Empoli Football Club is anItalian professionalfootball club based inEmpoli,Tuscany. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs not based in a provincial capital city that have participated inSerie A.[1]
Empoli has spent most of its history in professional football.[2] Empoli competed in European competitions once, in which they were eliminated in the qualification stage of2007–08 UEFA Cup.[3]
In August 1920 in Empoli,Foot Ball Club Empoli and the football sectionUnione Sportiva Empoli were born. After the participation of a tournament inSan Miniato, the two merged into a single local football club. The next season, the new club, after having obtained in September affiliation in theItalian Football Federation (FIGC) ratified by the Tuscan Regional Committee, was included in Group A of the TuscanPromozione 1921–22, but did take part due to economic problems, choosing instead to join the league ofTerza Categoria, where the team achieved second place in the group A.[1]
In the 1922–23 season, Empoli finished in second place in Group A of the Terza Categoria, gaining admission to the final round after winning the play-off inFlorence, held on 15 April 1923 againstPontedera, 1–0. The season concluded with a third place in the group final.[1]
From 1923 to 1926, Empoli continued to play in the Tuscan third division. Then, in the 1926–27 season, Empoli won the Group A division of Tuscany, and was admitted to the interregional finals; thanks to a fourth place in Group G, the Tuscans were promoted in the North Division of the Second Division 1927–28, the third Italian football tier of the era. In the following season the team was then inserted in Group C of the North Division, which concluded in fourth place, but for economic reasons refused the invitation to take part in the next championship ofPrima Divisione, and therefore followed the downgrading of the Seconda Divisione from third to fourth tier. However, already the following season, in the 1928–29 Seconda Divisione, the club won promotion, winning the Tuscan championship, and returned to the North Division of Prima Divisione.[1]
Empoli was in thePrima Divisione, thenSerie C, until the 1935–36 season, when the team withdrawn halfway through the season because of the call to arms for many of its players. Empoli resumed competitive activity from Prima Divisione the next season, under the name ofOND Empoli, with the colours gray and blue; the team won the Tuscan Group A again gaining admission in Serie C. Until the shutdown from the causes of war, Empoli played in Serie C, obtaining a best result of sixth place in 1938–39. Meanwhile, the club was renamedOND Interaziendale Italo Gambaccioni Section Soccer from 1938 to 1941, until the name was changed again toAssociazione Calcio Empol. On 15 September 1935, Empoli debuted in theCoppa Italia with a 1–0 home success against Pontedera.
AfterWorld War II, Empoli took up the club name ofEmpoli Foot Ball Club after being calledSports Group Azelio Landi for a brief period between October and November 1944, and was admitted intoSerie B thanks to a third-place finish in the 1945–46 season. In Serie B, Empoli played for four consecutive seasons, finishing in third place in the 1946–47 season. Relegation of the club – which by then had adopted the colour blue – occurred at the end of 1949–50 championship. The permanence in Serie C lasted for six seasons: in the summer of 1955, the club sold most of its players and at the end of the 1955–56 season, the Tuscan side were relegated toSerie D. After three seasons in the fourth division, in 1959–60 theAzzurri risked relegation to the regional level after finishing in 15th place, on equal points with Carrarese and Rieti. The club managed to escape relegation before drawing with Carrarese and then surpassingLazio, inPesaro, with a goal from Vezzosi. In 1960–61, Empoli returned to the third tier of Italian football, but for only one season, again suffering relegation.
The club returned to Serie C on 9 June 1963 after beating Tempio 2–0 in the play-off inGenoa. The club's permanence in the third tier of Italian football, then calledSerie C1, lasted for 20 years until the 1982–83 season.
In 1986, the small-town club was promoted to Serie A. Playing their first few home games inFlorence, Empoli's Serie A debut resulted in a 1–0 win overInternazionale. Helped by a nine-point deduction fromUdinese, they avoided relegation with 23 points and 13 goals in 30 games. Empoli themselves received a five-point penalty the following season, and were relegated despite an improved showing. They were relegated again toSerie C1 in 1989.
This club then spent several seasons in Serie C1 before returning to Serie B in 1996 and achieving a second successive promotion in 1997. WithLuciano 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 battlers against relegation. They ended the2005–06 season in tenth place in the top-flight. As a result of theSerie A match-fixing scandal at the end of that season, they gained qualification for theUEFA Cup for the following season, but did not participate as club management failed to apply for a UEFA licence. In the2006–07 season, the club once again qualified for the UEFA Cup.
With the prospect of European football approaching, the management strengthened the squad, most notably signing a number of young players from large Serie A clubs, such asRincón of Inter,Ignazio Abate andLino Marzoratti ofMilan andSebastian Giovinco,Claudio Marchisio andRej Volpato ofJuventus on loan or co-ownership deals. Empoli marked their debut in the UEFA Cup with a two-legged match againstZürich, losing 4–2 on aggregate. A poor showing in the initial part of the season then led chairman Fabrizio Corsi to sackLuigi Cagni, who led the Tuscans to UEFA Cup qualification, and replace him withAlberto Malesani.[4] However, the club's fortunes did not change and Malesani was sacked after a 2–0 defeat toSampdoria which left them at the bottom of the table. Cagni was re-appointed on 31 March 2008 but the team suffered a last-minute relegation. Cagni resigned and was replaced bySilvio Baldini ahead of the2008–09 season. Baldini's tenure, however, did not prove to be successful, as the Tuscans ended the season only in fifth place, and were later defeated in the promotion playoffs byBrescia.
Despite modest results, Baldini was sacked. By December 2011, the club had gone through four coaches since the 2009–10 season. The club maintained their Serie B status dramatically in 2011–12. After a poor season, Empoli finished 18th, one point from safety, which meant a relegation play-off againstVicenza over two legs. The first game finished goalless before Vicenza led 2–0 in the second leg with 30 minutes to go. However, two goals in two minutes saw theAzzuri level the tie beforeMassimo Maccarone secured a 3–2 victory in the fourth minute of injury time.2012–13 saw the club finish fourth, a dramatic improvement on the previous season, but lost the promotion play-off final toLivorno over two legs. The club secured promotion back to Serie A thefollowing season, finishing as runners-up toPalermo and stayed in the top flight for two seasons, finishing 15th in2014–15 and 10th in2015–16. Going into the final matchday of the2016–17 Serie A season, Empoli were one point above the relegation zone ahead ofCrotone, however were eventually relegated to Serie B after they failed to beat Palermo, while Crotone beat Lazio. After a triumph of the2017–18 Serie B, Empoli promptly regained promotion to Serie A, after winning Serie B on 28 April 2018, four matches in advance.[5] On the final matchday of the2018–19 Serie A season, Empoli were one point above the relegation zone ahead ofGenoa, however were eventually relegated to Serie B after they were defeated by Internazionale; while Genoa drew withFiorentina, both sides finished on the same number of points, but Genoa had a greater goal difference by one. However, Empoli finished first in the2020–21 Serie B season, their third title in the competition in their history, and so returned to Serie A after two seasons.[6] In the2023–24 season, Empoli secured their continued presence in Serie A, following a stoppage time goal in a 2–1 victory againstRoma on the final matchday.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
