SSC Napoli
Somewhere, high over cloud 9, a short, black-hair dude is all smiles. He has just put on his No. 10, legendary blue shirt, and is about to start a wild round of salsa with whomever is available. If he could, El Dios would probably pay a short visit to the stadium who now bears his name, stand at his customary position in the middle of the pitch, and kick football all around to the stands, where 54,000 Napolitanos go wild.
Diego Armando Maradona's S.S.C. Napoli are champions of Serie A.
Again, after 33 long-awaited, sometimes frustrated, seasons.
It wasn't supposed to happen, not during the 2022-23 season. Prior to the season, the club has made some wholesome changes in its roaster. Gone were longtime captain a local boy Lorenzo Insigne, core of the defense Kalidou Koulibaly and prolific scorer Dries Mertens. The changes were of such a magnitude, that pundits were wondering aloud whether the team would be able to survive as one of Italy's finest. Well, Luciano Spalletti's men did alright.
S.S.C. Napoli was founded in 1904, as a result of a meeting between and Englishmen and a Neapolitan in the city of Naples, deep down in the heart of Southern Italy. In 1921 the team changed its name for the first time, after merging with another local club in Naples by the name of Internazionale and became Internaples, which later on developed into Associazione Calcio Napoli. Napoli as we know it now has emerged in 1964, when the club’s name was changed again, this time to Società Sportiva Calcio (S.S.C.) Napoli.
After coming close several times to win the Scudetto and after winning the Coppa Italia twice, Napoli hit the jackpot in mid-80’s, after the club paid a world record fee of 6.9 million GBP to Barcelona for the services of Maradona in 1984. During the first season, Napoli was a club gearing up toward the top, finishing 3rd, and a year later it won it all as Maradona and his supporting cast delivered. All of Napoli went wild as The Blues won the league and the cup. Not only a first Scudetto, but a local double after another Coppa Italia win. It was not only a win for Napoli, but rather a win for Southern Italy as a whole, after years of feeling oppressed by the richer, stronger north.
The team didn’t stop there. In 1988-89, Napoli stormed through the UEFA Cup, beating Juventus in the quarter-finals and Bayern Munich in the semis, before a win over Stuttgart in the final to lift a first European cup. A year later, in 1989-90, the Blues won the second, and last for now, Scudetto. The Maradona years were over, his memory and heroics live forever.
The decades after were tough, as the club was unable to continue its success, on and off the field. Bad financial management, as well as fights over ownerships caused Napoli to be relegated several times to Serie B. It all finally caught up with the team in 2004, as the club was declared bankrupt with millions of euros in debt and, according to regulations in Italy, was forced to be relegated into Serie C1.
Help arrived from an unexpected place: film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, a Napoli devoted fan, purchased the team and vowed to return it to its rightful place. Napoli hasn’t looked back since. Although it failed to win Scudettos, it won three Coppa Italia and became a regular in European competitions, playing an exciting brand of football and almost taking league title from long-time champions Juventus. The Stadio San Paolo - After Maradona's death the grounds was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona - and its capacity of 60,000 fans are rocking again.
Napoli’s all-time appearance leader is Marek Hamsík, who recorded 520 matches between 2007-2019. The all-time goal scorer is Dries Mertens, who scored 144 goals starting with his arrival in 2013. Hamsík is second with 121 goals, Lorenzo Insigne is third with 116 goals, Maradona is fourth with 115 goals scored in 6 seasons.
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