Udinese date their history to 30 November 1896, when the Società Udinese di Ginnastica e Scherma, a gymnastics and fencing society, was founded in Udine. This year therefore marks 130 years. It is one of Italy's oldest clubs and one of the few that wear black and white with no connection at all to Turin. Its story takes in a royal exhibition match, a star on the chest, an earthquake and one of the most loyal goalscorers in Serie A.

Swords, gym apparatus and a ball

Italian sources themselves describe the founding date as "indicative", since football was already being played in Udine before then. In 1895 the society's athletes played an exhibition match in Rome against Virtus Bologna, in front of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. In 1896 the team took part in national games in Treviso and beat Treviso and Ferrara. Some in Friuli talk about the "1896 championship", but the title is not officially recognised. The football section took its own form on 5 July 1911.

A white star on a black shirt

Udinese's black and white are not borrowed: they come from the coat of arms of the city of Udine. The first shirt, in the late 19th century, was all black with a white five-pointed star on the chest. In the 1910s the shirt was split vertically, half black and half white. For a while white dominated with black details, and from the 1930s the black and white stripes with black shorts became established. In the 1980s bold designs were tried, such as a white shirt with a single central black stripe. The stripes also gave rise to the nicknames Bianconeri and Zebrette, the "little zebras".

The zebra, the shield and the eagle that never came

A badge appeared on the shirt relatively late, in 1979: a zebra inside a green circle. In the early 1980s came a shield with the city's emblem and the "Z" of Zanussi, and in 1992 a round badge with a grey ring. Since 1995-96 the team has worn the shield inside a circle, to which laurel branches were added in 2010. Fans often ask for the eagle of Friuli to be added, but the club has not made that change. In 2021, for the 125th anniversary, a black third shirt was released carrying all the historic badges in order, starting with the star of 1896.

Ice cream on the shorts: Italy's first kit sponsor

In 1978 president Teofilo Sanson printed the logo of his company, Sanson Gelati, on the team's shorts. It was the first sponsorship on a kit in Italy. The federation imposed a fine and the logo was removed, but the move opened the way for sponsorship in Italian football. In the same period Udinese won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1978 and the Mitropa Cup in 1980.

A stadium named after the region

From 1924 to 1976 the team played at the Stadio Moretti, which no longer exists. In 1976 they moved to the Stadio Friuli, named after the region in the year of the great earthquake that struck it. Its distinctive arch makes it recognisable from afar. After a renovation that began in 2013, it reopened in January 2016 against Juventus. It has carried commercial names from time to time, but for the club's fans it remains the Friuli.

Zico, Pozzo, Di Natale

In 1955 Udinese finished second behind Milan, but were relegated over a fixed match from two years earlier. In 1983 Zico arrived from Flamengo and scored 19 goals in his first season. On 28 July 1986 Giampaolo Pozzo took over the club, and his family is still in charge. The Intertoto Cup of 2000 and the Champions League group stage in 2005-06 followed. The best-loved figure, though, is Antonio Di Natale, with 191 goals between 2004 and 2016 and two consecutive Serie A top scorer titles.

Happy birthday to the little zebras of Friuli. From the white star of 1896 to today's stripes, Udinese remain true to the colours of their city.

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Photo: Stadio Friuli – Matteo.favi, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.