FC Lugano

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Lugano
Full nameFootball Club Lugano
Founded1908; 116 years ago (1908)
GroundCornaredo Stadium,
Lugano, Switzerland
Capacity6,330
ChairmanPhilippe Regazzoni
ManagerMattia Croci-Torti
LeagueSwiss Super League
2022–23Swiss Super League, 3rd of 10
WebsiteClub website
Current season

FC Lugano is a Swiss football club from Lugano. The club was newly founded as AC Lugano in 2004 because of the relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008 went back to his original name, FC Lugano. They play at the Stadio Cornaredo. They have played in what is now the Swiss Super League during the periods of 1922–53, 1954–60, 1961–63, 1964–76, 1979–80, 1988–97, 1998–02 and from 2015 until present.

History[change | change source]

Football Club Lugano was formed on 28 July 1908 . The team won its first Swiss Cup in 1931. The following decade, FC Lugano was able to win 3 national titles (1938, 1941 and 1949).

In 1968, Lugano won the Swiss Cup and participated in the Cup Winners' Cup. Two years later the team took part in the UEFA Cup. In 1993 Lugano won its third Cup against Grasshoppers and played Cup Winners' Cup. In the 1995–96 season, Lugano participated in the UEFA Cup, eliminating Jeunesse Hautcharage in the first round and Inter Milan in the second.

The club was declared bankrupt in 2003 and removed from the league. Due to the bankruptcy, the team was renamed AC Lugano and played with under-21 players because they were forced to sell or release the senior team to pay the club's debts. In 2004 the club merged with Malcantone Agno and the team should play in the Swiss Challenge League.[1]

On 4 June 2008 when the club became 100 years old the general meeting of shareholders voted on a name change. The historical name of Football Club Lugano was used again. In 2015 FC Lugano was promoted to the Swiss Super League.

On August 18, 2021, it was announced that American billionaire and owner of the Chicago Fire FC, Joe Mansueto had purchased FC Lugano and that the Fire and FC Lugano work together as sister clubs.[2] On 1 September 2021, assistant coach Mattia Croci-Torti took over coaching duties at the club, replacing Abel Braga.[3] The first season under new ownership was successful winning the 2021–22 Swiss Cup.[4]

European record[change | change source]

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup First Round Spain Barcelona 0–1 0–3 0–4
1971–72 UEFA Cup First Round Poland Legia Warsaw 1–3 0–0 1–3
1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying Round Belarus Neman Grodno 5–0 1–2 6–2
First Round Spain Real Madrid 1–3 0–3 1–6
1995–96 UEFA Cup Preliminary Round Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch 4–0 0–0 4–0
First Round Italy Inter Milan 1–1 1–0 2–1
Second Round Czech Republic Slavia Prague 1–2 0–1 1–3
2001–02 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 2–1 0–3 2–4
2002–03 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round Latvia FK Ventspils 1–0 0–3 1–3
2017–18 UEFA Europa League Group G Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1–0 1–2 3rd
Romania Steaua București 1–2 2–1
Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň 3–2 1–4
2019–20 UEFA Europa League Group B Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 0–0 1–1 4th
Denmark Copenhagen 0–1 0–1
Sweden Malmö FF 0–0 1–2
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League Third Qualifying Round Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0–2 1–3 1–5

Players[change | change source]

Current squad[change | change source]

As of 8 July 2022[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Switzerland Switzerland Amir Saipi
3 DF Switzerland Switzerland Reto Ziegler
4 DF Kosovo Kosovo Kreshnik Hajrizi
5 DF Switzerland Switzerland Albian Hajdari (on loan from Juventus U23)
6 FW Algeria Algeria Mohamed El Amine Amoura
7 DF Switzerland Switzerland Mickaël Facchinetti
8 MF Switzerland Switzerland Adrian Durrer
9 FW Slovenia Slovenia Žan Celar
10 FW Switzerland Switzerland Mattia Bottani
11 MF Switzerland Switzerland Maren Haile-Selassie
14 MF Uruguay Uruguay Jonathan Sabbatini (captain)
15 DF Germany Germany Lars Lukas Mai
17 DF Argentina Argentina Milton Valenzuela
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF France France Hicham Mahou
20 MF Ivory Coast Ivory Coast Ousmane Doumbia
23 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Leonid Srdić
25 MF Kosovo Kosovo Uran Bislimi
27 FW Switzerland Switzerland Boris Babic
29 MF Tunisia Tunisia Hadj Mahmoud
30 DF Switzerland Switzerland Fabio Daprelà
31 FW Argentina Argentina Ignacio Aliseda
33 FW Switzerland Switzerland Alessandro Casciato
34 DF Switzerland Switzerland Allan Arigoni
41 DF Switzerland Switzerland Noah De Queiroz
58 GK Nigeria Nigeria Sebastian Osigwe
77 MF Czech Republic Czech Republic Roman Macek

Honours[change | change source]

  • Swiss Super League
    • Champions: 1937–38, 1940–41, 1948–49
  • Swiss Cup
    • Winners (4): 1930–31, 1967–68, 1992–93, 2021–22
  • Swiss Challenge League
    • Winners: 2014–15

References[change | change source]

  1. "FC Lugano - Switzerland 2017-18" (PDF). LiberoGuide.
  2. "Chicago Fire FC Owner and Chairman Joe Mansueto Purchases Swiss Super League Club FC Lugano | Chicago Fire FC". chicagofirefc.
  3. Berger, Nicola. "Super League: Mattia Croci-Torti neuer Lugano-Trainer".
  4. "Der FC Lugano gewinnt den 97. Schweizer Cupfinal". SFV.
  5. "Prima squadra" [First team] (in Italian). FC Lugano. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

Other websites[change | change source]