U.C. AlbinoLeffe

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AlbinoLeffe
Albinoleffe logo.png
Full name Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe Srl
Nickname(s) Celeste (The Light-Blue)
Seriani
Founded 1998
Ground Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia,
Bergamo, Italy
Ground Capacity 26,562[1]
Chairman Gianfranco Andreoletti
Head coach Marco Sesia
League Lega Pro
2014–15 Lega Pro/A, 20th

Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is an Italian association football club based in Leffe and also representing the town of Albino, in the Province of Bergamo, Lombardy. Currently it plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A.

History

The club was created in 1998 as a result of the merger between former Serie C2 (fourth division) teams Albinese Calcio and S.C. 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 after defeating Modena in the Girone A playoffs. After rising to the Italian Serie C1 (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 final, which pushed them up to Serie B.

The team plays its home games at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in Bergamo, the chief-town of the province where both Albino and Leffe are located, on account of the Leffe municipal stadium's low capacity (2,260 seats). AlbinoLeffe used to play there before its promotion to Serie B. 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

AlbinoLeffe plays its home games at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium, in the city of Bergamo, and its official colors are dark blue and azure blue.

Current squad

As of 18 October 2015[7]

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 Davide Amadori
Italy GK Simone Cortinovis
Italy DF Michele Paris
France DF Kevin Vinetot (on loan from Lecce)
Italy DF Antonio Magli
Italy DF Francesco Checcucci
Italy DF Giorgio Gianola
Italy DF Michele Cortinovis
Italy DF Gioele Mureno
Italy DF Leonardo Muchetti
Italy MF Giuseppe Francesco D'Iglio
Italy MF Nicolò Martino
No. Position Player
Italy MF Marco Perini
Italy MF Marco Nichetti
Italy MF Michele Calì
Italy MF Douglas Bentley
Italy FW Luca Cremonesi
Morocco FW Hicham Kanis
Italy FW Cristian Brega
Senegal FW Babacar Mbaye
Italy FW Riccardo Stronati
Italy FW Andrea Soncin (on loan from Pavia)
Italy FW Domenico Danti
Italy FW Domenico Girardi

Seasons

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 [8]
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 [8]
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 [9]
2006–07 Serie B 10th 38 11 20 11 46 48 53
2007–08 Serie B 4th 38 23 9 10 67 48 78 [10]
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 [11]
2011–12 Serie B 22nd 42 6 12 24 39 60 30 [12]
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 [13]
2014-15 Lega Pro 20th 38 7 11 20 27 51 32 [14]
2015-16 Lega Pro

Former players

See Category:U.C. AlbinoLeffe players.

Former managers

See Category:U.C. AlbinoLeffe managers.

Honours

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 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

External links

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