Internapoli Football Club was an Italian association football club based in the Vomero area of Naples, Campania. Founded in 1909 as S.C. Vomero, the club has been re-launched several times, first in 1935, under the auspices of Cral Cirio, and later, in 1964, under Internapoli dominion.
The club have always played in the lower levels of Italian football. Their highest performance in the league was two 3rd-place finishes in Serie C during the late 1960s. Internapoli have had more notable success in the cup, winning the Coppa Italia Dilettanti, the amateur variation of the Coppa Italia in 1980.
In the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons, Internapoli played in Eccellenza Campania. In the 2011–12 season, it played in the Serie D as Internapoli Città di Marano.
History
The club's roots can be traced to CRAL Cirio who were founded in 1935. They played in the San Giovanni a Teduccio neighborhood of Naples. They were named after the Turin industrialist Francesco Cirio who founded the first tomato canning company (still operating under the same name today in San Giovanni a Teduccio.), After playing for a time in regional leagues in Campania, in 1951–52 they were entered into a league equivalent to Serie D, where they finished in the top half of the table.
During the 1953–54 season, Cirio narrowly missed being promoted to Serie C after coming in second to Foggia in their category by just two points. They bounced back, ending the next season first in their group, but they lost the playoff game 1–0 to a club from Molfetta. In the next two seasons, they ended in second place in their group, losing to Reggina and Marsala respectively.
In the 1957–58 season, the club was promoted to Serie C, having ended the season ahead of clubs such as Lecce, Casertana and Avellino. In Serie C, they achieved a respectable 9th-place finish in their group. However, the following season, after ending with the same number of points as Crotone, they lost a play-out match 1–0 and were relegated to Serie D again. By the end of their time as "Cirio," they had lost form in Serie D and had been unable to achieve better results.
Rebirth under the name Internapoli
On 30 June 1964, Dr. Giovanni Proto and Carlo Del Gaudio took over the club along with a group of Naples locals who worked as builders and manufacturers; renaming it Internapoli Football Club. Many of the players from the old club remained, including men such as Anglo-Italian player Giuseppe Wilson who would later go on to fame with Lazio and Italy.
The club was reborn under the name Internapoli to ensure that the city of Naples would have a stable football club of some sort. Neighbouring clubs like A.C. Napoli were experiencing financial difficulties, leaving their future hanging in the balance. But within a week of Internapoli's founding, Associazione Calcio Napoli had changed their name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli and continued on.
Along with a new name came new colours, the green kit of Cirio was replaced by sky blue and white stripes, known in Italy as biancocelesti. Internapoli had taken control of the "Stadio Arturo Collana" in the Vomero neighbourhood, which has previously been used by SSC Napoli who had left for the considerably larger "Stadio San Paolo".
Internapoli achieved their first promotion under the new dominion in the 1966–67 season, it was a closely competed league with Internapoli beating out second place Savoia by just one point. As they were promoted into Serie C to start a four-season spell in the league, Internapoli began to gather popularity gaining a fan club of 6000 strong, it was called "Amici dell'Internapoli" (Friends of Internapoli).
Brazilian Luís Vinício was manager during one season in this Serie C period, the squad of the time included a bright young striker in Giorgio Chinaglia who would later go on to fame with Lazio. Two out of the four seasons during this time in Serie C were particularly notable, in both the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons Internapoli finished in third place; their highest ever finish in the Italian football league.
Decline and merger with Puteolana
However, following their consecutive third-place finishes some of the club's most influential players were bought by more famous clubs and Internapoli were relegated in bottom place. Down in Serie D the following season, the club were stunned when they were relegated for the second season in a row. It was a cruel relegation for the club when considering that the team who finished 9th were only three points above 16th place Internapoli.