Delfino Pescara 1936

Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo.

Pescara
Full nameDelfino Pescara 1936 S.p.A.
Nickname(s)I Delfini (The Dolphins)
I Biancazzurri (The White and Blues)
Gli Adriatici (The Adriatics)
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
GroundStadio Adriatico
Capacity20,515
ChairmanDaniele Sebastiani
ManagerZdeněk Zeman
LeagueSerie C Group B
2022–23Serie C Group C, 3rd of 20
WebsiteClub website
Current season

The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 2012–13 and last participated in 2016–17. The team's official colors are white and light blue varied between either azure or sky blue, manifested in striped shirts with white socks and shorts.

History

Aside from a spell in Serie B in the 1940s, Pescara had a relatively undistinguished history until promotion to Serie B in 1974. With players like Giorgio Repetto and Bruno Nobili in the midfield, they managed to win their first promotion to Serie A in 1977 after winning the promotion play-off, but ultimately finished their first season in Serie A in last place. A second promotion after a play-off followed, but once more they would be relegated from the top flight and then descended to Serie C1 within two years.

The performance of Pescara in the Italian football league structure since the first season of a unified Serie A (1929/30).

Nonetheless, after returning to Serie B after a year, Pescara would enjoy a revival after the appointment of Giovanni Galeone as coach in 1986. His philosophy of attacking football saw the Biancazzurri promoted to Serie A as champions in 1987, where they lasted two years with players such as Júnior and Blaž Slišković among the club's star players. Galeone would return during the 1990–91 season and oversaw another promotion the following year.

After relegation, Pescara remained in Serie B side throughout the 1990s, narrowly missing promotion in 1999. Relegation to C1 followed in 2001, with promotion in 2003 being followed by two revoked relegations in a row due to bankruptcy and scandals affecting other clubs. Pescara was ultimately relegated in the 2006–07 season, with three presidential and managerial changes during the season. In December 2008, the debt-ridden club was legally declared out of business and its control passed to a bankruptcy trustee appointed by the Court of Pescara. In February 2009, a takeover from a group named Delfino Pescara 1936 was finalized with Deborah Caldora becoming the first woman to serve as chairman of the club. In the meantime, results did not improve significantly and in March, Giuseppe Galderisi was dismissed from the head coaching post with Antonello Cuccureddu being appointed as the new boss.

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Eusebio Di Francesco was appointed as the new coach. Pescara finished second in Girone B of Lega Pro Prima Divisione and qualified for the promotional play-offs. They defeated Reggiana in the semi-final and Verona in the final and subsequently returned to Serie B after a three-year absence. The following season started with the appointment of Zdeněk Zeman as new head coach; the Czech manager immediately brought Pescara back into national coverage thanks to his well-known all-attacking playing style that turned out to match perfectly with promising youngsters such as Marco Verratti with loanees Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, who guided the squad to promotion to Serie A. Pescara secured promotion to the top-level after a 19-year absence after defeating Sampdoria with a 3–1 score in an away match on 20 May 2012. In the last minute of the final game of the regular season, Pescara striker Riccardo Maniero netted the winner in a match against Nocerina to claim Pescara's second Serie B title after Torino's draw away to AlbinoLeffe.

Pescara's 2012–13 campaign in Serie A – after losing Zeman, Verratti, Immobile and Insigne – ended with relegation back to the second tier.[1] Three years later, under World Cup winner Massimo Oddo, the team returned to Serie A with a 3–1 aggregate win over Trapani in the playoff final.[2] Zeman returned in February 2017 to the team,[3] who again lasted just one year at the top before being relegated in last place.[4]

In August 2018, Pescara launched a public mini-bond investment opportunity via sports investment platform Tifosy to raise a minimum of €2,000,000.[5] The investment scheme raised a total of €2,300,000 to develop the club's youth sector and facilities.[6]

Following an online competition to ease children's boredom during the coronavirus lockdown, the team adopted six-year-old Luigi D'Agostino's shirt design for the 2020 season.[7]

After a poor 2020-21 campaign, the side were relegated to Serie C, the third tier of Italian football.

Supporters

One of Pescara's main rivals is Bari.[8]

Players

Current squad

As of 18 January 2024[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
17MF  ESTGeorgi Tunjov
18DF  ITARoberto Pierno
22GK  ITAAlessandro Plizzari
23DF  ITAFilippo Pellacani
24DF  SVKIvan Mesík
25DF  MDACornelius Staver
27DF  ITABrando Moruzzi
28MF  ITAAntonino De Marco
29FW  ITALuigi Cuppone
30MF  ITAMatteo Dagasso
33MF  ITASimone Franchini (on loan from Padova)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
FW  ARGFacundo Lescano (at Triestina until 30 June 2024)
FW  ITAChristian Tommasini (at Monopoli until 30 June 2024)

Coaching staff

As of 16 November 2023[10]

PositionName
Head coach Zdeněk Zeman
Assistant coach Giovanni Bucaro
Goalkeeper coach Giovanni Di Fiore
Match analyst Diego Labricciosa
Team manager Francesco Troiano
Sporting director Daniele Delli Carri

Managerial history

NameNationalityYears
Edmondo De Amicis 1937–38
Pietro Piselli 1938–39
Armando Bonino 1939–40
Mario Pizziolo 1940–41
Luigi Ferrero 1941–43
Edmondo De Amicis 1944–45
Giuseppe Marchi 1945–46
József Bánás 1946–47
Mario Pizziolo 1947–48
Gino Piccinini 1948–49
Benedetto Stella 1949–50
Luigi Del Grosso 1950–53
Umberto De Angelis 1953–55
Alfredo Notti 1955–56
Alfredo Monza
Renato Piacentini
Orazio Sola


1956–57
Renato Piacentini 1957–58
Aurelio Marchese
Mario Tontodonati

1958–59
Ljubo Benčić
Mario Tontodonati

1959–61
Umberto De Angelis 1961–62
Leonardo Costagliola 1962–63
Ljubo Benčić
Renato Piacentini

1963–64
Ljubo Benčić
Vincenzo Marsico

1964–65
Antonio Giammarinaro
Alfredo Notti

1965–66
Sergio Cervato 1966–67
Antonio Giammarinaro 1967–68
Gianni Seghedoni
Mario Tontodonati

1968–69
Dante Lacorata
Mario Tontodonati

1969–70
Francesco Capocasale 1970–71
Enzo Falini
Vitaliano Patricelli

1971–72
Domenico Rosati 1972–76
Giancarlo Cadé 1976–78
Antonio Valentín Angelillo 1978–79
Gustavo Giagnoni
Claudio Tobia
Mario Tontodonati


1979–80
Aldo Agroppi 1980–81
Giuseppe Chiappella
Saul Malatrasi
Mario Tiddia


1981–82
Domenico Rosati 1982–84
Enrico Catuzzi 1984–86
Giovanni Galeone 1986–89
Ilario Castagner
Edoardo Reja

1989–90
Giovanni Galeone
Carlo Mazzone

1990–91
Giovanni Galeone 1991–92
Vincenzo Zucchini 1992–93
Gianni Corelli
Giorgio Rumignani
Franco Scoglio
Vincenzo Zucchini



1993–94
Francesco Oddo
Giorgio Rumignani

1994–95
Luigi Maifredi
Francesco Oddo

1995–96
Delio Rossi July 1996 – June 1997
Adriano Buffoni
Maurizio Viscidi

1997–98
Luigi De Canio
Francesco Giorgini

July 1998 – June 1999
Giovanni Galeone July 1999 – Nov 2000
Tarcisio Burgnich
Giovanni Galeone
Delio Rossi


2000–01
Ivo Iaconi July 2001 – May 2004
Cetteo Di Mascio May 2004 - June 2004
Giovanni Simonelli June 2004 – June 2005
Maurizio Sarri July 2005 – July 2006
Davide Ballardini
Aldo Ammazzalorso
Luigi De Rosa
Vincenzo Vivarini



July 2006 – June 2007
Franco Lerda July 2007 – June 2008
Giuseppe Galderisi July 2008 – March 2009
Antonello Cuccureddu 2009–10
Eusebio Di Francesco Jan 2010 – June 2011
Zdeněk Zeman June 2011 – June 2012
Giovanni Stroppa June 2012 – November 2012
Cristiano Bergodi November 2012 – March 2013
Cristian Bucchi March 2013 – June 2013
Pasquale Marino June 2013 – February 2014
Serse Cosmi February 2014 – July 2014
Marco Baroni August 2014 – May 2015
Massimo Oddo May 2015 – February 2017
Luciano Zauri (caretaker) February 2017
Zdeněk Zeman February 2017 – March 2018
Massimo Epifani March 2018 – April 2018
Giuseppe Pillon April 2018 – May 2019
Luciano Zauri June 2019 – January 2020
Nicola Legrottaglie January 2020 – July 2020
Andrea Sottil July 2020 – August 2020
Massimo Oddo August 2020 – November 2020
Roberto Breda November 2020 – January 2021
Gianluca Grassadonia January 2021 – June 2021
Gaetano Auteri June 2021 –

Honours

Divisional movements

SeriesYearsLastPromotionsRelegations
A72016–17- 6 (1978, 1980, 1989, 1993, 2013, 2017)
B392020–21 6 (1977, 1979, 1987, 1992, 2012, 2016) 5 (1949, 1982, 2001, 2007, 2021)
C292021–22 5 (1941, 1974, 1983, 2003, 2010) 3 (1935✟, 1950, 1972)
75 out of 90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929
D101972–73 1 (1938, 1958, 1973)never
E11936–37 1 (1937)never

• Forerunner red-blue AC Pescara (1932–1935) included

References

External links