In its inaugural year, the club won the Torneo FNGI in Treviso beating Ferrara 2–0; however, this title is not recognised as official.

In 1922, Udinese, taking advantage of the absence of big clubs, entered the FIGC Italian Football Championship and reached the Coppa Italia final losing 1–0 against Vado, thanks to an overtime goal.

In the league, Udinese finished 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 teams in the competition.

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.

After a first encounter finished 0–0, Udinese lost a replay 2–1 but were awarded the win as Vicenza fielded an ineligible player, a Hungarian called Horwart.

Following brief periods with Roy Hodgson and Giampiero Ventura on the bench, Spalletti was again appointed manager of Udinese at the beginning of the 2002–03 season, finding an organised and ambitious club which again reached the UEFA 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.

The following season, Udinese played in the Champions League preliminary round, beating Sporting CP 4–2 on aggregate.

Despite a 3–0 win over Panathinaikos in their first match, courtesy of a Vincenzo Iaquinta hat trick, the team failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, coming in third in their group, equal on points with second placed Werder and behind eventual champions Barcelona.

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 including Fabio Quagliarella and Gökhan Inler.

After this match, Udinese's fortunes changed, starting with a victory over Juventus thanks to a late Antonio Di Natale goal.

Udinese remained in contention for the fourth Champions League spot with Milan, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria until the end of the season, but ultimately finished in seventh place, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

In the quarter-final against Werder Bremen, with injuries to star players Antonio Di Natale, Samir Handanovič, and Felipe, they lost 6–4 on aggregate.

Even though Antonio Di Natale managed to score 29 goals in the league and finished top goalscorer, the season was spent battling against relegation.

The only highlight of the campaign was reaching the semi-final of the Coppa Italia, beating Lumezzane in the round of 16, Milan in the quarter-finals, and eventually losing 2–1 to Roma on aggregate.

In the summer transfer window of 2010, Udinese sold Gaetano D'Agostino, Simone Pepe, Marco Motta, and Aleksandar Luković.

They also brought in players that proved to be the key to their success in the 2010–11 Serie A; Mehdi Benatia and Pablo Armero, a central defender and wingback, respectively.

After a poor start to the season, losing their first four games and drawing the fifth, Udinese went on to record their highest points total in history and finished in fourth place, again earning themselves a spot in the Champions League qualifying round.

Coach Francesco Guidolin kept his promise of "dancing like Boateng" if they qualified for the Champions League and did a little jig in the middle of the pitch.

The 2011–12 season continued in much the same fashion, even though Udinese lost three key players to larger clubs – Alexis Sánchez to Barcelona, Gökhan Inler to Napoli, and Cristián Zapata to Villarreal.

In the summer transfer window, key players Kwadwo Asamoah and Mauricio Isla were both sold to champions Juventus.

However, starting in December the team began to pick up wins more frequently, concurrent with Di Natale finding the net on a regular basis.

[1] The official colors of Udinese are white and black, the same as the municipal coat of arms, these have been present in the team's kit since its beginnings, although their use has often varied between different styles.

At the end of the 19th century, the newly formed Società Udinese di Ginnastica e Scherma wore a completely black shirt, adorned only with a white five-pointed star pinned to the center of the chest.

In a photo taken around 1896,[8] likely during an FGNI Tournament, the city coat of arms appears on the chest, with a white star on a black shirt.

The second symbol, introduced in the early 1980s under President Lamberto Mazza, featured a white shield enclosing a black chevron — the same design that represents the city of Udine — with the "Z" logo of Zanussi (the company that owned the club at the time) below it and the lowercase inscription "udinese calcio".

Then, between 1992 and 1995, the club introduced a circular emblem for the first time, with the city’s coat of arms in the center, surrounded by a gray circle.