I Ciuccuarelli (The Little Donkeys), I Partenopei (The Parthenopeans), Gli Azzurri (The Blues)
Founded: 1926, Stadium: Stadio Diego Armando Maradonna, Capacity: 54,726
SSC Napoli was founded in 1926 as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1905 by English sailor William Poths and his associate Hector M. Bayon. Neapolitans such as Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi were also involved. It was a merger of U.S. Internazionale Napoli and Naples Foot-Ball Club. Maradona is, of course, then name of the Argentine player who became a saint for the inhabitants of the city. He arrived in 1984, giving Naples its pride back. During his time in Naples, Maradona helped the team win two scudetti and the European trophy, the UEFA Cup, which led to the club retiring his number 10 jersey. Following his departure, however, Napoli struggled financially, and endured several relegations and a bankruptcy, prior to being re-founded in 2004. Since 1959, the club has played their home games at the Stadio San Paolo, which was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after the Argentine’s death in 2020. Napoli have rivalries with Roma (against whom they play the “Derby del Sole (Derby of the Sun), Juventus and Palermo. The club’s anthem is ” O surdato “nnammueato”, one of the most famous songs in the Neapolitan language. As Naples is a coastal city, the colours of the club have always been derived from the blue waters of the Gulf of Naples, Napoli traditionally wear sky blue shirts, white shorts, and sky blue socks at home and white shirts, white or sky blue shorts, and white or sky blue socks away; this is derived from the shirts of Naples FBC and the shorts of Internazionale Napoli after the clubs merged to form Napoli’s predecessor Internaples in 1922. One of the nicknames of Napoli is “I ciucci”, which means “the donkeys in the Neapolitan language. Napoli were given this name after a particularly poor performance during the 1926-27. It was originally meant to be derogatory, as the Neapolitan symbol is a rampant black horse, but the club adopted the donkey as a mascot named “O Ciuccio”. Napoli’s first badge featured a rampant horse on top of a football with the letters “ACN” around it. The current club badge features a large “N” placed within a circle. This crest can be traced back to Internazionale Napoli, which used a similar design on their shirts. Since the club officially adopted the “N badge” as its representative, Napoli have altered it slightly at various times; sometimes it features the club’s name around it, sometimes it does not. The main difference between each badge is the shade of blue used. Usually the “N” is white, although it has occasionally been gold (especially prior to 1980). “Partenopei” is a popular nickname for the club and people from the city of Naples in general. It is derived from Greek mythology where the siren Parthenope tried to enchant Odysseys from his ship to Capri. In the story, Odysseus had his men tie him to the ship’s mast so he was able to resist the song of the siren. Consequently, Parthenope, unable to live with the rejection of her love, drowned herself and her body was washed up upon the shore of Naples.
