U.C. AlbinoLeffe

AlbinoLeffe
Full name Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe S.r.l.
Nickname(s) La Celeste (The Light-Blue)
Seriani
Founded 1998
Ground Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia,
Bergamo, Italy
Capacity 21,300[1]
Chairman Gianfranco Andreoletti
Head coach Massimiliano Alvini
League Serie C
2016–17 Lega Pro/B, 9th

Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is an Italian association football club based in Bergamo and representing Albino and Leffe, two small towns located in Val Seriana. The club played in Serie B for nine consecutive years and narrowly missed promotion in Serie A at the end of the 2007-08 season. It currently plays in Serie C and have been in the Italian third-tier since their relegation in 2011-12.

History

The club was created in 1998 as a result of the merger between former Serie C2 (fourth division) teams Albinese Calcio and Società Calcio Leffe, respectively from Albino and Leffe, two neighboring towns. In their first season, the club finished 2nd in the Serie C2 and won a promotion having defeated A.C. Prato in the Girone A Play-offs final. After rising to Serie C1 (the Italian third division), they performed at the middle of the pack, finishing 9th in 2000 and 13th in 2001.

However, in 2002, the Seriani went to the finals of the Coppa Italia Serie C, where they defeated Livorno 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 coach Elio Gustinetti, finished second in league play before heading to the promotion play-off. There, they defeated Padua in the semifinals, then had a surprising triumph over Pisa Calcio, which pushed them up to Serie B.

The team moved from the small Martinelli Stadium in Leffe, where they used to play home matches before promotion to Serie B, to the bigger Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia located in Bergamo, 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 former Scudetto winners, the team remerkably 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 of Emiliano Mondonico as new head coach, Albinoleffe ended the season in eighteenth place and managed to save itself from relegation by prevailing in the playouts against Avellino (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.[2]

With local hero Gustinetti back in charge of the team and despite a lineup composed of relative unknowns, the club's 2007–08 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 to Rimini, denied them the chance to achieve a place in the top two, and persuaded club chairman Gianfranco Andreoletti to sack Gustinetti, who then confirmed not to be in good relationships with the chairman, and appoint youth team coach Armando Madonna as caretaker boss for the final regular season match and the following promotion playoffs.[3] Even after a 1–0 loss to Brescia, AlbinoLeffe managed to win at home in the second leg (2–1) and qualified for the final against Lecce. In the first leg they suffered a 1–0 loss. On 15 June the second match was played in Lecce and the result of the match was 1–1 so AlbinoLeffe didn't reach Serie A.

At the end of the 2011–12 season, it was relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione after 9 consecutive years in Serie B.

AlbinoLeffe following the systematic match fixing as a club controlled by Singapore-based organized crime[4][5][6] was penalized 10 points in the 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

Stadium and colors

Since 2003-04 season AlbinoLeffe plays its home games at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in the city of Bergamo. 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.

Current squad

As of 17 September 2018[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Italy GK Simone Cortinovis
2 Italy DF Francesco Micheli
3 Italy DF Federico Pacciardi
4 Italy DF Fabio Gavazzi (Captain)
5 Italy MF Alessandro Sbaffo
6 Romania DF Mihai Gusu
7 Russia MF Juri Gonzi
8 Italy MF Francesco Agnello
9 Italy FW Matteo Colombi
10 Italy MF Francesco Gelli
11 Ivory Coast FW Daniel Kouko
12 Greece GK Vasilis Athanasiou
13 Italy DF Davide Mondonico
14 Italy DF Nicola Stefanelli
No. Position Player
15 Italy MF Marco Nichetti
16 Italy MF Marco Romizi
17 Italy MF Carmine Giorgione
18 Italy MF Lorenzo Mandelli
19 Italy FW Mario Ravasio
20 Italy MF Omar Sokhna
21 Italy MF Christian Calì
22 Italy GK Achille Coser
23 Italy FW Giuseppe Sibilli
24 Italy DF Luca Ruffini
25 Italy MF Jacopo Spampatti
27 Italy MF Fausto Coppola
28 Italy FW Alessandro Galeandro
29 Montenegro MF Minel Šabotić

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Italy GK Federico Esposito (at Villa d'Almè)
Italy DF Davide Cortinovis (at Modena)
No. Position Player
Italy MF Alessandro Battaini (at Scanzorosciate)
Italy MF Matteo Lazzarini (at Villa d'Almè)

Seasons

Season Div Pos League record Other
P W D L F A Pts
1998–99 Serie C2/A 2nd 3416108443558 [8]
1999-00 Serie C1/A 9th 34111211363745
2000–01 Serie C1/A 13th 347189273139
2001–02 Serie C1/A 13th 348179333541
2002–03 Serie C1/A 2nd 3417125623663 [8]
2003–04 Serie B 18th 46131518475954
2004–05 Serie B 11th 38141315555155
2005–06 Serie B 18th 38101616385246 [9]
2006–07 Serie B 10th 38112011464853
2007–08 Serie B 4th 3823910674878 [10]
2008–09 Serie B 9th 38151314494958
2009–10 Serie B 11th 42141315595655
2010–11 Serie B 18th 42131019556649 [11]
2011–12 Serie B 22nd 4261224396030 [12]
2012–13 Serie C1/A 6th 3213145442747
2013–14 Serie C1/A 7th 3012711424043 [13]
2014–15 Lega Pro/A 20th 3871120275132 [14]
2015–16 Lega Pro/A 17th 344822235720 [15]
2016–17 Lega Pro/B 9th 38121610383452

Honours

Winner in 2002
Play-off Finals in 2008
Promotion gained as runner-up in 2003
Promotion gained as runner-up in 1999

References

  1. ↑ "Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia". Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Serie B 06-07 attendances". Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  3. ↑ "Albinoleffe, via Gustinetti" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "La gola profonda: "L'organizzazione controllava l'Albinoleffe"". Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Un pari dell'AlbinoLeffe valeva 6,5 milioni di euro". Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Il caso AlbinoLeffe: "Oltre sei milioni su quel pareggio con il Piacenza"". Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Rosa (Team)". U.C. AlbinoLeffe. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  8. 1 2 promoted through playoffs
  9. ↑ won relegation playoffs to Avellino
  10. ↑ lost promotion playoff finals to Lecce
  11. ↑ won relegation playoff against Piacenza
  12. ↑ relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione
  13. ↑ lost in quarterfinals of promotion playoffs to Cremonese
  14. ↑ relegated to Serie D, but reinstated in Lega Pro by Italian Football Federation
  15. ↑ relegated to Serie D for the second time, but reinstated one more time in Lega Pro by Italian Football Federation
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