S.S. Lazio/import

Società Sportiva Lazio, (ise: IT0003621783 SSL) commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia five times, the Supercoppa Italiana three times, and both the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup on one occasion.

The club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974 they won their first Serie A title. The past fifteen years have been the most successful period in Lazio’s history, seeing them win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1999, the Serie A title in 2000, several domestic cups and reaching their first UEFA Cup final in 1998.

Lazio's traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and shorts with white socks. Their home is the 72,689 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which they share with A.S. Roma. Lazio have a long-standing rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale (in English "Derby of the capital" or Rome derby) since 1929.

Lazio is also a sports club that participate in forty sports disciplines in total, more than any other sports association in the world.

History
Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome. Lazio officially gave birth to its football section in 1910, joined league competition in 1912 as soon as the Italian Football Federation began organizing 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.

In 1927 Mario Azzi was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regime's attempts to merge all the city's teams into what would become A.S. Roma the same year.

The club played in the first organized Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, achieved a second place finish in 1937 — its highest pre-war result.

The 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with an Italian Cup win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, but returned in the top flight two years later. After a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71. Back to Serie A in 1972–73, Lazio immediately emerged as surprise challengers for the Scudetto to Milan and Juventus in 1972–1973, 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. Lazio improved such successes the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74. However, tragic deaths of Luciano Re Cecconi and scudetto trainer Tommaso Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow for Lazio. The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some relief as he finished League top scorer in 1979, when Lazio finished 8th.

Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with AC Milan. They remained in Italy's second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazio's history. They would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season. 1984–85 would prove harrowing, with a pitiful 15 points and bottom place finish.

In 1986, Lazio was hit with a 9-point deduction (a true deathblow back in the day of the two-point win) for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani. An epic 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. This would prove a turning point in the club's history, with Lazio returning to Serie A in 1988 and, under the careful financial management of Gianmarco Calleri, the consolidation of the club's position as a solid top-flight club.



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. Cragnotti repeatedly broke transfer records in pursuit of players who were considered major stars – Juan Sebastian Veron for £18million, Christian Vieri for £19million and breaking the world transfer record, albeit only for a matter of weeks, to sign Hernan Crespo from Parma for £35million.

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 Siniša Mihajlović, Alessandro Nesta, Marcelo Salas and Pavel Nedvěd in the side, finally winning its second scudetto in 2000, as well as the Italian Cup in an impressive and rare (by Italian standards) "double" with Sven-Göran Eriksson (1997–2001) as manager.



Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last ever UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999. They also reached the UEFA Cup, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale.

In addition, Lazio won the Italian Super Cup twice and defeated Manchester United in 1999 to win the European Super Cup.

In 2000, Lazio became also the first Italian football club to be quoted on the Italian Piazza Affari stock market.

However, with money running out, Lazio's results slowly worsened in the years; 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. This forced the club to sell their star players and even fan favourite captain Alessandro Nesta. In 2004 entrepreneur Claudio Lotito acquired the majority of the club.

In 2006, the club qualified to the 2006–07 UEFA Cup under coach Delio Rossi. The club was however excluded from European competitions due to their involvement in match-fixing scandal.

In 2006–07, despite a later-reduced points deduction, Lazio achieved a third place finish, thus getting qualified to the UEFA Champions League qualifying round, where they defeated Dinamo Bucharest to get into the group phase, ended in fourth place in a round composed of Real Madrid, Werder Bremen and Olympiacos. Things in the league did not go much better with the team spending most of the season in the bottom half of the table, sparking the protests of the fans, and eventually ending the Serie A season in 12th place. But in 2008–2009, the club won their fifth Coppa Italia, beating Sampdoria in the final.

Lazio started the 2009–10 season playing the Supercoppa against Inter in Beijing, and winning the match 2–1 with goals from Matuzalem and Rocchi.

Colours, badge and nicknames


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.

Originally Lazio wore a shirt which was divided into white and sky blue quarters, with black shorts and socks. After a while of wearing a plain white shirt very early on, Lazio reverted to the colours which they wear today. 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. The club's colours have led to their Italian nickname of biancocelesti.

Lazio's traditional club badge and symbol is the eagle, which was chosen by founding member Luigi Bigiarelli. It is an acknowledgment to the emblem of the ellenic Zeus (the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology) commonly known as the Aquila; Lazio's use of the symbol has led to two of their nicknames; le Aquile (the Eagles) and Aquilotti (Young Eagles). 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


Stadio Olimpico, located on the Foro Italico, is the major stadium of Rome, Italy. It is the home of the Italian national football team, as well as of both local teams S.S. Lazio and Roma. It was opened in 1937 and after its latest renovation in 2008, the stadium has a capacity of 72,689 seats. 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.

Also on the Foro Italico lies the Stadio dei Marmi, or "marble stadium", which was built in 1932 and designed by Enrico Del Debbio. 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.

Supporters and rivalries


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). 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.

Founded in 1987, Irriducibili Lazio were the club's biggest ultras group for over 20 years. Usually the only time they create traditional Italian ultras displays is for the Derby della Capitale, the match between Lazio and their main rivals, Roma. Known in English speaking countries as the Rome derby, it is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. 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. Lazio also have a strong rivalry with Napoli and Livorno. Conversely the ultras have friendly relationships with Inter, Triestina and Hellas Verona.

Statistics and records
Giuseppe Favalli holds Lazio's official appearance record, having made 401 over the course of 16 years from 1992 until 2004. The record for a goalkeeper is held by Luca Marchegiani, with 229 appearances, while the record for league appearances is held by Aldo Puccinelli with 339.

The all-time leading goalscorer for Lazio is Silvio Piola, with 148 goals scored. Piola, who played also with Pro Vercelli, Torino, Juventus and Novara, is also the highest goalscorer in Serie A history, with 274 goals, 49 ahead of anyone else. Simone Inzaghi (still in activity) is the all-time top goalscorer in the European Competitions, with 20 goals. He is also one of the five players who scored four goals in a single UEFA Champions League match. Tommaso Rocchi is currently the top scorer at the club.

Officially, Lazio's highest home attendance is approximately 80,000 for a Serie A match against Foggia on 12 May 1974, the match that awarded to Lazio the first Scudetto. This is also the record for the Stadio Olimpico, including A.S. Roma and Italy national football team's matches.



Current squad
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Retired numbers
12 – In the season 2003–2004, Curva Nord of Stadio Olimpico, as a sign of recognition towards the Curva Nord, considered the 12th man in the field.

Current coaching staff
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Notable managers
The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge of Lazio:

National

 * Serie A
 * Winners (2): 1973–74; 1999–2000


 * Coppa Italia
 * Winners (5): 1958; 1997–98; 1999–2000; 2003–04; 2008–09


 * Italian Super Cup
 * Winners (3): 1998; 2000; 2009


 * Serie B
 * Champions (1): 1968–69

European

 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
 * Winners (1): 1998–99


 * UEFA Super Cup
 * Winners (1): 1999

UEFA club coefficient rankings
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Società Sportiva Lazio as a company
In 1998, during Sergio Cragnotti's period in charge, Società Sportiva Lazio became a joint stock company: Lazio were the first Italian club to do so. Currently, the Lazio shares are distributed between Claudio Lotito, who holds 66.692%, and other shareholders who own the remaining 33.308%. Along with Juventus and Roma, Lazio is one of only three Italian clubs listed on the Borsa Italiana (Italian stock exchange). Unlike the other two Italian clubs on the stock exchange there is only one significantly large share holder in Lazio. According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the 2004–05 season Lazio was the twentieth highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €83 million.

Lazio was one of the few clubs that self-sustain from the financial support of shareholder, made an aggregate profit in recent seasons: 2005–06 €16,790,826; 2006–07: €99,693,224 (due to extraordinary income by the creation of S.S. Lazio Marketing & Communication spa.); 2007–08, €6,263,202; 2008–09, €1,336,576; 2009–10, €300,989.; 2010–11, €670,862; 2011–12, €580,492.