FC Lugano

Lugano

Full name	Football Club Lugano
Nickname(s)	Bianconeri (Black and White) L'orgoglio del Ticino (The Pride of Ticino)
Founded	28 July 1908; 116 years ago (28 July 1908)
Ground	Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano, Switzerland
Capacity	6,330
Owner	Joe Mansueto
Chairman	Philippe Regazzoni
Manager	Mattia Croci-Torti
League	Swiss Super League
2023–24	Swiss Super League, 2nd of 12
Website	www.fclugano.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

FC Lugano is a Swiss professional 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.

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 18 August 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.^[2] On 1 September 2021, assistant coach Mattia Croci-Torti took over coaching duties at the club, replacing Abel Braga.^[3] The first season under new ownership would immediately prove successful, as they were able to win their first title after 29 years, winning the 2021–22 Swiss Cup.^[4] A year later, they failed to defend the cup title, losing 2–3 in the exciting final to Swiss champions Young Boys.^[5]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	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
			FCSB	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
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	Third qualifying round	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	0–2	1–3	1–5
2023–24	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Union Saint-Gilloise	0–1	0–2	0–3
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	Group D	Club Brugge	1–3	0–2	4th
			Bodø/Glimt	0–0	2–5
			Beşiktaş	0–2	3–2
2024–25	UEFA Champions League	Second qualifying round	Fenerbahçe	3–4	1–2	4–6
2024–25	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Partizan	2–2 (a.e.t.)	1–0	3—2
		Play-off round	Beşiktaş	3–3	1–5	4–8

As of 27 July 2024^[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  KOS Amir Saipi 2 DF  CAN Zachary Brault-Guillard 5 DF  SUI Albian Hajdari 6 DF  GER Antonios Papadopoulos 7 MF  CZE Roman Macek 8 MF  SUI Anto Grgić 9 FW  KOS Shkelqim Vladi 10 FW  SUI Mattia Bottani (captain) 11 MF  SUI Renato Steffen 13 GK  SUI Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Ndiaye 15 GK  GRE Fotis Pseftis 17 DF  GER Lars Lukas Mai 18 MF  FRA Hicham Mahou 20 MF  CIV Ousmane Doumbia 21 MF  FRA Yanis Cimignani

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 DF  MAR Ayman El Wafi 23 DF  ARG Milton Valenzuela 25 MF  SUI Uran Bislimi 26 DF  POR Martim Marques 27 MF  SUI Daniel Dos Santos 28 MF  SUI Yannis Ryter 29 MF  TUN Hadj Mahmoud 31 FW  ARG Ignacio Aliseda 34 FW  SUI Boris Babić 46 DF  ITA Mattia Zanotti 47 MF  SUI Ilija Maslarov 58 GK  NGA Sebastian Osigwe 93 FW  POL Kacper Przybyłko 99 GK  SUI Diego Mina

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  SUI Allan Arigoni (at Chicago Fire until 31 December 2024)

• Swiss Super League
  • Champions (3): 1937–38, 1940–41, 1948–49
  • Runners-up (6): 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2023–24

• Swiss Cup
  • Winners (4): 1930–31, 1967–68, 1992–93, 2021–22
  • Runners-up (6): 1942–43, 1951–52, 1970–71, 1991–92, 2015–16, 2022–23

• Swiss Challenge League
  • Winners (4): 1960–61, 1963–64, 1987–88, 2014–15
  • Runners-up (5): 1978–79, 1997–98, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14

• Swiss Super League Fair Play Awards: 2021–22^[7]

Position	Name
Owner	Joe Mansueto
Chairman	Philippe Regazzoni
CEO	Michele Zanetti
Sporting director	Benito Martinelli
Press officer	Luca Di Tommasso
Team coordinator	Riccardo Rigamonti
Head coach	Mattia Croci-Torti
Assistant coaches	Piercesare Gallo Saverio Valentini
Goalkeeper coach	Enrico Rossi
Fitness coach	Mirko Antonelli
Match analyst	Salvatore Colucci
Performance coach	Andrea Giudici
Team doctors	Dr. Giuseppe Montini Dr. Giampaolo Golinucci
Physiotherapists	Nicolò Giovanninni Vittorio Silvestri Francesco Vialli Pietro Simonetti

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FC Lugano.

• Official website (in Italian)