FC Lugano

FC Lugano is a Swiss football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its 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.

Lugano
Full nameFootball Club Lugano
Founded1908 (1908)
GroundCornaredo Stadium,
Lugano, Switzerland
Capacity6,330
ChairmanPhilippe Regazzoni
ManagerMattia Croci-Torti
LeagueSwiss Super League
2020–21Swiss Super League, 4th of 10
WebsiteClub website

History
Former club crest
Chart of FC Lugano table positions in the Swiss football league system

Football Club Lugano was formed on 28 July 1908 under the leadership of then-president Ernesto Corsini. Promotion to the highest Swiss Super League came for the first time in 1922, and after several years of relegations and promotions, 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).

For the first fifty years of its existence, Lugano played at the Campo Marzio – which opened on 13 September 1908 – but its success prompted the city to build a new stadium, and so on 26 August 1951, the Cornaredo Stadium was inaugurated, which has a capacity of 15,000.

In 1968, Lugano won the Swiss Cup and hence the team 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, later participating in the Cup Winners' Cup, in which it reached second qualifying round. 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 forcibly removed from the league. Due to the bankruptcy, the team was renamed AC Lugano and fielded under-21 players, having been forced to sell or release the senior team to pay off the club's debts. In 2004, the club merged with Malcantone Agno, and it was decided that Lugano would re-enter the Swiss football system in the Swiss Challenge League.[1] Morotti Joseph, the president of Malcantone Agno, was entrusted with the leadership of the new club.

In 2007, the company was bought by a group led by Giambattista Pastorello. Luido Bernasconi became the new president. On 4 June 2008, the club's centenary year, the general meeting of shareholders voted on a name change. The historical name of Football Club Lugano was reinstated. 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 were to work together as sister clubs.

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

Players

Current squad
As of 11 February 2022[2]

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   SUI Alexander Muci
3 DF   SUI Reto Ziegler
4 DF  KVX Kreshnik Hajrizi
5 DF   SUI Mijat Marić
6 FW  ALG Mohamed El Amine Amoura
7 DF   SUI Mickaël Facchinetti
8 MF   SUI Adrian Durrer
10 FW   SUI Mattia Bottani
12 GK   SUI Attilio Morosoli
14 MF  URU Jonathan Sabbatini (captain)
16 DF   SUI Numa Lavanchy
17 DF  ARG Milton Valenzuela
18 MF   SUI Maren Haile-Selassie
19 FW  SVN Žan Celar
20 MF   SUI Olivier Custodio
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF  BRA Yuri
22 MF   SUI Stefano Guidotti
23 DF  BIH Leonid Srdić
24 MF  SVN Sandi Lovrić
26 GK   SUI Amir Saipi
27 MF   SUI Kevin Rüegg (on loan from Hellas Verona)
29 MF  TUN Hadj Mahmoud
30 DF   SUI Fabio Daprelà
31 FW  ARG Ignacio Aliseda
45 DF  POR Hélder Baldé
46 GK   SUI Noam Baumann
58 GK  NGA Sebastian Osigwe
99 FW   SUI Nikolas Muci
— FW  ITA Alessandro Casciato

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  SVN Abel Marc (at Gorica until 30 June 2022)
— MF  NGA Chinwendu Nkama (at Aluminij until 30 June 2022)
— FW  ITA Carlo Manicone (at Chiasso until 30 June 2022)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW  FRA Kévin Monzialo (at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2022)
— FW  NGA Franklin Sasere (at Ħamrun Spartans until 30 June 2022)

Honours

Former coaches

References
  1. "FC Lugano - Switzerland 2017-18" (PDF). LiberoGuide.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Prima squadra" [First team] (in Italian). FC Lugano. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
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