US Città di Pontedera
| US Città di Pontedera | |||
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| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera | ||
| Seat | Pontedera | ||
| founding | 1912 | ||
| president |
 Paolo Boschi
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| Website | forzapontedera.com | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Head coach |
Ivan Maraia
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| Venue | Ettore Mannucci Stadium | ||
| Places | 2,700 | ||
| league | Series C / A | ||
| 2018/19 | 11th place | ||
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The Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera is an Italian football club from the small Tuscan town of Pontedera . The history of the club is marked by a series of promotions and relegations, with the third highest league level being the highest ever achieved. Since the 2013/14 season, the club has been playing in the third highest professional league in Italy, the Lega Pro Prima Divisione . According to the club colors dark red and white, the players are also called Granata . The US Città di Pontedera is best known for its former coach Marcello Lippi , who began his coaching career here.
history
The club was founded by students in 1912 as football grew in popularity in Italy. The first president became the journalist and politician Lando Ferretti . The first time was spent in amateur leagues, but was able to celebrate the club's greatest success in the Coppa Italia when they failed only in the round of 16 in extra time at AS Roma in 1937/38 .
The club took part in the Promozione , a forerunner of the later Series D , from the 1948/49 season. A year later, the promotion to Serie C followed , but the leagues were restructured two years later, so that the US Città di Pontedera found itself in the newly formed Quarta series . They stayed in this forerunner of the D series until the 1966/67 season, when they finished first in the Girone C and were promoted to the C series. There, however, the team could not establish itself and was referred directly to the last rank, which was synonymous with relegation.
In the 1973/74 season things got worse for the Granata , who were relegated to the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti , but managed to get back up straight away. The renewed relegation in 1979 was followed by the renewed restructuring of the Italian divisions, so that in the newly created, fifth-rate Campionato Interregionale in 1982, promotion to the C2 series was achieved. With the exception of a short excursion into the C1 series from 1994/95 , they stayed there until 2000.
In the 1980s, the former player Ettore Mannucci , who was an active player under contract with Juventus Turin , among others , had the Stadio Ettore Mannucci named after him built for the club. This holds about 5000 spectators.
Also in the 80s the team celebrated a great cup success when they won the English-Italian Cup against AS Livorno in 1985. The club was able to almost repeat this success in the following year when they lost in the final Piacenza Calcio . After relegation in 2000, the division system was changed again, so that the competition there was greater and the US Città di Pontedera was passed directly to the sixth division.
It was not until 2005 that they made it back to the top amateur league and even played for promotion in the 2010/11 season, but failed in the play-off in the third round. A year later, however, the 100-year club anniversary, after the rise in the managed Lega Pro Seconda Divisione by reaching the first place in Girone E . In the 2012/13 season, the club rose for the second time in a row and returned for the first time in almost 20 years to the third-highest division, which is now called Lega Pro Prima Divisione .
In 2006, the Gunther Corporation bought the club and secured sponsorship money.
The club gained greater fame in Italy through Marcello Lippi , who began his successful coaching career at the Tuscan small-town club in the 1985/86 season.
League affiliation
| season | league | Level of the league |
|---|---|---|
| 1948/49-1949/50 | Promozione | 4th |
| 1950 / 51–1951 / 52 | Lega Nazionale | 3 |
| 1952 / 53-1966 / 67 | Quarta series / series D | 4th |
| 1967/68 | Lega Nazionale | 3 |
| 1968 / 69–1973 / 74 | Series D | 4th |
| 1974/75 | Lega Nazionale Dilettanti | 5 |
| 1975 / 76-1981 / 82 | Series D / Campionato Interregional | 4/5 * |
| 1982 / 83-1994 / 95 | Series C2 | 4th |
| 1995/96 | Series C1 | 3 |
| 1996 / 97-1999 / 00 | Series C2 | 4th |
| 2000/01 | Series D | 5 |
| 2001/02–2004/05 | Eccellenza | 6th |
| 2005 / 06–2011 / 12 | Series D | 5 |
| 2012/13 | Lega Pro Seconda Divisione | 4th |
| 2013/14 | Lega Pro Prima Divisione | 3 |
* Due to the restructuring, the transition to fifth class was not a sporting descent, but a downgrade by the association.
successes
- English-Italian Cup : 1985 (1986 finalist)
- First place in their own Girone the Series D : 1966/67 and 1981/82
player
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Giuseppe Baldini (1937–1939) youth, later a. a. Inter Milan and CFC Genoa
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Alberto Bertuccelli (1942–1945), later a. a. AC Florence and Sampdoria Genoa
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Ettore Mannucci (1949–1950), later a. a. Juventus Turin
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Giancarlo Vitali (1961–1962)
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Alfredo Aglietti (1993–1994), later a. a. SSC Napoli and Chievo Verona
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Giulio Drago (1993-1994, 1995-1999) earlier a. a. Juventus Turin and FC Empoli
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Giovanni Martusciello (2005–2006) earlier a. a. CFC genoa
Trainer
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Marcello Lippi (1985–1986), later a. a. Coach of Juventus Turin , Inter Milan and the Italian national team
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ worldstadiums.com: stadiums of Tuscany ( memento of the original from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed December 26, 2011)
- ↑ gunthercorporation.blogspot.com: "Pontedera Football Club" (accessed December 26, 2011)
