first and only mainland Southern Italian team (not including Sardinian club Cagliari) to win the league, a record that still stands today.

Juventus and Bayern Munich were among Napoli's victims en route to the final where Maradona and Careca scored a goal apiece late in the second half to beat VfB Stuttgart two-one in the first leg.

These included André Cruz, Alain Boghossian, Fabio Pecchia, Roberto Bordin, Nicola Caccia and Alfredo Aglietti.

Although the relegation battle was quite close, fellow struggling clubs Lecce and Hellas Verona had just one more point than the Azzurri, thus surviving at Napoli's expense.

Under the name Napoli Soccer, a new club was born thanks to film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis; the intention was to ensure the city of Naples was not left without a football team.

In the 2005–06 season, Napoli went one better and won the Serie C1 championship, securing promotion on 15 April 2006 after a 2–0 win at the Stadio San Paolo to Perugia.

When news arrived at Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris of Piacenza's final result, players and fans from both teams began to celebrate in euphoria raiding the pitch, unaware that the referee still had not called full-time.

[22] Napoli, under Mazzarri's guide and reinforced by players such as Edinson Cavani, spent part of the 2010–11 season in second place, finishing third and qualifying directly to the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

The team finished second in its group behind Bayern Munich, and ahead of Manchester City, progressing to the round of 16, where they were eliminated by eventual winners Chelsea.

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.

[29][30] He managed the club to another second-place finish, but was sacked on 10 December 2019, following a poor run of results in the 2019–20 season which left them seventh in the table.

[31] On 14 June 2020, Dries Mertens became Napoli's all-time top scorer after scoring his 122nd goal in a Coppa Italia semi-finals match against Inter.

[33] In December 2020, Napoli renamed San Paolo after Diego Maradona, after the passing away of their beloved[tone] club icon.

[citation needed] In the 2021–22 season, Luciano Spalletti replaced Gennaro Gattuso as head coach and led the team to the third place in Serie A, securing a Champions League spot for the azzurri after a two-years absence.

[36][37] Meanwhile, in the Champions League, Spalletti led them to the quarter-finals for the first time in their European history, where they were beaten 2–1 (1–0 away and 1–1 at home) by fellow Serie A side Milan.