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| Full name | Società Sportiva Lazio S.p.A. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Capitolini I Biancocelesti (The White and Sky Blues) I Biancazzurri (The White and Blues) Le Aquile (The Eagles) Le Aquilotti (The Young Eagles) | |||
| Founded | 9 January 1900, as Società Podistica Lazio | |||
| Ground | Stadio Olimpico | |||
| Capacity | 70,634[1] | |||
| Owner | Claudio Lotito (66.70%)[2] | |||
| Chairman | Claudio Lotito | |||
| Head coach | Igor Tudor | |||
| League | Serie A | |||
| 2022–23 | Serie A, 2nd of 20 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Società Sportiva Lazio (Italian pronunciation: [sotʃeˈta sporˈtiːva ˈlattsjo]; BIT: SSL; Lazio Sport Club), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity.[3] The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice (1974, 2000), and have won the Coppa Italia seven times, the Supercoppa Italiana three times, and both the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup on one occasion.[4]
The club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974, they won their first Serie A title. The 1990s were the most successful period in Lazio's history, with the team reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1998, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1999, and clinching the Serie A title in 2000. Due to a severe economic crisis in 2002 that forced president Sergio Cragnotti out of the club along with several star players being sold, Lazio's success in the league declined. In spite of the lower funds, the club has won four Coppa Italia titles since then; in 2004, 2009, 2013 and 2019. Current president Claudio Lotito took charge of the club in 2004, filling the vacuum that had existed following Cragnotti's departure.
Lazio's traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and white shorts with white socks; the colours are reminiscent of Rome's ancient Hellenic legacy. Sky blue socks have also been interchangeably used as home colours. Their home is the 70,634[1] capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which they share with Roma. Lazio have a long-standing rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale (in English "Derby of the capital city" or Rome derby) since 1929.[5]
Despite initially not having any parent–subsidiary relation with the male and female professional team (that was incorporated as S.S. Lazio S.p.A.), the founding of Società Sportiva Lazio allowed for the club that participates in over 40 different sports disciplines in total.[6]
History
Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome.[7] Until 1910, the club played at an amateur level until it officially joined the league competition in 1912 as soon as the Italian Football Federation began organising championships in the center and south of Italy, and reached the final of the national championship playoff three times, but never won, losing in 1913 to Pro Vercelli, in 1914 to Casale and in 1923 to Genoa 1893.[citation needed] In 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regime's attempts to merge all the city's teams into what would become Roma the same year.[citation needed] The club played in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola,[8] achieved a second-place finish in 1937 – its highest pre-war result.
The 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results, with a Coppa Italia win in 1958.[citation needed] Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to Serie B, but returned in the top flight two years later.[citation needed] After a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71.[9] Back to Serie A in 1972–73, Lazio immediately emerged as surprise challengers for the Scudetto to Milan and Juventus in 1972–73, only losing out on the final day of the season, with a team comprising captain Giuseppe Wilson, as well as midfielders Luciano Re Cecconi and Mario Frustalupi, striker Giorgio Chinaglia, and head coach Tommaso Maestrelli.[10] Lazio improved such successes[clarification needed] the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74.[11][12] However, tragic[why?][tone] deaths of Re Cecconi[13] and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow[tone] for Lazio.[citation needed] The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some[vague][quantify] relief[tone] as he finished League top scorer in 1979, when Lazio finished eighth.[14]
Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980, due to a remarkable[why?][tone] scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan.[citation needed] They remained in Italy's second division for three seasons, in what would mark the darkest[tone] period in Lazio's history.[citation needed] They would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season.[citation needed] The 1984–85 season would prove harrowing,[tone] with a pitiful[tone] 15 points and bottom place finish.
In 1986, Lazio was hit[tone] with a nine-point deduction (a true[vague] deathblow[tone] back in the day[tone] of the two-point win) for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani.[citation needed] An epic[tone] struggle against relegation followed the same season in Serie B, with the club led by trainer Eugenio Fascetti only avoiding relegation to the Serie C after play-off wins over Taranto and Campobasso.[citation needed] This would prove a turning point in the club's history,[citation needed] with Lazio returning to Serie A in 1988 and, under the careful financial management of Gianmarco Calleri,[citation needed] the consolidation of the club's position as a solid top-flight club.[15][16]
The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti in 1992 changed the club's history, due to his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto competitor.[citation needed] A notable early transfer during his tenure was the capture[tone] of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million.[citation needed] Gascoigne's transfer to Lazio is credited with the increase of interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s.[citation needed] Cragnotti repeatedly broke transfer records in pursuit of players who were considered major stars – Juan Sebastián Verón for £18 million, Christian Vieri for £19 million and breaking the world transfer record, albeit only for a matter of weeks, to sign Hernán Crespo from Parma for £35 million.[17]
Lazio were Serie A runners-up in 1995, third in 1996 and fourth in 1997, then losing the championship just by one point to Milan on the last championship's match in 1999 before, with the likes of[tone] Siniša Mihajlović, Alessandro Nesta, Marcelo Salas and Pavel Nedvěd in the side, winning its second Scudetto in 2000, as well as the Coppa Italia double with Sven-Göran Eriksson (1997–2001) as manager.
Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs[tone] in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999.[18] They also reached the UEFA Cup final, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale.[19] In addition, Lazio won the Supercoppa Italiana twice and defeated Manchester United in 1999 to win the UEFA Super Cup.[20] In 2000, Lazio became also the first Italian football club to be quoted on the Italian Piazza Affari stock market.[21]
With money running out, Lazio's results slowly worsened in the years.[clarification needed][citation needed] In 2002, a financial scandal involving Cragnotti and his food products multinational Cirio forced him to leave the club, and Lazio was controlled until 2004 by caretaker financial managers and a bank pool.[citation needed] This forced the club to sell their star players and even fan favourite captain Alessandro Nesta.[citation needed] In 2004, entrepreneur Claudio Lotito acquired the majority of the club.[22] In 2006, the club qualified to the 2006–07 UEFA Cup under coach Delio Rossi.[citation needed] The club, however, was excluded from European competitions due to their involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal.[23]
In the 2006–07 season, despite a later-reduced points deduction, Lazio achieved a third-place finish, thus gaining qualification to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they defeated Dinamo București to reach the group phase, and ended fourth place in the group composed of Real Madrid, Werder Bremen and Olympiacos.[citation needed] Things[clarification needed][tone] in the league did not go much better, with the team spending most of the season in the bottom half of the table, sparking[tone] the protests of the fans, and eventually ending the Serie A season in 12th place.[citation needed] In the 2008–09 season, Lazio won their fifth Coppa Italia, beating Sampdoria in the final.[24]
Lazio started the 2009–10 season playing the Supercoppa Italiana against Inter in Beijing and winning the match 2–1, with goals from Matuzalém and Tommaso Rocchi.[25] Lazio won the 2012–13 Coppa Italia 1–0 over rivals Roma, with the lone goal coming from Senad Lulić.[26] Lazio won the 2018–19 Coppa Italia 2–0 over Atalanta, winning their seventh title overall.[27]
Colours, badge and nicknames
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Lazio's colours of white and sky blue were inspired by the national emblem of Greece, due to the fact that Lazio is a mixed sports club this was chosen in recognition of the fact that the Ancient Olympic Games and along with it the sporting tradition in Europe is linked to Greece.[28]
Originally, Lazio wore a shirt which was divided into white and sky blue quarters, with black shorts and socks.[29] After a while of wearing a plain white shirt very early on, Lazio reverted to the colours which they wear today.[29] Some seasons Lazio have used a sky blue and white shirt with stripes, but usually it is sky blue with a white trim, with the white shorts and socks.[29] The club's colours have led to their Italian nickname of Biancocelesti.[30]
Lazio's traditional club badge and symbol is the eagle, which was chosen by founding member Luigi Bigiarelli.[31] A symbol of the Roman legions and emperor, it was chosen to represent power and victory; it also identifies the club with its origin city.[32] Lazio's use of the symbol has led to two of their nicknames; le Aquile ("the Eagles") and Aquilotti ("Eaglets").[citation needed] The current club badge features a golden eagle above a white shield with a blue border; inside the shield is the club's name and a smaller tripartite shield with the colours of the club.
Stadium
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Stadio Olimpico, located on the Foro Italico, is the major stadium of Rome.[citation needed] It is the home of the Italy national football team as well as of both local teams Lazio and Roma.[citation needed] It was opened in 1937 and after its latest renovation in 2008,[33] the stadium has a capacity of 70,634 seats.[1] It was the site of the 1960 Summer Olympics, but has also served as the location of the 1987 World Athletics Championships, the 1980 European Championship final, the 1990 World Cup and the Champions League Final in 1996 and 2009.[1]
Also on the Foro Italico lies the Stadio dei Marmi, or "marble stadium", which was built in 1932 and designed by Enrico Del Debbio.[citation needed] It has tiers topped by 60 white marble statues that were gifts from Italian cities in commemoration of 60 athletes.
During the 1989–90 season, Lazio and Roma played their games at the Stadio Flaminio of Rome, located in the district Flaminio, because of the renovation works carried out at the Stadio Olimpico.
In June 2018, Lazio President Claudio Lotito stated that "Lazio should be granted the same favour and treatment as Roma – the ability to also build a new stadium. He also added that "Lazio's stadium will be built before Roma's stadium."[34]
In June 2019, Lazio President Claudio Lotito was set to present the designs of a potential future stadium for Lazio, named the Stadio delle Aquile.[35] However, this did not occur for reasons unknown.[vague][clarification needed]
Supporters and rivalries
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Lazio is the sixth-most supported football club in Italy and the second in Rome, with around 2% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to La Repubblica's research of August 2008).[36] Historically, the largest section of Lazio supporters in the city of Rome has come from the far northern section, creating an arch-like shape across Rome with affluent areas such as Parioli, Prati, Flaminio, Cassia and Monte Mario.[37]
Founded in 1987, Irriducibili Lazio were the club's biggest ultras group for over 30 years. They typically create traditional Italian ultra displays during the Derby della Capitale (Rome Derby),[38] the match between Lazio and their main rivals, Roma. It is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world,[39] such as where Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli was killed at one of the derby games during the 1979–80 season after being hit in the eye by an emergency rocket thrown by a Roma fan.[40][41] A minority of Lazio's ultras used to use swastikas and fascist symbols on their banners, and they have displayed racist behaviour in several occasions during the derbies.[citation needed] Most notably, at a derby of the season 1998–99, laziali unfurled a 50-metre banner around the Curva Nord that read, "Auschwitz is your town, the ovens are your houses".[citation needed] Black players of Roma have often been receivers of racist and offensive behaviour.[42] After 33 years, the Irriducibili disbanded on 27 February 2020, citing "too much blood, too many banning orders, too many arrests."[43] Lazio's ultras now go by the name Ultras Lazio.[44] Lazio also have a strong rivalry with Napoli and Livorno, as well as with Pescara and Atalanta.[citation needed] The club also maintains strong competitive rivalries with Fiorentina, Juventus and Milan.
Conversely, the ultras have friendly relationships with Internazionale, Triestina and Hellas Verona. Internationally, Lazio's fans maintain a long-standing strong friendship with the supporters of the Bulgarian club Levski Sofia and as such, Lazio were invited to participate in the centenary football match honouring the birthday of the Bulgarian club.[45][46]
Players
Current squad
- As of 15 February 2024[47]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
- As of 15 February 2024.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth Sector
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
