One of the clubs competing to win the top Italian league, Serie A is Udinese Calcio. The club which is the second oldest club in Italy is based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
Udinese was established on 30 November 1896 as a sports club and as a football club on 5 July 1911. The club is owned by an Italian businessman, Giampaolo Pozzo and managed by former Italian player Luca Gotti.
The club, like any other Italian club, has its own nicknames such as I Bianconeri (The White and Blacks), I Friulani (The Friulians) and Le Zebrette (The Little Zebras). Udinese is called “The Little Zebras” based on its black and white striped shirts. The club players wear a black and white striped shirt, black shorts, and white socks and play its home game in Stadio Friuli, which is a 25,144 capacity.
Udinese has never won the top-level league in Italy but has several top-five placements. They were as best the runner-up in 1954–1955 season, four points behind Milan, although that season was followed by relegation due to corruption. The club, has otherwise, floated across the three first tiers in the league system.
The club is also waiting for the first Coppa Italia trophy. Udinese reached the final in the competition the first time it was played in 1922 and losing to Vado. Udinese has won three international titles which include Mitropa Cup (1980), Anglo-Italian Cup once (1978) and Intertoto Cup (2000).
At the end of the 1985–86 season, the team was embroiled in a betting scandal and was penalized nine points for the 1986–87 season. Despite a desperate comeback towards the end of the season, Udinese was relegated to Serie B. Had they not been deducted points, Udinese would have survived.
During the following years, Udinese was 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 was drawn in a tough group alongside Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, and Barcelona.
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.
The highest-paid players at Udinese are Rodrigo de Paul with €28,500 per week and Rolando Mandragora, who earns €25,000 per week.
Udinese Players Salaries and contracts 2019/20
Player Name | Age | Weekly Salary | Contract Until |
Rodrigo de Paul | 25 | €28,500 | 2023 |
Rolando Mandragora | 22 | €25,000 | 2023 |
Ilija Nestorovski | 29 | €21,000 | 2022 |
Kevin Lasagna | 27 | €21,000 | 2023 |
Sebastien De Maio | 32 | €19,500 | 2022 |
Bram Nuytinck | 29 | €18,000 | 2021 |
Lucasz Todorczyk | 28 | €18,000 | 2022 |
Samir | 24 | €18,000 | 2023 |
Seko Fofana | 24 | €18,000 | 2022 |
Stefano Okaka | 30 | €17,500 | 2022 |
Mato Jajalo | 31 | €16,000 | 2022 |
Ignacio Pussetto | 23 | €14,250 | 2023 |
Jens Stryger Larsen | 28 | €14,250 | 2022 |
Juan Musso | 25 | €14,250 | 2023 |
Willian Troost-Ekon | 26 | €14,250 | 2022 |
Rodrigo Becao | 23 | €12,000 | 2024 |
Walace | 24 | €12,000 | 2024 |
Antonin Barak | 24 | €10,500 | 2022 |
Hiddie ter Avest | 22 | €10,500 | 2022 |
Samuele Perisan | 22 | €10,500 | 2020 |
Ken Sema | 25 | €10,000 | 2020 |
Francisco Sierralta | 22 | €7,000 | 2022 |
Nicholas Opoku | 21 | €7,000 | 2022 |
Nicolas | 31 | €7,000 | 2021 |