Champions League: The Rivals
S.C.C. Napoli
Most people simply call them Napoil, but the Italian club's full name is Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, shortened to S.C.C. Napoli because that's a long name for the fans to be singing when they go to matches! They are based in the city of Naples, which is in Southern Italy.
The club was formed as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club (Naples FBC) in 1904 by an English sailor called William Poths who worked for the shipping company Cunard Line. You might have heard of their old headquarters – the Cunard Building. It was opened in 1916 on Liverpool's waterfront and is one of the city's famous 'Three Graces', although Cunard moved out in the 1960s.
A number of Neapolitans (people from Naples are called Neapolitans like Liverpool people are Liverpudlians) including Ernesto Bruschini helped Poths set up the club and their first game was against the crew of 'Arabik' – an English ship. Napoli won 3-2 in one of the first ever 'international' matches but we don't know if Arabik's captain also skippered their football team!
Nicknamed 'Gli Azzurri' (the Blues), S.C.C. Napoli play in sky blue because Naples is a coastal city with their shirt colour representing the waters of the Gulf of Naples. In 1921/22 Naples FBC merged with U.S. Internazionale Napoli to form FBC Internazionale-Naples, which became Associazione Calcio Napoli in 1926 and eventually Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli in 1964. Hope you're keeping up with all the name changes!
Unfortunately the following season they finished bottom of the Italian Championship (which was split into two leagues of 10) with just one point from 18 games and were given a new nickname – I Ciucciarelli. It means 'the little donkeys!'
Their club crest features a large white N in a two-tone blue circle, which can be traced back to an old U.S. Internazionale Napoli design, and their Stadio San Paolo home was built in 1959, the year Bill Shankly became Liverpool FC manager. It is the third largest stadium in Italy (capacity 60,240) after the San Siro in Milan and Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
S.C.C. Napoli's biggest legend is Diego Maradona. After inspiring Argentina to win the World Cup in 1986 he became a God-like figure in Naples when he led the club to their first ever Serie A title in 1986/87 and then another in 1989/90. S.C.C. Napoli have never won the Italian league since, showing just what an impact Maradona had there.
Maradona is such a legend there that Naples City Council wanted to rename Stadio San Paolo after him but they weren't allowed to as Italian law states public buildings can only be named after a person who has been dead for 10 years and Diego Maradona is very much alive!
Before our recent 1-0 UEFA Champions League defeat in Italy – and of course our 5-0 pre-season victory in Dublin – Liverpool FC had only met S.C.C. Napoli in competitive games in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage under the management of Roy Hodgson. The first game in Stadio San Paolo finished 0-0 with Jonjo Shelvey making his first start for the Reds and Paul Konchesky denying the home side a winner with a goalline clearance.
When the teams met again at Anfield it was S.C.C. Napoli that took the lead through Ezequiel Lavezzi so at half-time manager Hodgson brought on captain Steven Gerrard for Milan Jovanovic. Stevie G responded by scoring three goals – one from the penalty spot – to become only the second LFC substitute to score a hat-trick. It was also the first Anfield game that new Liverpool FC owner John W Henry attended, making it a good night for Gerrard to show his class!
They are now managed by Carlo Ancelotti who was in charge of A.C. Milan when the Reds played them in the 2005 and 2007 UEFA Champions League finals, LFC winning the first one in Istanbul on penalties after a 3-3 draw and losing the second one 2-1 in Athens. Ancelotti took over from Maurizio Sarri, who now manages Chelsea FC, and his star players include Belgium striker Dries Mertens, Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik and Ivory Coast defender Kalidou Koulibaly. We'll see them at Anfield when the two teams meet in the final Group C game on 11th December.
