FC Lugano is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its original name, FC Lugano. They play at the Stadio Cornaredo. They have played in what is now the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

during the periods of 1922–53, 1954–60, 1961–63, 1964–76, 1979–80, 1988–97, 1998–02, and from 2015 until present.

History

Football Club Lugano was formed on 28 July 1908 under the leadership of then-president Ernesto Corsini. Promotion to the highest

came for the first time in 1922, and after several years of relegations and promotions, the team won its first

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

in 1931. The following decade, FC Lugano was able to win 3 national titles (1938, 1941 and 1949). For the first fifty years of its existence, Lugano played at the Campo Marzio – which opened on 13 September 1908 – but its success prompted the city to build a new stadium, and so on 26 August 1951, the

Cornaredo Stadium Cornaredo Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Lugano, Switzerland. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches. It is a home ground of FC Lugano. The stadium has a capacity of 6,330. During the 1954 FIFA World Cup, it hosted one g ...

was inaugurated, which has a capacity of 15,000. In 1968, Lugano won the

and hence the team participated in the Cup Winners' Cup. Two years later the team took part in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. In 1993, Lugano won its third Cup against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, later participating in the Cup Winners' Cup, in which it reached second qualifying round. In the 1995–96 season, Lugano participated in the UEFA Cup, eliminating Jeunesse Hautcharage in the first round and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the second. The club was declared bankrupt in 2003 and forcibly removed from the league. Due to the bankruptcy, the team was renamed AC Lugano and fielded under-21 players, having been forced to sell or release the senior team to pay off the club's debts. In 2004, the club merged with Malcantone Agno, and it was decided that Lugano would re-enter the Swiss football system in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

. Morotti Joseph, the president of Malcantone Agno, was entrusted with the leadership of the new club. In 2007, the company was bought by a group led by Giambattista Pastorello. Luido Bernasconi became the new president. On 4 June 2008, the club's centenary year, the general meeting of shareholders voted on a name change. The historical name of Football Club Lugano was reinstated. In 2015 FC Lugano was promoted to the

. On 18 August 2021, it was announced that American billionaire and owner of the

Chicago Fire FC Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Chicago. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The Fire play their hom ...

Joe Mansueto Joseph Daniel Mansueto (born September 3, 1956) is an American billionaire entrepreneur; the founder, majority owner and executive chairman of Morningstar, Inc. He is also the owner of Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire FC and Swiss Super Leag ...

, had purchased FC Lugano and that the Fire and FC Lugano were to work together as sister clubs. On 1 September 2021, assistant coach Mattia Croci-Torti took over coaching duties at the club, replacing

Abel Braga Abel Carlos da Silva Braga (born 1 September 1952), known as Abel Braga, is a Brazilian former football coach and player. He played as a central defender during a professional career that started with Fluminense in 1968. He earned one cap f ...

. The first season under new ownership would immediately prove successful, as they were able to win their first title after 29 years, winning the

2021–22 Swiss Cup The 2021–22 Swiss Cup was the 97th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 13 August 2021 with the first games of Round 1. The final was held on 15 May 2022 at Wankdorf Stadium, Bern. Lugano defeated la ...

. A year later, they failed to defend the cup title, losing 2–3 in the exciting final to Swiss champions Young Boys.

European record

Players

Current squad

Honours

**Champions (3): 1937–38, 1940–41, 1948–49 **Runners-up (6): 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2023–24 *

**Winners (4): 1930–31, 1967–68, 1992–93, 2021–22 **Runners-up (6): 1942–43, 1951–52, 1970–71, 1991–92, 2015–16, 2022–23 *

**Winners (4): 1960–61, 1963–64, 1987–88, 2014–15 **Runners-up (5): 1978–79, 1997–98, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14 *

Fair Play Awards: 2021–22

Former coaches

*1937–41: József Winkler *1947–50: Béla Volentik *1951–52: Tullio Grassi *1952–53: Béla Volentik *1953–55: Béla Sárosi *1957–58: Ragnar Larsen *1959–60: Tullio Grassi *1962–63:

György Sárosi György Sárosi (; 5 August 1912 – 20 June 1993) was a Hungarian footballer. Sárosi was a complete footballer renowned for his versatility and technique among other things, and he played in several positions for Ferencváros and the Hungary ...

*1970–71:

Albert Sing Albert Sing (7 April 1917 – 31 August 2008) was a German football player and manager. A midfielder, he played for 1. FC Eislingen, Stuttgarter Kickers, VfR Mannheim and TSG Ulm 1846 and capped twice for Germany Germany, officially th ...

*1971–73: Otto Luttrop *1973–74: Otto Luttrop *1974–75:

Alfredo Foni Alfredo Foni (; 20 January 1911 – 28 January 1985) was an Italians, Italian football (soccer), footballer in the 1930s and later on a coach, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is one of only four players to have won ...

*1976–77:

*1977–79: Oscar Massei *1979–80: Istvan Szabo *1980–81: Antun Rudinski *1983–85: Otto Luttrop *1992–94:

Karl Engel Karl (Rudolf) Engel (Birsfelden, 1 June 1923 - Chernex, 2 September 2006) was a Swiss pianist. In 1952 Engel was awarded the second prize at the Queen Elisabeth competition. Throughout his concert career, he cultivated the art song repertory ...

*1997–98:

*1999:

Enzo Trossero Enzo Héctor Trossero (born 23 May 1953), nicknamed ''El Vikingo'' (the Viking), is an Argentina, Argentine Association football, footballer and coach. Club career He began his playing career at Argentine minnows Sportivo Belgrano de San Fran ...

*1999–2000:

Giuliano Sonzogni Giuliano Sonzogni (born 2 February 1949) is an Italian association football, football manager. He has managed the Bulgarian football club POFC Botev Vratsa, Botev Vratsa, among others. References

1949 births Living people Italian foo ...

*2002–03:

Pierluigi Tami Pierluigi Tami (born 12 September 1961) is the current director of the Switzerland men's national teams. A former football manager and defender, he holds Swiss and Italian citizenship. Career He was in charge of the Switzerland national unde ...

*2004–05:

Vladimir Petković Vladimir Petković (; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the coach of the Algeria national team. He was previously the head coach of French side Bordeaux, the Switzerland nation ...

*2007–10: Simone Boldini *2010–11:

Marco Schällibaum Marco Schällibaum (born 6 April 1962) is a Swiss football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich, whom he saved from relegation. Playing career As a player Schällibaum ...

*2011–12:

Francesco Moriero Francesco "Checco" Moriero (; born 31 March 1969) is an Italian association football, football former player and current Manager (association football), manager, who played as a midfielder, usually as a Midfielder#Winger, winger on the right flan ...

*2012–13: Raimondo Ponte *2013: Sandro Salvioni *2013–15:

Livio Bordoli Livio Bordoli (born 31 August 1963) is a retired Swiss football midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive r ...

*2015–16:

Zdeněk Zeman Zdeněk Zeman (; born 12 May 1947) is a Czech-Italian football manager. Known for his exciting, offensive footballing tactics and use of the 4–3–3 formation, Zeman has managed numerous teams over the years, mostly in Italian football. He ...

*2016:

Andrea Manzo Andrea Manzo (born 5 November 1961) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Career Playing Manzo started his professional career in 1978 with Padova. He then played for a number of Serie A and Serie B teams, most notably Fiorentin ...

*2016–17:

Paolo Tramezzani Paolo Tramezzani (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football player, player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is the head co ...

*2017–18:

*2018:

Guille Abascal Guillermo "Guille" Abascal Pérez (born 13 April 1989) is a Spanish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of Mexican club Atlético San Luis. Having ended his p ...

*2018–19:

Fabio Celestini Fabio Celestini (born 31 October 1975) is a Swiss football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Swiss Super League club FC Basel. A defensive midfielder, he started and finished his 15-year professional career with Laus ...

*2019–21: Maurizio Jacobacci *2021:

*2021–present: Mattia Croci-Torti

Coaching staff

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugano, FC Football clubs in Switzerland

FC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss professional football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its origina ...

Association football clubs established in 1908 1908 establishments in Switzerland