Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
professional
football club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea''
Brands and enterprise ...
based in the city of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
( it, Napoli, nap, Napule),
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
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that plays in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli has won two Serie A titles, six
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...
titles, two
Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seas ...
titles, and one
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...
.

The club was formed in 1926 as Associazione Calcio Napoli following the merger of
U.S. Internazionale Napoli and
Naples Foot-Ball Club
Naples Foot-Ball Club, also known as Naples FBC or more briefly as Naples, was an Italian football club founded in Naples, Campania in 1904 and beginning play in 1905.
They merged with U.S. Internazionale Napoli in 1922 for financial reasons, th ...
. Napoli saw relatively little success in its early years, winning their first major trophy in the
1962 Coppa Italia. Napoli then saw increased success in the late 1970s (including their second Coppa Italia in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
) and especially in the 1980s, after the club acquired
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
in 1984. During his time in Naples, Maradona helped the team win several trophies, which led to the club retiring his number 10 jersey. During this period, Napoli won their sole league titles, in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...
and
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, the
1987 Coppa Italia, the
1990 Supercoppa Italiana
The 1990 Supercoppa Italiana was a pre-season football match contested by the 1989–90 Serie A winners Napoli and the 1989–90 Coppa Italia winners Juventus.
The match resulted in a 5–1 win for Napoli.
Match details
See also
* ...
, and their only European trophy with the
1989 UEFA Cup. Following his departure, however, Napoli struggled financially, and endured several relegations and a bankruptcy, prior to being re-founded in 2004 by film producer
Aurelio De Laurentiis
Aurelio De Laurentiis (born 24 May 1949) is an Italian film producer through his company, Filmauro, and the owner of Italian football clubs Napoli (of which he is also chairman) and Bari.
He is the nephew of film producer Dino De Laurentiis a ...
. Under his leadership, the club has stabilized, which has led to renewed on-field success, winning
2005-06 Serie C1, the
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, and
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...
Coppa Italia titles, and the
2014 Supercoppa Italiana.
By attendance, Napoli have the fourth-largest fan base in Italy,
and were ranked as the
fifth highest-earning football club in Serie A, with $182 million in revenue during the 2017–18 season. In 2018,
Forbes estimated the club is the fifth most valuable club in Italy, worth $379 million. Napoli are also one of the associate members of the
European Club Association
The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...
.
Since 1959, the club has played their home games at the Stadio San Paolo, which was renamed
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after the Argentine's death in 2020. Napoli traditionally wear sky blue shirts, white shorts, and sky blue socks at home and white shirts, white or sky blue shorts, and white or sky blue socks away; this is derived from the shirts of Naples FBC and the shorts of Internazionale Napoli after the clubs merged to form Napoli in 1922. Napoli have
rivalries
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
with
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
,
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
and
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...
. The club's anthem is "
'O surdato 'nnammurato", one of the most famous songs in the
Neapolitan language
, altname =
, states = Italy
, region = Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise
, ethnicity = '' Mezzogiorno'' Ethnic Italians
, speakers = 5.7 million
, d ...
.
History
Origins
Napoli traces its roots to the first relevant Neapolitan club, founded as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1905 by English sailor William Poths and his associate Hector M. Bayon.
Neapolitans such as Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi were also involved; Salsi was named the club's first president. The original kit of the club was a
sky blue
Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...
and navy blue striped shirt, with black shorts. Naples' first match was a 3–2 win against the English crew of the boat ''Arabik'' with goals from William MacPherson, Michele Scafoglio and Léon Chaudoir.
Early into its existence, the
Italian Football Championship
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
was limited to just
northern clubs, so southern clubs competed against sailors
or in cups such as
Thomas Lipton
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup ...
's
Lipton Challenge Cup
The Lipton Challenge Cup also known as Coppa Lipton was a football competition competed between clubs from Southern Italy and Sicily. It was played during the period leading up to World War I when football in the country was still in its infancy ...
. In the cup competed between Naples FBC and
Palermo FBC Naples won three finals. The foreign contingent at the club broke off in 1911 to form
Internazionale Napoli, who wore blue shirts with white shorts,
in time for both club's debut in the Italian Championship of
1912–13. Each of the teams won a Prima Categoria southern Italian title and therefore competed in the national semifinal, Naples doing so in 1912–13 and Internazionale Napoli in
1913–14. They were set to face each other for the southern title again in
1914–15 but it was canceled due to World War I.
Due to financial pressure, the two rival clubs merged as the Foot-Ball Club Internazionale-Naples, abbreviated as FBC Internaples on 2 October 1922. Internaples', and later Napoli's kits are derived from those of Naples FBC and Internazionale Napoli; adopting the sky blue from Naples' shirts and the white shorts from Internazionale Napoli.
FBC Internaples
The merged club was seen by some media and fans to be a continuation of Internazionale Napoli rather than a new club; it played its games at Internazionale Napoli's Terme di Agnano rather than Naples FBC's Campo del Poligono and kept Internazionale Napoli's nickname of ''Gli Azzurri'' (The Blues) rather than ''I Blucelesti'' (The Navy Blue and Sky Blues) used by Naples. Internaples were also given the nickname ''I Puledri'' (the foals), as the horse is a symbol of Naples.
Internaples were immediately enrolled in the top-flight
Prima Divisione
Prima Divisione (''First Division'') was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1921 to 1926. The competition was initially founded in opposition to the FIGC by the richest clubs of Northern Italy, which disagreed th ...
Lega Sud championship, as both Internazionale Napoli and Naples competed in that division pre-merger. Since the end of World War I both clubs had lost dominance of the region to the likes of
Puteolana and
Savoia Savoia may refer to:
*Savoy, a region of France
*Savoie, Department of France
*House of Savoy, a royal house of Italy until 1946
*Savoia-Marchetti, an Italian aircraft manufacturer
*Savoia Castle, a castle near Prague, Czech Republic
*Savoia di Luc ...
. Even with the combined strength of Internaples, Savoia still proved to be the top team in southern Italy. Internaples reached the interregional semi-final of Lega Sud in each of its first two seasons, and reached the Lega Sud final in
1925–26. This secured the club a spot in the new
Divisione Nazionale for the following season.
The birth of Associazione Calcio Napoli
Under the presidency of Giorgio Ascarelli, and likely under pressure from the new fascist government to "Italianize" the club name,
[Pacileo e Gargano, ''80 anni di passione'', p. 14.] Internaples changed its name to Associazione Calcio Napoli on 25 August 1926. The newly renamed team also moved from the Terme di Agnano to a new stadium, the Stadio Militare dell'Arenaccia. After a poor start, with a sole point in an entire championship,
Napoli was re-admitted to Serie A's forerunner, the Divisione Nazionale, by the
Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
I ...
("FIGC"), and began to improve thanks in part to Paraguayan-born
Attila Sallustro, who was the first fully fledged hero to the fans. He was a capable goal-scorer and eventually set the all-time goal-scoring record for Napoli, which was later surpassed by players like
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
and
Marek Hamšík
Marek Hamšík (; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. He formerly captained the Slovakia national team.
After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 20 ...
.

Napoli entered the Serie A era under the management of
William Garbutt
William Thomas Garbutt (9 January 1883 – 24 February 1964) was an English professional football coach and player. His contribution to Italian football through laying the foundations of player training and coaching popularized the sport in ...
. During Garbutt's six-year stint, the club would be dramatically transformed, frequently finishing in the top half of the table.
This included two third-place finishes during the
1932–33 and
1933–34 seasons,
with added notables such as
Antonio Vojak,
Arnaldo Sentimenti and
Carlo Buscaglia.
However, in the years leading up to World War II, Napoli went into decline, only surviving relegation in
1939–40 by goal average.
Napoli lost a closely contested relegation battle at the end of 1942 and were relegated to
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
. They moved from the
Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli
Stadio Partenopeo, also known as Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli, was a multi-use stadium in Naples, Italy. It was used mostly for football matches, and it was also the home ground of S.S.C. Napoli. The stadium was able to hold 40.000 people. During ...
to the
Stadio Arturo Collana and remained in Serie B until after the war.
Post-war era and first trophies
Play restarted in 1945 with two divisions: one consisting of Serie A teams from the north and one combined division of Serie A and Serie B teams from the central and south, with the top four of each division advancing to the national round that followed. Napoli won the
Centro-Sud Serie A-B to secure a place in the Divisione Nazionale (where they placed fifth) and automatic promotion to the next season's Serie A.
They were relegated after two seasons for a bribery scandal. The club won the Serie B title that season to ensure top flight football at the start of the 1950s. Napoli moved to their new home ground
Stadio San Paolo
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (formerly known as Stadio San Paolo) is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the third largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro and Rome's Stadio Olimpico, as well ...
in 1959.
Despite erratic league form with highs and lows during this period, including multiple relegations and promotions, Napoli won their first major trophy when they beat
SPAL
Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system.
Founded in 1907, since ...
to lift the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...
in 1962, with goals from Gianni Corelli and
Pierluigi Ronzon. The victory made Napoli the first team to win the Coppa while in Serie B, and they were promoted to Serie A that season. Their fourth relegation cut celebrations short the following season.
Name change
As the club changed their name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli on 25 June 1964
they began to rise up again, gaining promotion in
1964–65. Under the management of former player
Bruno Pesaola
Bruno Pesaola (; 28 July 1925 – 29 May 2015) was a professional Italian Argentine football player and manager, who played as a winger. He is most famous for his time with Italian clubs Fiorentina and S.S.C. Napoli, as both a player and a ...
, they won the
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majori ...
and were back among the elite in Serie A, with consistent top-five finishes.
Napoli came very close to winning the league in
1967–68, finishing just behind
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
in second place.
Some of the most popular players from this period were
Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at ...
,
José Altafini,
Omar Sívori and hometown midfielder
Antonio Juliano. Juliano would eventually break the appearance records, which still stands today.
League stability and second Coppa Italia
The trend of Napoli performing well in the league continued into the 1970s, with third place spots in
1970–71 and
1973–74.
Under the coaching of former player
Luís Vinício, this gained them entry into the early
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...
competitions. In
1974–75, they reached the third round knocking out
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
2–0 ''en route''. During the
same season, Napoli finished second in Serie A, just two points behind champions
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
.
Solid performances from locally born players such as
Giuseppe Bruscolotti, Antonio Juliano and
Salvatore Esposito were relied upon during this period, coupled with goals from
Giuseppe Savoldi.
The club won their second Coppa Italia trophy in
1975–76, eliminating Milan and
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...
''en route'', before beating rivals
Hellas Verona
Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85.
Hi ...
4–0 in
the final. That season, they also defeated
Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
4–1 on aggregate to lift the 1976
Anglo-Italian League Cup. Napoli were entered into the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
for
1976–77, where they reached the semi-finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...
. In the Italian league, Napoli were still very much a consistent top six side for much of the late 1970s.
Even into the earliest two seasons of the 1980s, the club were performing respectably with a third-place finish in
1980–81.
Napoli's Primavera squad was also doing well at the time, winning the
Torneo di Viareggio
The Torneo di Viareggio ( en, Viareggio Tournament), officially named the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is a youth association football tournament held annually in the commune of Viareggio, Italy and its surrounding area ...
Cup in 1975 and their only
Campionato Nazionale Primavera
The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in t ...
title in 1979. However, by 1983, they had slipped dramatically and were involved in relegation battles.
Napoli on the rise: Maradona era
Napoli broke the world transfer record fee after acquiring
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
in a €12 million deal from
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
on 30 June 1984. The squad was gradually re-built, with the likes of
Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to ...
,
Salvatore Bagni and
Fernando De Napoli
Fernando De Napoli (; born 15 March 1964) is an Italian former professional footballer, who played either as a central midfielder or as a winger during the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known in club football for being a regular in the Napoli tea ...
filling the ranks.
The rise up the tables was gradual, by
1985–86, they had a third-place finish under their belts, but better was yet to come. With the attacking trio of Maradona,
Bruno Giordano, and
Careca (nicknamed MaGiCa), the
1986–87 season was the landmark in Napoli's history, becoming just the third Italian team to win
the double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
after securing the Serie A title by three points and then beating
Atalanta
Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...
4–0 to lift the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...
.

Because a mainland
Southern Italian team had never won the league before, this turned Maradona into a cultural, social and borderline religious icon for Neapolitans, which stretched beyond the realms of just football.

The club were unsuccessful in the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
in the following season and finished runners-up in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
. However, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup for
1988–89 and won their first major European title.
Juventus,
Bayern Munich and
PAOK were defeated ''en route'' to the final, where Napoli beat
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. Vf ...
5–4 on aggregate, with two goals from Careca and one each from Maradona, Ferrara and
Alemão.
Napoli added their second Serie A title in
1989–90, defeating Milan by two points in the title race.
However, this was surrounded by less auspicious circumstances as Napoli were awarded two points for a game, when in
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes C ...
, an Atalanta fan threw a 100
lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
coin at Alemão's head.
A controversial set of events set off at the
1990 World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being M ...
, when Maradona made comments pertaining to North–South inequality in the country and the ''
risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single s ...
'', asking Neapolitans to root for
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
in the semi-finals against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in Naples.
The Stadio San Paolo was the only stadium during the competition where the
Argentine national anthem
The "Argentine National Anthem" ( es, Himno Nacional Argentino) is the national anthem of Argentina. Its lyrics were written by the Buenos Aires-born politician Vicente López y Planes and the music was composed by the Spanish musician Blas Pa ...
was not jeered,
Maradona bowed to the Napoli fans at the end and his country went on to reach the final. However, after the final, the
Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
I ...
(FIGC) forced Maradona to take a doping test, which he failed testing positive for
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
; both Maradona and Napoli staff later claimed it was a revenge plot for events at the World Cup.
Maradona was banned for 15 months and would never play for the club again.
The club still won the
Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seas ...
that year, with a record 5–1 victory against Juventus, but it would be their last major trophy for 22 years. In the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, they were eliminated in the second round.
Decline and resurgence
Though the club finished fourth during the
1991–92 season,
Napoli gradually went into decline after that season, both financially and on the field. Players such as
Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea.
He spent the first decade of his playing career playing ...
,
Daniel Fonseca, Ciro Ferrara and Careca had all departed by 1994. Nonetheless, Napoli qualified for the
1994–95 UEFA Cup
The 1994–95 UEFA Cup was won by Parma on aggregate over Juventus. Internazionale were the defending champions with a wild card, but were knocked out in the first round by Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional footb ...
, reaching the third round and in
1996–97, Napoli appeared at the Coppa Italia final, but lost 3–1 to
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the '' Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a t ...
; Napoli's primavera squad won the
Coppa Italia Primavera that season. Napoli's league form had dropped lower, and relegation to Serie B came at the end of
1997–98 when they won only two matches all season.
The club returned to Serie A after gaining promotion in the
1999–2000 season, though after a closely contested relegation battle, they were relegated immediately back down the following season.
By August 2004, Napoli was declared bankrupt. To secure football in the city, film producer
Aurelio De Laurentiis
Aurelio De Laurentiis (born 24 May 1949) is an Italian film producer through his company, Filmauro, and the owner of Italian football clubs Napoli (of which he is also chairman) and Bari.
He is the nephew of film producer Dino De Laurentiis a ...
re-founded the club under the name Napoli Soccer, as they were not allowed to use their old name until the next season.
FIGC
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
placed Napoli in
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1.
Before the 1978 ...
, where they missed out on promotion after losing 2–1 in play-offs to local rivals
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.
...
in
2004–05.
Despite the fact Napoli were playing in a low division, they retained higher average attendances than most of the Serie A clubs, breaking the
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega ...
attendance record with 51,000 at one match.
The
following season, they secured promotion to
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
and De Laurentiis brought back the club's history, restoring its name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli in May 2006.
After just one season in Serie B, they were promoted to the top division, along with fellow "sleeping giants"
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
. In 2010, under manager
Walter Mazzarri
Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian former footballer and head coach, most recently in charge of Serie A club Cagliari.
After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several ...
, Napoli finished in sixth place to qualify for a
2010–11 UEFA Europa League
The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...
spot. Napoli finished third in the
2010–11 season, qualifying directly for the
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
of the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League
The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...
.
In the
2011–12 season, Napoli ended in fifth place in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
, but defeated unbeaten champions Juventus at the
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian N ...
to win the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...
for the fourth time in the club's history, 25 years after their last cup win. The team finished second in its group of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, progressing to the round of 16, where they were eliminated by eventual winners
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...
. In
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
, Napoli finished in second place in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
, the club's best performance since winning the
1989–90 Scudetto
The ''scudetto'' ( Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous se ...
.
Edinson Cavani
Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Matador'' ('The Bullfighter'), being known for his i ...
finished as
top scorer in the division with 29 goals, which resulted in him being sold to
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As F ...
for a club-record fee of €64 million.

In the 2013 close-season, Mazzarri left Napoli and
Rafael Benítez
Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton.
Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...
became the club's
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
. They finished the
2013–14 season by winning the
2014 Coppa Italia Final, their fifth title in the tournament, with a 3–1 win against
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...
, as well as qualifying for the Champions League, but missed out on the group stage as they lost to
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...
in the play-off round. Their subsequent run in the Europa League ended when they lost 2–1 on aggregate to
FC Dnipro
Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv.
In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced ...
in the semi-finals. They finished the
2014–15 season in fifth, with Benítez then leaving for
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and being replaced by
Maurizio Sarri.
In Sarri's first season in charge in the
2015–16 season, Napoli finished in 2nd place on 82 points and were knocked out of the Europa League in the round of 32 against
Villarreal
Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain.
The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...
. In the following season, Napoli finished in 3rd place on 86 points and were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 against Real Madrid. This year saw the breakout season for
Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team. who scored 34 goals in all competitions after he was moved from the left-wing to centre-forward following
Milik's torn
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
.
In the
2017–18 season, Napoli challenged for the title for the entire season, and finished with a club record of 91 points. However, the title ultimately went to Juventus in the penultimate round of matches. On 23 December 2017, Marek Hamšík overtook Diego Maradona as Napoli's all-time leading scorer after scoring his 115th goal. At the end of the season, Sarri left for
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...
, succeeded by
Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...
in May 2018.
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.
Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia.
He was born in Corigliano ( Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the ce ...
was named head coach the next day. On 14 June 2020, Dries Mertens became Napoli's all-time top scorer after scoring his 122nd goal in a Coppa Italia semi-final match against
Inter
Inter may refer to:
Association football clubs
* Inter Milan, an Italian club
* SC Internacional, a Brazilian club
* Inter Miami CF, an American club
* FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club
* FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club
* FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...
. Napoli went on to win the
2019–20 Coppa Italia in a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
against Juventus in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
.
In December 2020, Napoli renamed San Paolo after
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
, after the passing away of their beloved club icon. Napoli finished fifth in Serie A that season after a draw on the final day, missing a Champions League berth by one point.
In the
2021–22 season,
Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian football manager and a former player. He is currently the manager of Italian Serie A club Napoli.
Playing career
Born in Certaldo, Metropolitan City of Florence, Spalletti started his career ...
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.
Club staff
Presidents
Below is the official presidential history of Napoli, from when Giorgio Ascarelli took over at the club in 1926, until the present day.
Managers
Napoli has had many managers and trainers, co-managers in some seasons, since 1926.
Current squad
Out on loan
.
Primavera squad
Retired numbers

In the summer of 2000, Napoli retired the jersey number 10 belonged to former club legend
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
, who played for the club from 1984 to 1991. In order, the last players to wear number 10 were
Fausto Pizzi (1995–1996),
Beto Beto is a surname, and a nickname for the given names Alberto, Albertino, Adalberto, Berthony, Heriberto, Norberto, Roberto, Humberto, or Benito. It occurs mostly in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries and communities. Notable people with the ...
(in 1996–1997),
Igor Protti in 1997–1998 was the last player to play and score a goal with the number 10 shirt in Serie A and
Claudio Bellucci in 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 in
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
.
Karl Corneliusson
Björn Karl Håkan Corneliusson (born 17 November 1976) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career with Örgryte IS, he went on to play professionally for AIK, Salernitana, Napoli, and Land ...
wore the number 10 shirt in 2004–2005 in
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega ...
. In
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega ...
the starting players had to wear shirts with the number 1-11
However, for regulatory reasons, the number was reissued on blue shirts 2004 to 2006
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1.
Before the 1978 ...
, a tournament where there is the old numbering from 1 to 11. The last player to wear and score goals with this shirt in an official match was
Mariano Bogliacino in the home match of 18 May 2006 against
Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest city ...
, valid for the final leg of the
Supercoppa di Lega Serie C1
The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C, inaugurated in 2000.
Forerunners
The FIGC introduced a third-level national football championship f ...
; primacy belongs to him also for last appearance in the championship, 12 May 2006 at the home match against
Lanciano
Lanciano (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Langiàne ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 36,304 inhabitants as of 2011. The town is known for the first recorded Catholic Eucharistic ...
. As regards exclusively the championship, however, the honour goes to the Argentine footballer
Roberto Sosa Roberto Sosa may refer to:
* Roberto Sosa (poet) (1930–2011), Honduran author and poet
* Roberto Sosa (Argentine footballer) (born 1975), Argentine footballer
* Roberto Sosa (Uruguayan footballer) (born 1935)
* Roberto Sosa (actor)
See also
*Sosa ...
, the distinction of being the last to wear the 10 at the San Paolo and at the same time to score in the match against Frosinone on 30 April 2006.
Culture
Colours, badge and nicknames
As Naples is a coastal city, the colours of the club have always been derived from the blue waters of the
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9.3 mi) gulf located along the south-western coast of Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is ...
. Originally, while using the name ''Naples FBC'', the colours of the club implemented two shades of blue.
However, since the 1920s, a singular blue tone has been used in the form of azure. Thus, Napoli share the nickname "''Azzurri''" with the
Italy national team. The shade of blue has been
sky blue
Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...
in many instances.
Napoli typically wear azure shirts with white shorts at home and white shirts with either white or blue shorts away, though in recent years the away kits have often deviated from this tradition.
One of the nicknames of Napoli is "''I ciucci''", which means "the
donkeys
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
" in the
Neapolitan language
, altname =
, states = Italy
, region = Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise
, ethnicity = '' Mezzogiorno'' Ethnic Italians
, speakers = 5.7 million
, d ...
. Napoli were given this name after a particularly poor performance during the
1926–27 season. It was originally meant to be derogatory, as the Neapolitan symbol is a rampant black horse, but the club adopted the donkey as a mascot named "O Ciuccio''".
Napoli's first badge featured a rampant horse on top of a football with the letters "ACN" around it. The current club badge features a large "N" placed within a circle. This crest can be traced back to
Internazionale Napoli, which used a similar design on their shirts. Since the club officially adopted the "N badge" as its representative, Napoli have altered it slightly at various times; sometimes it features the club's name around it, sometimes it does not.
The main difference between each badge is the shade of blue used. Usually the "N" is white, although it has occasionally been gold (especially prior to 1980).
"''Partenopei''" is a popular nickname for the club and people from the city of Naples in general. It is derived from
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...
where the Siren (mythology), siren Parthenope (Siren), Parthenope tried to enchant Odysseus from his ship to Capri. In the story, Odysseus had his men tie him to the ship's mast so he was able to resist the song of the siren. Consequently, Parthenope, unable to live with the rejection of her love, drowned herself and her body was washed up upon the shore of Naples.
Supporters and rivalries
Support

Napoli is the fourth most supported football club in Italy with around 13% of Italian football fans supporting the club.
Like other top clubs in the country, Napoli's fanbase goes beyond the Italian border; in 2018 the society announced that the team had over 35 million supporters worldwide and 120 million people who liked to watch Napoli matches.
The main ultra groups of Napoli are ''Fedayn EAM 1979'', ''Ultras Napoli'', ''Fossato Flegreo'', ''Secco Vive'', ''Mastiffs'', ''Brigata Carolina'', ''Teste Matte'', ''Sud1996'', ''Nuova Guardia'', ''Vecchi Lions'' and ''Masseria''.
Napoli fans have occasionally cheered loud enough to register as earthquakes on Seismometer, seismographs at University of Naples Federico II.
Rivalries
Unlike other Italian cities such as Genoa, Milan, Rome and Turin, Napoli is the only major football club in the city and therefore there is no derby in the strict sense of the term. The now-infrequent derby with A.C. Savoia 1908, Savoia, the next largest club in Naples, was played for the first time 24 December 1939, during the knockout phase of the 1939–40 Coppa Italia, the score was 1–3 in favor of Napoli. The last meeting between the clubs was in Serie B in 2000, won 0–1 by Napoli.
Napoli's most hated rival is AS Roma, known as the Derby del Sole (Derby of the Sun). A Juventus F.C.–S.S.C. Napoli rivalry, rivalry with
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
also exists, but Napoli is not considered to be as much of a rival by Juventus fans as Juventus is to Napoli fans. They also have a rivalry with the other Roman club S.S. Lazio, Lazio, and contest the Derby Mezzogiorno (Midday Derby/Derby of Southern Italy) against F.C. Bari 1908, Bari and Derby Bourbon (referencing the family that ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) against Foggia Calcio, Foggia.
The Derby del Sud Italia (Derby of Southern Italy) against U.S. Catanzaro 1929, Catanzaro was considered one of the most important rivalries in Italy during the 1970s.
The fans of Napoli do co-star in two particular derbies in Italy against other regional teams: Derby della Campania generally refers to a rivalry with Campania, regional clubs, mainly
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.
...
and U.S. Salernitana 1919, Salernitana.
Friendships
A "friendly rivalry" with S.S.D. Palermo, Palermo is contested, known as the Derby delle Due Sicilie (Derby of the Two Sicilies), in reference to the historical link of the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Another friendly rivalry exists with Catania S.S.D., Catania known as the Derby del Vulcano (Volcano Derby), referencing Mount Vesuvius near Naples and Mount Etna near Catania.
Friendships with teams outside Italy exist Borussia Dortmund,
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As F ...
, Celtic F.C., Celtic, and PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Lokomotiv Plovdiv, among others.
Napoli formerly had a famous and long-standing friendship with the fans of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
, but the friendship ended in 2019. Napoli also once had a friendship with Roma.
Finances
S.S.C. Napoli was expelled from the professional league in 2004. Thanks to Article 52 of N.O.I.F., the sports title was transferred to Napoli Soccer (later the "new" Napoli) in the same year, while the corporate entity which administered the "old" Napoli was liquidated. In the second last season before bankruptcy, the club was partially saved by the non-standard accounting practice of Amortization (business), amortization after Silvio Berlusconi, owner of Milan and Prime Minister of Italy, introduced Italian Law 91/1981, Article 18B.
[S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2003 (in Italian)]
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref>
Since re-foundation in 2004, the club's large numbers of supporters provided the main source of income, particularly through gate revenues and TV rights. Napoli made an aggregate profit in 2006–07 Serie B.[S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007 (in Italian)]
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref> They have continued to be profitable since returning to Serie A.[S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2008 (in Italian)]
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref> Napoli Equity (finance), equity in 2005 was a negative €261,466, having started from €3 million capital. By 2010 the equity was at €25,107,223 and Napoli achieved self-sustainability.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Stature and statistics
League history
* 1926–1929 Divisione Nazionale (1st tier)
* 1929–1942 Serie A (1st tier)
* 1942–1943 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 1943–1946 No contests (World War II)
* 1946–1948 Serie A (1st tier)
* 1948–1950 Serie B (2nd tier) – ''Champions: 1950''
* 1950–1961 Serie A (1st tier)
* 1961–1962 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 1962–1963 Serie A (1st tier)
* 1963–1965 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 1965–1998 Serie A (1st tier) – ''Champions: 1987, 1990''
* 1998–2000 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 2000–2001 Serie A (1st tier)
* 2001–2004 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 2004–2006 Serie C1 (3rd tier) – ''Champions: 2006''
* 2006–2007 Serie B (2nd tier)
* 2007–''present'' Serie A (1st tier)
Honours
National
League
* Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
:* Winners: 1986–87, 1989–90
* Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
:* Winners: 1945–46 Italian Football Championship#Central and Southern Italy Serie A-B, 1945–46, 1949–50 Serie B, 1949–50
* Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1.
Before the 1978 ...
Southern Italy, -South
:* Winners: 2005–06 Serie C1, 2005–06 South
Cups
* Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...
:* Winners: 1961–62 Coppa Italia, 1961–62, 1975–76, 1986–87 Coppa Italia, 1986–87, 2011–12 Coppa Italia, 2011–12, 2013–14 Coppa Italia, 2013–14, 2019-20 Coppa Italia, 2019–20
* SuperCoppa Italiana
:* Winners: 1990 Supercoppa Italiana, 1990, 2014 Supercoppa Italiana, 2014
European
* UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...
:* Winners: 1988–89
Other titles
* Anglo-Italian League Cup
:* Winners: Anglo-Italian League Cup#1976, 1976
* Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majori ...
:* Winners: 1966 Cup of the Alps, 1966
UEFA club coefficient ranking
Records and statistics
Marek Hamšík
Marek Hamšík (; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. He formerly captained the Slovakia national team.
After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 20 ...
holds Napoli's official appearance record, having made 520. He also holds the record for league appearances with 408 over the course of 12 years from 2007 to 2019.
The all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli is Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team. , with 148 goals.
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
finished the season of Serie A as the league's top scorer, known in Italy as the ''Capocannoniere'', in the 1987–88 Serie A, 1987–88 season with 15 goals. This achievement was matched by Edinson Cavani
Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Matador'' ('The Bullfighter'), being known for his i ...
in 2012–13, and Gonzalo Higuaín in 2015–16.
The record for most goals in the league (also including the Divisione Nazionale tournaments) belongs to Attila Sallustro, with 106 goals,[Napoli in cifre](_blank)
riccardocassero.it while the highest scorer in Serie A is Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team. with 103 goals. The record for most goals in a single league season belongs to Gonzalo Higuaín, with 36 in the 2015–16 Serie A.
The biggest ever victory recorded by Napoli was 8–1 against Aurora Pro Patria 1919, Pro Patria, in the Serie A 1955-56, 1955–56 season of Serie A. Napoli's heaviest championship defeat came during the Italian Football Championship 1927-28, 1927–28 season when eventual champions Torino Calcio, Torino beat them 11–0.
On 26 July 2016, Gonzalo Higuaín became the List of most expensive association football transfers, third-highest football transfer of all-time and highest ever transfer for an Italian club when he joined Juventus for €90 million.
On 31 July 2020, Napoli confirmed the signing of Victor Osimhen from Lille OSC, Lille for a transfer fee of €70 million, making him Napoli's most expensive signing.
See also
* European Club Association
The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...
* Napoli Calcio a 5, Napoli (futsal)
References
External links
*
S.S.C. Napoli
at Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...
S.S.C. Napoli
at UEFA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli,
Football clubs in Naples
Football clubs in Italy
Coppa Italia winning clubs
UEFA Cup winning clubs
Serie A winning clubs
Serie A clubs
Serie B clubs
Serie C clubs
Phoenix clubs (association football)
Association football clubs established in 1926
1926 establishments in Italy
2004 establishments in Italy