Cagliari Calcio

Cagliari Calcio is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. The club was formed in 1920 and currently plays in Italian Serie A, having spent a large part of recent years bouncing between Italy's top division and Serie B. They won their only scudetto in 1970, when they were led by Italian national team all-time leading scorer, Gigi Riva. The team's colors are blue and red. The club's stadium is the 23,486 seater Stadio Sant'Elia.

In 2003, Cagliari signed Sardinian-born star and former Italian international Gianfranco Zola from Chelsea F.C. Zola promptly led the club to a Serie A promotion in his first year with the team. Another prominent player on the team is Mauro Esposito, who is also a forward on the Italian national team.

History

Before Serie A

Cagliari spent the 1950s in Serie B, losing a promotion play-off in 1954. After descending to Serie C in the early 1960s, Cagliari's rise would be meteoric- eventually achieving promotion to Serie A in 1964.

The first Serie A adventure: 1964-1976

The squad for the Rossoblu's debut season in Serie A featured players like defender Mario Martiradonna, midfielders Pierluigi Cera and Riccioti Greatti, and forward Luigi Riva. A poor first half of the season saw Cagliari in last place with 9 points at the halfway mark. An astonishing second half of the season saw Cagliari defeat the likes of Juventus and Milan and finish in 7th place with 34 points. Two seasons later Riva finished Serie A top scorer for the first time while Cagliari finished with the league's best defensive record.

During the summer of 1967, Cagliari played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association. This league imported twelve entire clubs from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name. Cagliari played as the "Chicago Mustangs", and finished tied for second position in the league's Western Division with 13 points, two behind the division champion and eventual league champion Los Angeles Wolves (Wolverhampton Wanderers of England) . The league's leading scorer was Chicago/Cagliari's Roberto Boninsegna, who scored 10 goals while playing in 9 of the team's 12 games. (This FIFA-sanctioned league merged the following season with the non-sanctioned National Professional Soccer League, which had also begun in 1967, to form the North American Soccer League.)

Cagliari first emerged as serious Serie A title contenders in 1968-69 with a three-horse race involving them, Fiorentina and Milan. Fiorentina would win the league, but the following season would bring ultimate glory. With Angelo Domenghini joining the side, Cagliari would win the title in 1970 with only two games lost, 11 goals conceded (the fewest in any major European league to date) and Riva as league top scorer once more. Players like Cera, Domenghini and Riva played in Italy's 1970 World Cup Final team.

The 1970s would see a gradual decline (though were title contenders two years after their one and only scudetto win) Cagliari were finally relegated in 1976 with Riva's career having effectively ended during that season.

Up and down again: 1976-87

After relegation, Cagliari lost a play-off for promotion the following season and would return to Serie A in 1979. Players like Franco Selvaggi, Mario Brugnera (a survivor of the 1970 team) and Alberto Marchetti ensured a respectable four-year stay in the top flight before a second relegation in 1983. The 80s would then prove to be a darker time compared to the previous two decades with relegation to Serie C1 in 1987.

There and back: 1987-2000

Cagliari spent two seasons in Serie C1. In the first one it barely avoided relegation in Serie C2. In 1988, Claudio Ranieri was appointed coach, and led the team to two successive promotions, to Serie B in 1989 and to Serie A in 1990. The first two seasons back in Serie A saw Cagliari fight relegation, with safety being achieved by excellent second half runs. But season 1992-93 would see Cagliari fight for a European place and succeed under the management of Carlo Mazzone. The following season saw a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, unprecedented for the Sardinian club.

The next few years would see Cagliari return to mid-table anonymity, before a struggle in 1996-97 saw Cagliari relegated after losing a play-off to Piacenza. Once more they bounced back after just one year, but their next stay in Serie A lasted just two seasons.

Once and again: 2000 onwards

Cagliari spent the next four seasons in Serie B, for most part in mid-table mediocrity. But 2003-04 would see the Rossoblu, led by Gianfranco Zola, mount a successful promotion challenge and the following season saw Cagliari hold their own in Serie A with a respectable mid-table finish. The following season (2004-05) was a quiet one for the Sardinians, that obtained a good mid-table position (12th place).

The 2005/2006 season, the first without Zola, started in the worst way possible for Cagliari, which changed its manager for three times, with Attilio Tesser, Daniele Arrigoni and Davide Ballardini alternating to the position of coach, before Nedo Sonetti, appointed in November, who was able to save the team from a relegation also thanks to goals of Honduran striker David Suazo. For the 2006/2007 season, Marco Giampaolo was signed as head coach.

Current first team squad

As of July 14, 2006^*

Squad change during 06/07 season

In:

Out:

Retired numbers

11 Gigi Riva, striker, 1963-1978

Notable former players

References

External links

Italian football clubs | Cagliari Calcio | 1920 establishments

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