UC AlbinoLeffe

(Redirected from U.C. Albinoleffe)

Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is an Italian association football club representing Albino and Leffe, two small towns located in Val Seriana, Lombardy. 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 has been in the Italian third tier since its relegation in 2011–12.

AlbinoLeffe
Full nameUnione Calcio AlbinoLeffe S.r.l.
Nickname(s)La Celeste (The Light-Blue)
Seriani (People from Val Seriana)
Blucelesti
Founded1995
GroundAlbinoLeffe Stadium
Capacity1,791
OwnerGianfranco Andreoletti
Head coachGiovanni Lopez
LeagueSerie C Group A
2023–24Serie C Group A, 13th of 20
WebsiteClub website
Current season

History

The performance of AlbinoLeffe in the Italian football league structure since the first season of a unified Serie A (1929/30). The club's first season was 1998/99.

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 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 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.[1]

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.[2] 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 its result was 1–1, so AlbinoLeffe did not 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[3][4][5] was penalized 10 points in the 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

Stadium and colors

From the 2003–04 Serie B season and until 2019, AlbinoLeffe played its home games at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in the city of Bergamo. Previously they played in Stadio Carlo Martelli of Leffe.

Following Atalanta's renovation works on the stadium, the club reached a venue sharing agreement with Giana Erminio from the nearby city of Gorgonzola allowing the club to play their home matches for the 2019–20 Serie C season at the Stadio Città di Gorgonzola.[6]

In 2021, the club opened a brand-new stadium in the town of Zanica 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 the Italian 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, a Serie C league game against Pro 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. Up until the 2022/2023 season, the official stadium speaker of the club was Simone Altrocchi.[9]

Honours

Domestic

Coppa Italia Serie C

  • Winners (1): 2001–02

Serie B

Serie C1

Serie C2

  • Runners-up (1): 1998-1999

Players

Current squad

As of 1 July 2024[10]

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

No.Pos. NationPlayer
22GK  ITAChristian Marietta
23DF  ITAMirko Saltarelli
27MF  ITADavide Munari
30DF  ITARiccardo Baroni
33DF  ITADiego Borghini
42MF  ITAAndrea Allieri
44DF  ITARiccardo Gatti
60FW  ITAAndrea Arrighini
67DF  ITAFilippo Ercolani (on loan from Trento)
72GK  ITALeonardo Moleri
90FW  ALBRrok Toma
91FW  ITASalvatore Longo
95DF  ITAMattia Agostinelli

Out on loan

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

Club officials

Current technical staff

As of 1 September 2023[12]

RoleName
Head coach Giovanni Lopez
Assistant coach Simone Arceci
Goalkeeping coach Giuseppe Benatelli
Fitness coach Andrea Mossali

Seasons

SeasonDivPosLeague recordOther
PWDLFAPts
1998–99Serie C2/A2nd3416108443558[13]
1999-00Serie C1/A9th34111211363745
2000–01Serie C1/A13th347189273139
2001–02Serie C1/A13th348179333541
2002–03Serie C1/A2nd3417125623663[13]
2003–04Serie B18th46131518475954
2004–05Serie B11th38141315555155
2005–06Serie B18th38101616385246[14]
2006–07Serie B10th38112011464853
2007–08Serie B4th3823910674878[15]
2008–09Serie B9th38151314494958
2009–10Serie B11th42141315595655
2010–11Serie B18th42131019556649[16]
2011–12Serie B22nd4261224396030[17]
2012–13Serie C1/A6th3213145442747
2013–14Serie C1/A7th3012711424043[18]
2014–15Lega Pro/A20th3871120275132[19]
2015–16Lega Pro/A17th344822235720[20]
2016–17Lega Pro/B9th38121610383452
2017–18Serie C/B5th34131011363149
2018–19Serie C/B14th3891613313543
2019–20Serie C/B8th271098292439
2020–21Serie C/A7th3814159433657

Notable former players

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.

Notable former managers

References