Foundation and early years Udinese Calcio was established in 1896 as part of the
Società Udinese di Ginnastica e Scherma, (Udinese Society of Gymnastics and Fencing). In its inaugural year, the club won the Torneo FNGI in
Treviso beating Ferrara 2–0; however, this title is not recognised as official. On 5 July 1911, some gymnasts of Udinese, headed by Luigi Dal Dan, founded the A.C. Udinese, which joined the
FIGC. The new side made its debut in a friendly match against
Juventus, and won 6–0. It was only in
1912–13 that Udinese first took part in an official FIGC championship. In that year they enrolled in the
Campionato Veneto di Promozione, which consisted of just three teams (the others were Petrarca and Padova). With two victories against Padova (3–1 and 5–0), Udinese finished the tournament in second place behind Petrarca and were promoted to first-level
Prima Categoria. In Prima Categoria, Udinese failed to reach the national stage, always knocked out in the
Eliminatoria Veneta.
1920s: Coppa Italia final The
1920–21 season, which ended with the Friulani eliminated in the
Eliminatoria Veneta, was memorable because it was the debut of Gino Bellotto, who is still the player who has played the most seasons with Udinese, spending 17 seasons with the
Zebrette. In 1922, Udinese, taking advantage of the absence of big clubs, entered the
FIGC Italian Football Championship and reached the
Coppa Italia final losing 1–0 against
Vado, thanks to an overtime goal. In the league, Udinese finished second in
Girone Eliminatorio Veneto, which allowed them to remain in the top flight for the next season, despite a reform of the championships that reduced the number of teams in the competition. The
1922–23 season was a disastrous one for Udinese, as they came last in and were relegated to the second division. The team risked failure for debts in 1923. On 24 August 1923, AS Udinese separated from AC Udinese Friuli, and the club was forced to set up a budget and an autonomous board. All debts were paid by President Alessandro Del Torso through the sale of some of his paintings and Udinese could thus join the
Second Division in which they came fourth. The 1924–25 season was memorable. The team was included in Group F II Division. The championship was very even and at the end of the tournament three teams were in contention to win: Udinese,
Vicenza and Olympia River. Playoffs were needed to determine who would reach the final round. Udinese beat Olympia in a playoff 1–0 and drew 1–1 with Vicenza. In the play-off standings, Udinese and Vicenza were still in the lead with 3 points each. Another play-off was then played to determine the winner. After a first encounter finished 0–0, Udinese lost a replay 2–1 but were awarded the win as Vicenza fielded an ineligible player, a Hungarian called Horwart. Udinese reached the finals in place of Vicenza. In the final round, Udinese finished first and was promoted, alongside
Parma, to
First Division. In the following season, Udinese finished 10th and was relegated again. However, the format of the championship was again reformed and Udinese had another chance to reclaim their place in the top flight. They competed in play-offs with seven other sides for the right to play in Serie A. The winner would remain in the top flight. The club, however, lost the playoff against Legnano and lost their place in the top flight. They remained in Second Division until the end of the 1928–29 season when
Serie A and
Serie B were created, with Udinese falling into the third tier (Terza Serie). The first season in Terza Serie was a triumphant one and Udinese were promoted up to Serie B.
1930s and 1940s The stay in Serie B lasted only two years, and after the 1931–32 season, the team returned to the third division. Udinese remained in the third tier (later renamed
Serie C in 1935) until 1938–39, when coming second in Girone Finale Nord di Serie C, they were promoted to Serie B. The Zebrette remained in Serie B for a dozen years, with average performances and were relegated to Serie C at the end of the 1947–48 season due to a reform of the championships. This relegation, however, was followed by two consecutive promotions, and thanks to an excellent second-place finish in the
Serie B 1949-50, the Friulani won a historic promotion to
Serie A.
1950s: second place in A, and relegation back to B Udinese remained in Serie A for five seasons and almost claimed an historic Scudetto in the
1954–55 season, when they came second only behind
Milan. It was after that season, however, that Udinese was relegated because of an offence committed on 31 May 1953, the last day of the championship, which was exposed two years later. The Friuliani returned to Serie A after one season in B and in the following season was confirmed among the best Italian teams with an excellent fourth-place finish.
1960s and 1970s A decline followed those good seasons, however, with Udinese first relegated back down to Serie B in 1961–62 and then to Serie C in 1963–64. Udinese remained in C for about fifteen years, missing promotion back to B on numerous occasions. It was only after the 1977–78 season that the Friuliani, led by manager
Massimo Giacomini, returned to B winning Girone A. In the same season, they won the
Coppa Italia Semiprofessionisti, beating
Reggina and also won the
Anglo-Italian Cup.
1980s: Mitropa Cup and the scandal of 1986 During the next season, Udinese with
Massimo Giacomini as their manager, won
Serie B and returned after more than two decades to
Serie A. In their first year back after so long, the team survived after a disappointing 15th-place finish. In Europe, they fared much better, winning the
Mitropa Cup, a European Cup for teams that had won the previous season of Serie B. In subsequent seasons the team managed to survive relegation without any particular difficulty also managing an impressive sixth place in
1982–83. At that time Udinese had on its books one of the club's all-time greatest players, the Brazilian midfielder
Zico. At the end of the
1985–86 season, the team was embroiled in a betting scandal and was penalised nine points for the
1986–87 season. Despite a desperate comeback towards the end of the season, Udinese were relegated to
Serie B. Had they not been deducted points, Udinese would have survived.
1990s and early 2000s: Europe before a Champions League match During the following years, Udinese were promoted to Serie A and relegated back to B on several occasions. This situation lasted until the
1995–96 season, from which point on, they established themselves in Serie A. The
1996–97 season saw Udinese qualify for the
UEFA Cup, with
Alberto Zaccheroni as manager. The following season, they managed a third-place finish behind
Juventus and
Internazionale, largely thanks to
Oliver Bierhoff's 27 goals. In March 2001,
Luciano Spalletti was appointed manager, replacing
Luigi De Canio. Spalletti managed to lead the team to survival on the penultimate matchday. Following brief periods with
Roy Hodgson and
Giampiero Ventura on the bench, Spalletti was again appointed manager of Udinese at the beginning of the
2002–03 season, finding an organised and ambitious club which again reached the
UEFA Cup, playing attacking and entertaining football. The surprising fourth-place finish at the end of the
2004–05 season saw Udinese achieve their first qualification for the
UEFA Champions League in the history of the club. At the end of that same season, Spalletti announced his intention to leave Udinese. The following season, Udinese played in the Champions League preliminary round, beating
Sporting CP 4–2 on aggregate. Udinese were drawn in a tough group alongside
Panathinaikos,
Werder Bremen and
Barcelona. (left) and
Alexis Sánchez (right) playing for Udinese in the UEFA Cup Despite a 3–0 win over
Panathinaikos in their first match, courtesy of a
Vincenzo Iaquinta hat trick, the team failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, coming in third in their group, equal on points with second placed Werder and behind eventual champions Barcelona.
Recent history After a year in the Champions League, Udinese finished tenth and returned once more to mid-table mediocrity. The turning point occurred during the summer of 2007, when the club announced the appointment of
Sicilian manager
Pasquale Marino and also made various quality purchases including
Fabio Quagliarella and
Gökhan Inler. The
2007–08 season started well with a draw at home against champions
Internazionale, but the enthusiasm was quickly erased after the first home match which finished in a 5–0 loss to newly promoted
Napoli. After this match, Udinese's fortunes changed, starting with a victory over
Juventus thanks to a late
Antonio Di Natale goal. Udinese remained in contention for the fourth Champions League spot with
Milan,
Fiorentina, and
Sampdoria until the end of the season, but ultimately finished in seventh place, qualifying for the
UEFA Cup. At the start of the
2008–09 season, during the press conference to present the new season's kit, the new official website was also presented, and the first Web TV channel dedicated to a football club called Udinese Channel was launched. In the 2008–09 season, Udinese had a mixed bag of results in Serie A with a 3–1 win at
Roma and a 2–1 win over
Juventus, but 10 losses against teams including
Reggina,
Chievo, and
Torino dented their hopes of Champions League qualification. In the
UEFA Cup, Udinese found themselves in a group with potential favourites
Tottenham Hotspur,
NEC,
Spartak Moscow, and
Dinamo Zagreb, but eased through the group with a convincing 2–0 win against Tottenham. They beat
Lech Poznań in the next round 4–3 on aggregate, and then beat holders
Zenit Saint Petersburg 2–1 on aggregate. In the quarter-final against
Werder Bremen, with injuries to star players Antonio Di Natale,
Samir Handanovič, and
Felipe, they lost 6–4 on aggregate.
Fabio Quagliarella managed eight goals in the campaign. They finished the season in seventh place, missing out on any European football the following year. The
2009–10 season was an extremely disappointing one for players and fans alike. Even though Antonio Di Natale managed to score 29 goals in the league and finished top goalscorer, the season was spent battling against relegation. In the end, they finished in 15th, nine points and three places clear of the relegation zone. The only highlight of the campaign was reaching the semi-final of the
Coppa Italia, beating
Lumezzane in the round of 16,
Milan in the quarter-finals, and eventually losing 2–1 to
Roma on aggregate. In the summer transfer window of 2010, Udinese sold
Gaetano D'Agostino,
Simone Pepe,
Marco Motta, and
Aleksandar Luković. They also brought in players that proved to be the key to their success in the
2010–11 Serie A;
Mehdi Benatia and
Pablo Armero, a central defender and wingback, respectively. After a poor start to the season, losing their first four games and drawing the fifth, Udinese went on to record their highest points total in history and finished in fourth place, again earning themselves a spot in the
Champions League qualifying round. Di Natale, with 28 goals, became the first back-to-back
capocannoniere since
Lazio's
Giuseppe Signori accomplished the feat in
1993 and
1994. A 0–0 home draw with Milan on the final matchday secured the Champions League spot for Udinese. Coach
Francesco Guidolin kept his promise of "dancing like Boateng" if they qualified for the Champions League and did a little jig in the middle of the pitch. In the
Coppa Italia, Udinese lost to
Sampdoria in the round of 16 on penalties after the match ended 2–2. The
2011–12 season continued in much the same fashion, even though Udinese lost three key players to larger clubs –
Alexis Sánchez to
Barcelona,
Gökhan Inler to
Napoli, and
Cristián Zapata to
Villarreal. In the Champions League qualifying round, Udinese were drawn against
Arsenal and lost the away leg 1–0. At the
Stadio Friuli, Udinese lost 2–1, 3–1 on aggregate, and entered the
Europa League group stage, Antonio Di Natale missing a penalty that at the time would have taken Udinese through. Domestically, Udinese started strong but with their quality shown in defence, conceding the least of all teams after 15 games, only seven. For the second consecutive season, Udinese qualified for the Champions League, clinching third place on the final day of the season with a 2–0 away win against
Catania. In the summer transfer window, key players
Kwadwo Asamoah and
Mauricio Isla were both sold to champions Juventus. The club failed to reach the group stage of the year's Champions League, however, losing on penalties after extra time to Portuguese club
SC Braga.
Antonio Di Natale scored 23 goals to record his third consecutive season with 20+ goals in Serie A. Udinese started off the
2012–13 Serie A season in mixed form, with seven draws and three losses in their first thirteen games. However, starting in December the team began to pick up wins more frequently, concurrent with Di Natale finding the net on a regular basis. After a period of balancing wins with losses, the team went on a phenomenal eight game winning streak to end the season, with
Luis Muriel emerging as a key player. Like the 2011–12 season, Di Natale again finished with 23 goals, becoming the first player since
Gabriel Batistuta, of
Fiorentina, to score 20 or more goals in four or more consecutive seasons. Over the coming years, Udinese would go on to finish middle to lower table in
Serie A. In the 2017–18 season, Udinese manager
Massimo Oddo was sacked after the club lost 11 straight games. Oddo was then replaced by
Igor Tudor who guided the club to safety away from the relegation places. == Colors and symbols ==