Luciano Spalletti
Who was the head coach of the team Empoli F.C. from Jul 1995 to Jun 1998?
Empoli F.C . Empoli Football Club , commonly referred to as Empoli , is an Italian football club based in Empoli , Tuscany . Founded in 1920 , the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs that do not belong to a provincial capital city that have participated in the top-flight . Including the current season , Empoli has participated in 83 national championships , including 50 championships in the third tier , 20 in Serie B and 13 in Serie A . In Europe , the best results obtained was participation in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup . History . From the 1920s to the 1970s . In August 1920 , Foot Ball Club Empoli and the football section Unione Sportiva Empoli were born . After the participation of a tournament in San Miniato , the two merged into a single local football club . The next season , the new club , after having obtained in September affiliation in the Italian Football Federation ( FIGC ) ratified by the Tuscan Regional Committee , was included in Group A of the Tuscan Promozione 1921–22 , but did take part due to economic problems , choosing instead to join the league of Terza Categoria , where the team achieved second place in the group A . In the 1922–23 season , Empoli finished in second place in Group A of the Terza Categoria , gaining admission to the final round after winning the play-off in Florence , held on 15 April 1923 against Pontedera , 1–0 . The season concluded with a third place in the group final . The following three seasons , from 1923 to 1926 , Empoli continued to play in the Tuscan third division . Then , in the 1926–27 season , Empoli won the Group A division of Tuscany , and was admitted to the interregional finals ; thanks to a fourth place in Group G , the Tuscans were promoted in the North Division of the Second Division 1927–28 , the third Italian football tier of the era . In the following season the team was then inserted in Group C of the North Division , which concluded in fourth place , but for economic reasons refused the invitation to take part in the next championship of Prima Divisione , and therefore followed the downgrading of the Seconda Divisione from third to fourth tier . However , already the following season , in the 1928–29 Seconda Divisione , the club won promotion , winning the Tuscan championship , and returned to the North Division of Prima Divisione . Empoli was in the Prima Divisione , then Serie C , until the 1935–36 season , when the team withdrawn halfway through the season because of the call to arms for many of its players . Empoli resumed competitive activity from Prima Divisione the next season , under the name of OND Empoli , with the colours gray and blue ; the team won the Tuscan Group A again gaining admission in Serie C . Until the shutdown from the causes of war , Empoli played in Serie C , obtaining a best result of sixth place in 1938–39 . Meanwhile , the club was renamed OND Interaziendale Italo Gambaccioni Section Soccer from 1938 to 1941 , until the name was changed again to Associazione Calcio Empol . On 15 September 1935 , Empoli debuted in the Coppa Italia with a 1–0 home success against Pontedera . After World War II , Empoli took up the club name of Empoli Foot Ball Club after being called Sports Group Azelio Landi for a brief period between October and November 1944 , and was admitted into Serie B thanks to a third-place finish in the 1945–46 season . In Serie B , Empoli played for four consecutive seasons , finishing in third place in the 1946–47 season . Relegation of the club – which by then had adopted the colour blue – occurred at the end of 1949–50 championship . The permanence in Serie C lasted for six seasons : in the summer of 1955 , the club sold most of its players and at the end of the 1955–56 season , the Tuscan side were relegated to Serie D . After three seasons in the fourth division , in 1959–60 the Azzurri risked relegation to the regional level after finishing in 15th place , on equal points with Carrarese and Rieti . The club managed to escape relegation before drawing with Carrarese and then surpassing Lazio , in Pesaro , with a goal from Vezzosi . In 1960–61 , Empoli returned to the third tier of Italian football , but for only one season , again suffering relegation . The club returned to Serie C on 9 June 1963 after beating Tempio 2–0 in the play-off in Genoa . The clubs permanence in the third tier of Italian football , then called Serie C1 , lasted for 20 years until the 1982–83 season . The 1980s and 1990s . In 1986 , the small-town club was promoted to Serie A . Playing their first few home games in Florence , Empolis Serie A debut resulted in a 1–0 win over Internazionale . Helped by a nine-point deduction from Udinese , they avoided relegation with 23 points and 13 goals in 30 games . Empoli themselves received a five-point penalty the following season , and were relegated despite an improved showing . They were relegated again to Serie C1 in 1989 . This club then spent several seasons in Serie C1 before returning to Serie B in 1996 and achieving a second successive promotion in 1997 . With Luciano Spalletti at the helm , Empoli defied the odds to finish in 12th place and avoid relegation . Relegation the following year began a three-year stay in Serie B , in which time the club became renowned for nurturing its own outstanding young talent . Promotions to Serie A in 2002 and 2005 have seen the club emerge as battlers against relegation . They ended the 2005–06 season in tenth place in the top-flight . As a result of the Serie A match-fixing scandal at the end of that season , they gained qualification for the UEFA Cup for the following season , however they did not play in it because the club management failed to apply for a UEFA license . In the 2006–07 season , the club once again qualified for the UEFA Cup . The years 2000 and participation in the UEFA Cup . With the prospect of European football approaching , the management strengthened the squad , most notably signing a number of young players from large Serie A clubs , such as Rincón of Inter , Ignazio Abate and Lino Marzoratti of Milan and Sebastian Giovinco , Claudio Marchisio and Rej Volpato of Juventus on loan or co-ownership deals . Empoli marked their debut in the UEFA Cup with a two-legged match against Zürich , losing 4–2 on aggregate . A poor showing in the initial part of the season then led chairman Fabrizio Corsi to sack Luigi Cagni , who led the Tuscans to UEFA Cup qualification , and replace him with Alberto Malesani . However , the clubs fortunes did not change and Malesani was sacked after a 2–0 defeat to Sampdoria which left them at the bottom of the table . Cagni was re-appointed on 31 March 2008 but the team suffered a last-minute relegation . Cagni resigned and was replaced by Silvio Baldini ahead of the 2008–09 season . Baldinis tenure , however , did not prove to be successful , as the Tuscans ended the season only in fifth place , and were later defeated in the promotion playoffs by Brescia . Between Serie B and Serie A . Despite modest results , Baldini was sacked . By December 2011 , the club had gone through four coaches since the 2009–10 season . The club maintained their Serie B status dramatically in 2011–12 . After a poor season , Empoli finished 18th , one point from safety , which meant a relegation play-off against Vicenza over two legs . The first game finished goalless before Vicenza led 2–0 in the second leg with 30 minutes to go . However , two goals in two minutes saw the Azzuri level the tie before Massimo Maccarone secured a 3–2 victory in the fourth minute of injury time . 2012–13 saw the club finish fourth , a dramatic improvement on the previous season , but lost the promotion play-off final to Livorno over two legs . The club secured promotion back to Serie A the following season , finishing as runners-up to Palermo and stayed in the top flight for two seasons , finishing 15th in 2014–15 and 10th in 2015–16 . Going into the final matchday of the 2016–17 Serie A season , Empoli were one point above the relegation zone ahead of Crotone , however were eventually relegated to Serie B after they failed to beat Palermo , while Crotone beat Lazio . After a triumph of the 2017–18 Serie B , Empoli promptly regained promotion to Serie A , after winning Serie B on 28 April 2018 , four matches in advance . In the final matchday of the 2018–19 Serie A season , Empoli were one point above the relegation zone ahead of Genoa , however were eventually relegated to Serie B after they were defeated by Internazionale , while Genoa drew with Fiorentina , both sides finished on the same number of points but Genoa had a greater goal difference by one . However , Empoli finished first in the 2020–21 Serie B season , to be their third title in the competition in their history . Notable former players . - Players with international caps , appearances in Olympic Games or 100 league appearances with Empoli - Elseid Hysaj - Juan Martín Alza - Mark Bresciano - Vince Grella - Emílson Cribari - Jorge Vargas - Igor Budan - Ignazio Abate - Daniele Adani - Marco Borriello - Raoul Bortoletto - Luca Bucci - Antonio Buscè - Andrea Coda - Dario Dainelli ( youth ) - Antonio Di Natale - Éder - Sebastian Giovinco - Massimo Maccarone - Claudio Marchisio - Vincenzo Montella - Andrea Raggi - Tommaso Rocchi - Luca Saudati - Luciano Spalletti - Francesco Tavano - Luca Toni - Ighli Vannucchi - Piotr Zieliński - Zlatko Dedić - Johnny Ekström - Marcelo Zalayeta - See also : Former managers . - Antonio Vojak ( 1937–39 ) - Enrico Colombari ( 1939–40 ) - Sergio Cervato ( 1968–70 ) - Sergio Castelletti ( 1971–72 ) - Renzo Ulivieri ( 1972–76 ) - Bruno Giorgi ( 1976–77 ) - Vincenzo Guerini ( 1983–85 ) - Luigi Simoni ( 1988–89 ) - Vincenzo Montefusco ( 1989–91 ) - Francesco Guidolin ( 1991–92 ) - Adriano Lombardi ( 1993–94 ) - Luciano Spalletti ( 1995–98 ) - Luigi Delneri ( 1998 ) - Mauro Sandreani ( 1998–99 ) - Corrado Orrico ( 1998–99 ) - Elio Gustinetti ( 1999–00 ) - Silvio Baldini ( 1999–03 ) - Mario Somma ( 2004–06 ) - Luigi Cagni ( 2006–07 ) - Alberto Malesani ( 2007–08 ) - Luigi Cagni ( 2008 ) - Silvio Baldini ( 2008–09 ) - Salvatore Campilongo ( 2009–10 ) - Alfredo Aglietti ( 2010–11 ) - Giuseppe Pillon ( 2011 ) - Guido Carboni ( 2011–12 ) - Alfredo Aglietti ( 2012 ) - Maurizio Sarri ( 2012–15 ) - Marco Giampaolo ( 2015–16 ) - Giovanni Martusciello ( 2016–2017 ) - Vincenzo Vivarini ( 2017 ) - Aurelio Andreazzoli ( 2017–2018 ) - Giuseppe Iachini ( 2018–2019 ) - Aurelio Andreazzoli ( 2019 ) - Cristian Bucchi ( 2019 ) - Roberto Muzzi ( 2019–2020 ) Honours . - Serie B - Coppa Italia Serie C - Serie C1 External links . - Empolis official website