Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as simply Napoli, the most successful football club in Southern Italy and among the major clubs in the Italian Serie A, has a long history, which spans from its foundation in 1905 as Naples Foot-Ball Club to the present day.
Napoli has been refounded a number of times during its history, the most recent of which was in 2004, they have spent the majority of their history in Serie A. The club is perhaps most famous for the period when Diego Maradona was a member, between the 1980s and early 1990s, during which he won several awards, including the scudetto and the Coppa Italia twice; they also had success in Europe, where they captured the UEFA Cup.
From Naples to Internaples
Football was first brought to the city of Naples by English sailors during the early 1900s: the first two clubs were Football Club Partenopeo and Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club, both founded in 1905.
The origins of Naples FCC can be traced back to William Poths, an Englishman employed by maritime agency named Cunard Lines, he was an avid amateur footballer in his spare time and decided to found a club while in Italy. A meeting was called at via San Severino 43 in Naples, with the intentions of creating one; Poths, along with fellow Englishman Mr. Bayon and three Neapolitans called Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi, formed Naples FCC; Salsi was nominated as the first ever president.
Their first kit consisted of a sky blue and navy blue striped shirt, with black shorts. Naples played their debut match against British sailors from a ship named Arabik, they competed for a trophy named in honour of Naples first president "Coppa Salsi". Naples were victorious winning the game 3–2, a feat made all the more impressive when considering Arabik had beaten the famed Genoa 3–0 just days earlier. The Naples team that day was;
One year after its foundation, the "Cricket" part of the name was dropped leaving the club's name as simply Naples Foot-Ball Club. In 1909, Sir Thomas Lipton, of the famous Lipton tea brand, was visiting Sicily while travelling with his ship; he set up a competition called the Lipton Challenge Cup. In this competition, Neapolitan and Sicilian teams faced off against each other annually; the majority of the finals saw Naples playing Palermo Foot-Ball Club. Naples won the competition in the opening season, with a 4–2 result. The trophy was disputed six times in total, with Naples also winning it in 1911 and 1914.
In 1912, the foreign part of Naples FBC broke off, and under Bayon and Steinnegger, a second Naples club was formed under the name of US Internazionale Napoli. Meanwhile, Emilio Anatra remained president of Naples FBC which started a footballing rivalry in the city during the following years. They competed against each other in the Campania section of the 1912–13 Italian Championship with Naples coming out on top before losing to Lazio in the next round.
The following season, the situation was reversed, with Internazionale Napoli knocking out Naples before losing to Lazio in the next round. This rivalry continued into its third season in the Campania section of the Championship during 1915, but after the first leg (won by Internazionale 3–0), the competition was called off because of World War I. It resumed after the war as both clubs survived, however clubs such as Puteolana, Bagnolese and Savoia were also now competitive in the region. In 1922, the two rival clubs, under financial pressure, merged as the Foot-Ball Club Internazionale-Naples, abbreviated as FBC Internaples.
The foundation of Associazione Calcio Napoli
On 25 August 1926, the members of Internaples resolved to adopt a new name for their club and Giorgio Ascarelli was appointed as the first president of the Associazione Calcio Napoli. By the time the next season started, the top league system of Italy was split into two groups consisting of ten teams. Napoli finished bottom of their group with a dreadful 1 point earned from 18 games.
This is what got them the nickname I ciucciarelli which means "the little donkeys", previously the football club had carried with them the emblem of the city of Naples, which was a horse. But after the aforementioned season, some in the city derided them as donkeys, the club however adopted O Ciuccio as it was called, making it their mascot and displaying it with pride. The following two seasons they did gradually better, finishing higher with this system each time.