Associazione Calcio Dilettantistica Legnano, commonly referred to as Legnano, is an

Italian football Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only ...

club based in Legnano, Lombardy. Founded in 1913, Legnano played three seasons in Serie A and a total of eleven seasons in the top tier of the Italian football league system. Legnano's most recent appearance in Serie A dates back to 1954, whereas in 1957 the club took part for the last time – to date – in a Serie B championship (the second tier of Italian football). Since then the club have played at their highest at the third tier of the Italian league. The team's colours are lilac and white. After financial struggles and bankruptcy in 2010 the club folded and reformed in 2011 as ASD Legnano Calcio 1913; in 2015 they regained the right to name themselves ACD Legnano Calcio and to merge their history with the one of the 97-year-old club previously folded.

History

Foundation

The club were founded in 1913 as ''Football Club Legnano''. Several notable players appeared for Legnano in their early years. Goalkeeper Angelo Cameroni was called up to the Italian national side in 1920; he was the first Legnano player to achieve this.

Luigi Allemandi Luigi Allemandi (; 8 November 1903 – 25 September 1978) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender, usually as a left back. He was a member of the Italy national team which won the 1934 World Cup. Club career Born in San Damiano ...

played four seasons with the club from 1921 onwards, until he was bought by Italian giants Juventus. He later won the World Cup with Italy at the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

Serie A: Club at their peak

Legnano first gained access to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

for the 1930–31 season; the previous year they had finished as runners up in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. The first match at the top level of Italian football was the shocking 2–1 defeat of Italy's oldest club, Genoa C.F.C. Unfortunately for Legnano, they finished at the bottom of the table that season and were relegated; other notable results however were a 1–1 draw with eventual runners up

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

, and a 2–1 defeat of

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

in Naples. In the 1935–1936 season, the club changed their name to ''Associazione Calcio Legnano''. Left-winger Emilio Caprile was called up by ''the azzurri'', to play in two international games during 1948. He became the first Legnano player to score for Italy with a goal in each match.

Slide down the Italian league

After their last relegation in from Serie A in 1953–54, the club have gradually declined. First they came close to promotion back into the league with a 3rd position in B, but two years later they were relegated down to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

. Legnano spent 18 years in a row competing in

, only able to finish as high as 5th in that time (they achieved this three times). 1974–75 saw the club slump down to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

; this was soon rectified as coach Luciano Sassi pulled the club back into Serie C2 with a runners up spot in 1977–78.

Giovanni Mari lifts Legnano

Giovanni Mari took over as club president in 1979 and under him, Legnano would achieve the championship of Serie C2. This was the first time A.C. Legnano had finished first position in any league since 1919. The club's stadium was later named Stadio Giovanni Mari in honour of the man.

The refoundation

Following bankruptcy in 2010, Legnano subsequently folded. It was refounded on 15 July 2011, as ''A.S.D. Legnano Calcio 1913'' and was admitted to Group N of

Prima Categoria The Prima Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the seventh level (since 2014–15) in the Italian football league system and is organized by the National Amateur League by the Regional Committees. Each individual league winner within ...

Lombardy in the 2011–12 season. The club was promoted to Group A of Promozione Lombardy. The club had a successive second promotion after finishing as champions of Group A of Promozione Lombardy next season and was promoted to Group A of

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and A ...

Lombardy. On 7 May 2015, A.S.D. Legnano Calcio 1913 re-acquired the name ''Associazione Calcio Legnano''.Ripreso simbolo e nome AC LEGNANO
They finished Eccellenza Lombardy as 4th in 2014–15 but were eliminated in the play-offs. They finished Group A of Eccellanza Lombardy as 2nd and were qualified for the play-offs again. They defeated Torviscosa with 4–1 aggregate in semifinal and Sankt Georgen with 4–3 aggregate in final and were promoted to

Players

Notable former players

Attilio Demaría Atilio José Demaría (; 19 March 1909 – 11 November 1990), Italianized as Attilio Demaria (), was an Italian Argentine footballer, who played as a striker. He played club football in Argentina and Italy. At international level, he represente ...

Gigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; born 7 November 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoye ...

Nicholas Frey Nicolas Sébastien Frey (born 6 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back. Club career Born in Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, Frey played exclusively at amateur level in his country, joining AS Cannes' y ...

Pedro Kamata Pedro Kamata (born 6 September 1981) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a winger. Born in Angola, he made one appearance for the DR Congo national team. Club career Kamata was born in Luanda, Angola. He started his c ...

Karl-Erik Palmér Karl-Erik "Calle" Palmér (17 April 1929 – 2 February 2015) was a Swedish professional football player who played as a midfielder. He represented Malmö FF, Legnano, and Juventus during a club career that spanned between 1948 and 1960. A ful ...

Paolo Pulici Paolo Pulici (; born 27 April 1950) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. With 172 goals in all competitions, he is the all-time record goalscorer for Torino. He had several nicknames: amongst the most f ...

Davide Fontolan Davide Fontolan (born 24 February 1966) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, usually as a left winger. Club career Fontolan was born in Garbagnate Milanese, Province of Milan. He started his playing career wi ...

* Chedric Seedorf *

Marco Simone Marco Simone (; born 7 January 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a striker and winger. He most prominently played for Milan, with whom he won four Serie A championships and two UEFA Cham ...

* Hermann Lindemann

Staff

Presidential history

Over the years Legnano has had various owners, chairmen or presidential figures; here is a chronological list of the presidents; * 1913–1916 Aldo Visconti and Eugenio Tosi (honorary president) * 1917–1924 Antonio Bernocchi * 1924–1925 Carlo Delle Piane * 1925–1927 Ernesto Castiglioni * 1927–1929 Antonio Bernocchi * 1929–1931 Giuseppe Mario Perozzi, Mario Raimondo and Riccardo Pezzoni (board of regents) * 1931–1933 Ernesto Castiglioni * 1933–1934 Primo Colombo (extraordinary commissioner) * 1934–1945 Giulio Riva * 1945–1952 Pino Mocchetti * 1952–1953 Luigi Mandelli (extraordinary commissioner), following Giovanni Mari * 1953–1954 Giovanni Mari * 1954–1956 Giuseppe Mario Perozzi (extraordinary commissioner) * 1956–1959 Davide Casero (extraordinary commissioner) * 1959–1963 Luciano Caccia * 1963–1964 Felice Bossi (extraordinary commissioner) * 1964–1975 Augusto Terreni * 1975–1979 Rolando Landoni (extraordinary commissioner) * 1979–1986 Giovanni Mari * 1986 Ulrico Lucarelli * 1986–1987 Giovanni Mari * 1987–1996 Ferdinando Villa * 1996–1999 Mario Pighetti * 1999 Mauro Rusignolo * 1999–2002 Mauro Rusignolo * 2002–2005 Antonio Di Bari * 2005–2007 Giovanni Simone * 2007–2009 Giuseppe Resta * 2009–2010 Giacomo Tarabbia * 2010 Alessio Fiore * 2011–2015 Nicolò Zanda * 2015 Salvatore Verdoliva * 2015–''incumbent'' Vanessa Paolillo

Managerial history

Below is a list of AC Legnano coaches from 1913 until the present day: * 1913–1914 Adamo Bonacina * 1914–1915 Pariani * 1915–1916 Primo Colombo * 1916–1917 Primo Colombo *: Nino Resegotti * 1917–1919 Technical Committee: Primo Colombo, Adamo Bonacina and Giuseppe Venegoni * 1919–1923 Primo Colombo * 1923–1925 Imre Schöffer * 1925–1927 Primo Colombo * 1927–1928 Imre Schöffer * 1928–1929 Armand Halmos * 1929–1931

Luigi Barbesino Luigi Barbesino (; 1 May 1894 – 20 April 1941) was an Italian association footballer and manager from Casale Monferrato in the region of Piedmont. A midfielder, he was a one club man in the truest sense of the term, spending his eight playin ...

* 1931–1933 Otto Krappan * 1933–1934 Francesco Lattuada *: Vinicio Colombo * 1934–1935 Vinicio Colombo * 1935–1936 Enrico Crotti * 1936–1945 Enrico Crotti * 1945–1946

Attilio Demaria Saint Attilio, one of the legendary martyrs of the Theban Legion, is venerated as a saint in the area of Trino Vercellese, in Piedmont, north-west Italy and commemorated on 28 June. However his cult is no longer officially recognized by the Rom ...

* 1946–1947 Róbert Winkler * 1947–1949 Giuseppe Galluzzi * 1949–1950 Ugo Innocenti * 1950–1951 Ugo Innocenti and Héctor Puricelli * 1951–1952 Héctor Puricelli * 1952–1953 Ugo Innocenti *: Héctor Puricelli * 1953–1954 Giuseppe Galluzzi * 1954–1957 Ugo Innocenti * 1957–1959 Mario Zidarich * 1959–1960 Renato Picentini * 1960–1962 Giuseppe Molina * 1962–1963 Luciano Lupi * 1963–1964 Fausto Braga * 1964–1967 Luciano Lupi * 1967–1968 Carlo Facchini * 1968–1969 Sergio Realini * 1969–1970 Carlo Facchini * 1970–1971 Carlo Facchini *: Luciano Sassi * 1971–1973 Luciano Sassi * 1973–1974 Luciano Sassi *: Giovanni Visentin * 1974–1975 Fausto Braga *: Mario Trezzi * 1975–1979 Mario Trezzi * 1979–1980 Adelio Crespi * 1981–1983 Pietro Maroso * 1983–1984 Pietro Maroso *: Romualdo Capocci * 1984–1986

Andrea Valdinoci Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

* 1986–1987 Giovanni Ardemagni * 1987–1988 Mauro Bicicli * 1989–1990 Giorgio Veneri * 1990–1991 Luciano Magistrelli *: Mauro Bicicli * 1991–1992 Abramo Rossetti *:

Giancarlo Danova Giancarlo Danova (18 November 1938 – 15 June 2014) was an Italian football forward who played for A.C. Milan, Torino F.C., Catania Calcio, Atalanta B.C., Fiorentina F.C. and Mantova Calcio. During his career he played on three Italian Cha ...

* 1992–1993

Marco Torresani Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

* 1993–1995 Luigi Vallongo * 1995–1996 Renzo Contratto *: Giovanni Sacchi and Mauro Bicicli * 1996–1997

Loris Boni Loris Boni (born 14 January 1953 in Remedello, Province of Brescia) is an Italian professional Association football, football coach and a former player. A midfielder, he made 400 appearances in the Italian professional leagues, including more th ...

* 1997–1998

Carlo Muraro Carlo Muraro (born 1 June 1955 in Gazzo) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played as a left winger. Style of play A versatile forward, with an eye for goal, Muraro was capable of playing both as a centre-forward and as a left wi ...

* 1998–1999 Gian Marco Remondina * 1999–2000 Roberto Bacchin * 2000–2001 Roberto Bacchin *:

*: Ernestino Ramella * 2001–2002 Mario Belluzzo *: Ernestino Ramella * 2002–2003 Ernestino Ramella *: Angelo Gregucci * 2003–2004

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

*: Stefano Di Chiara * 2004–2005 Stefano Di Chiara *: Arcangelo Sciannimanico *: Giancarlo Oddi * 2005–2006 Vincenzo Maiuri and Gianpaolo Spagnulo *: Gianpaolo Spagnulo *: Luciano Miani *: Gianpaolo Spagnulo, and Nicolas Gennarielli * 2006–2007 Gianfranco Motta * 2007–2008 Claudio Gabetta *:

Egidio Notaristefano Egidio Notaristefano (born 4 February 1966) is an Italian football manager. He is a former Italy under-21 international midfielder. Career Notaristefano began his playing career at Como in the early 1980s, and he made his Serie A debut in 1984. ...

* 2008–2009 Attilio Lombardo * 2009–2010

Giuseppe Scienza Giuseppe Scienza (born 14 October 1966) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Scienza played Serie A level for Reggiana, Torino and Piacenza. He retired in 2002 to pursue a career as a coac ...

* 2011–2013 Massimo Rovellini * 2013–2014 Massimo Rovellini *: Alessandro Cerri * 2014–''incumbent'' Stefano Di Gioia

Honours

Serie C2 *Winners (2): 1982–1983 (group B), 2006–2007 (group A)

Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti ...

*Winners: 1992–1993 (group A)

*Winners: 1999–2000 (group B)

*Winners: 2011–2012 (group N) Promozione *Winners: 2012–2013 (group A)

: *Runners-up (2): 1919–1920 (group C), 1920–1921 (group D) Prima Divisione: *Runners-up (2): 1922–1923 (group B), 1927–1928 (group B)

*Runners-up (3): 1946–1947 (group A), 1950–1951, 1952–1953

: *Runners-up (2): 1976–1977 (group B), 1977–1978 (group B)

: *Runners-up: 1997–1998 (group B)

: *Runners-up: 2013–2014 (group A)

References

External links

Official website

Statistiche lilla
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legnano Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Lombardy Association football clubs established in 1913 Association football clubs disestablished in 2010 Italian football First Division clubs Serie A clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs 1913 establishments in Italy