 | |||
| Full name | Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe S.r.l. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | La Celeste (The Light-Blue) Seriani (People fromVal Seriana) Blucelesti | ||
| Founded | 1995 | ||
| Ground | AlbinoLeffe Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 1,791 | ||
| Owner | Gianfranco Andreoletti | ||
| Head coach | Giovanni Lopez | ||
| League | Serie C Group A | ||
| 2024–25 | Serie C Group A, 4th of 20 | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is anItalian association football club representingAlbino andLeffe, two small towns located inVal Seriana,Lombardy. The club played inSerie B for nine consecutive years and narrowly missed promotion inSerie A at the end of the2007–08 season. It currently plays inSerie C and has been in the Italian third tier since its relegation in2011–12.
The club was created in 1998 as a result of the merger between formerSerie C2 (fourth division) teamsAlbinese Calcio andSocietà Calcio Leffe, respectively fromAlbino andLeffe, two neighboring towns. In their first season, the club finished 2nd in theSerie C2 and won a promotion having defeatedA.C. Prato in the Girone A Play-offs final. After rising toSerie C1 (the Italian third division), they performed at the middle of the pack, finishing 9th in 2000 and 13th in 2001.
However, in 2002, theSeriani went to the finals of theCoppa Italia Serie C, where they defeatedLivorno 2–1 at home before losing 2–3 on the road. They won the tournament on the tiebreaker (most away goals scored). In league play they again finished 13th. In 2003, AlbinoLeffe, under coachElio Gustinetti, finished second in league play before heading to the promotion play-off. There, they defeatedPadua in the semifinals, then had a surprising triumph overPisa Calcio, which pushed them up toSerie B.
The team moved from the smallMartinelli Stadium inLeffe, where they used to play home matches before promotion to Serie B, to the biggerStadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia located inBergamo, the chief-town of the province where both Albino and Leffe are located. Even though AlbinoLeffe was considered to be an outsider in Serie B, which historically includes several formerScudetto winners, the team remarkably managed to avoid relegation in the last two seasons. In 2005–2006, after a great comeback in the second half of the season following the appointment ofEmiliano Mondonico as new head coach, Albinoleffe ended the season in eighteenth place and managed to save itself from relegation by prevailing in the playouts againstAvellino (score: 2–0, 2–3). The 2006–2007 Serie B campaign, the fourth consecutive for the small Lombard team, ended with a good tenth place, well ahead of the relegation zone.
Historically, AlbinoLeffe's home games have been characterized by very low attendance, as shown by the average 2,400 spectators per game in the 2006–07 season, the most successful in the club history.[1]
With local hero Gustinetti back in charge of the team and despite a lineup composed of relative unknowns, the club's2007–08 campaign started surprisingly well, with the team leading the Serie B table for a few weeks and arousing the interest of the national media, which began providing regular coverage of the team's games. This has thus far failed to improve the club's low home attendance, however. During the season, AlbinoLeffe confirmed as a potential candidate for direct promotion to Serie A, however a string of poor results, ended with four consecutive home defeats, the final one being a 0–4 loss toRimini, denied them the chance to achieve a place in the top two, and persuaded club chairmanGianfranco Andreoletti to sack Gustinetti, who then confirmed not to be in good relationships with the chairman, and appoint youth team coachArmando Madonna as caretaker boss for the final regular season match and the following promotion playoffs.[2] Even after a 1–0 loss toBrescia, AlbinoLeffe managed to win at home in the second leg (2–1) and qualified for the final againstLecce. In the first leg they suffered a 1–0 loss. On 15 June, the second match was played in Lecce and its result was 1–1, so AlbinoLeffe did not reachSerie A.
At the end of the 2011–12 season, it was relegated toLega Pro Prima Divisione after 9 consecutive years inSerie B.
AlbinoLeffe following the systematicmatch fixing as a club controlled bySingapore-based organized crime[3][4][5] was penalized 10 points in the2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
From the2003–04 Serie B season and until 2019, AlbinoLeffe played its home games at theAtleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in the city ofBergamo. Previously they played in Stadio Carlo Martelli ofLeffe.
Following Atalanta's renovation works on the stadium, the club reached a venue sharing agreement withGiana Erminio from the nearby city ofGorgonzola allowing the club to play their home matches for the2019–20 Serie C season at theStadio Città di Gorgonzola.[6]
In 2021, the club opened a brand-new stadium in the town ofZanica with a capacity of 1,791 (with possibility of expansion to up to 5,500 in case of a promotion in Serie B) built next to the club's headquarters and training centre; the stadium was formally approved by theItalian National Olympic Committee in March 2019.[7] The stadium makes AlbinoLeffe the first Serie C team to own their home stadium. The inauguration match was played on 21 December 2021, aSerie C league game againstPro Patria.[8]
The club's official colors are dark blue and azure blue, also used for home matches, while the outfit worn by the players for away matches is red and yellow.
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.
|
|
Board of directors[edit]As of 1 September 2023[10]
| Current technical staff[edit]As of 1 September 2023[11]
|
| Season | Div | Pos | League record | Other | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||||
| 1998–99 | Serie C2/A | 2nd | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 44 | 35 | 58 | [12] |
| 1999-00 | Serie C1/A | 9th | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 37 | 45 | |
| 2000–01 | Serie C1/A | 13th | 34 | 7 | 18 | 9 | 27 | 31 | 39 | |
| 2001–02 | Serie C1/A | 13th | 34 | 8 | 17 | 9 | 33 | 35 | 41 | |
| 2002–03 | Serie C1/A | 2nd | 34 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 62 | 36 | 63 | [12] |
| 2003–04 | Serie B | 18th | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 47 | 59 | 54 | |
| 2004–05 | Serie B | 11th | 38 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 55 | 51 | 55 | |
| 2005–06 | Serie B | 18th | 38 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 38 | 52 | 46 | [13] |
| 2006–07 | Serie B | 10th | 38 | 11 | 20 | 11 | 46 | 48 | 53 | |
| 2007–08 | Serie B | 4th | 38 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 67 | 48 | 78 | [14] |
| 2008–09 | Serie B | 9th | 38 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 49 | 49 | 58 | |
| 2009–10 | Serie B | 11th | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 59 | 56 | 55 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie B | 18th | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 66 | 49 | [15] |
| 2011–12 | Serie B | 22nd | 42 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 39 | 60 | 30 | [16] |
| 2012–13 | Serie C1/A | 6th | 32 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 44 | 27 | 47 | |
| 2013–14 | Serie C1/A | 7th | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 42 | 40 | 43 | [17] |
| 2014–15 | Lega Pro/A | 20th | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 27 | 51 | 32 | [18] |
| 2015–16 | Lega Pro/A | 17th | 34 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 23 | 57 | 20 | [19] |
| 2016–17 | Lega Pro/B | 9th | 38 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 38 | 34 | 52 | |
| 2017–18 | Serie C/B | 5th | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 36 | 31 | 49 | |
| 2018–19 | Serie C/B | 14th | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 31 | 35 | 43 | |
| 2019–20 | Serie C/B | 8th | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 29 | 24 | 39 | |
| 2020–21 | Serie C/A | 7th | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 43 | 36 | 57 | |
The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or a significant number of caps and goals accumulated throughout a certain number of seasons for UC AlbinoLeffe.
Andrea BelottiAlessandro DiamantiFederico MarchettiFederico PelusoMarco Sau
Kewullay Conteh
Karamoko Cissé
Mehmet Hetemaj
Sergejs VorobjovsMirco PoloniIvan Del PratoPierre RegonesiRuben GarliniDamiano SonzogniRoberto BonazziMarco CelliniFrancesco RuopoloChristian AraboniFilippo CarobbioRoberto PrevitaliAlessandro SalviAndrea SoncinFabio Gavazzi
Mihai Gușu
