Unione Sportiva Ancona, commonly referred to as Ancona, 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 Bra ...

club based in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

. The club is widely considered to be the heir of defunct former

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 Coppa ...

club

, with whom it shares its official historical logo.

History

The club was founded in 2021 as the merger of

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 ...

club

S.S. Matelica Calcio 1921 Società Sportiva Matelica Calcio 1921, commonly referred to as Matelica, is an Italian football club founded in 1921 and based in Matelica, Marche. Currently it plays in Italy's Prima Categoria. History Foundation The club was founded in 19 ...

, from the city of

Matelica Matelica is a (municipality) of the Province of Macerata in the Italian region of Marche. Located about southwest of Ancona and west of Macerata, it extends over an area of . Geography Matelica lies in an ample valley where the Braccano cree ...

, with Ancona-based

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 Ao ...

club Anconitana. As part of the merger, all logos and naming rights of Matelica were given away to

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 t ...

club G.S. Corrado Fabiani Matelica, formally owned by chairman Mauro Canil's wife and which is now to be legally considered the heir of Matelica itself, whereas, as part of the merger, Anconitana brought the original footballing logo, as well as the rights to use the

Stadio del Conero Stadio del Conero was the home field of the Italian football club A.C. Ancona until 2010 when the club was canceled by every league. Currently it is the home of U.S. Ancona A.S.D.. It is an all seater built in 1992 with a capacity of 23,967. ...

in the city of

. The new club's board will be the same as Matelica's, with Mauro Canil as majority shareholder and chairman, whereas Anconitana's original owner Stefano Marconi will be linked to Ancona-Matelica as the club's official main sponsor for the following five years. The club board stated their aim to have the official name changed to just "Ancona" by 2022, pending approval by the Italian Football Federation. On 30 March 2022,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n billionaire entrepreneur Tony Tiong, nephew of

Tiong Hiew King Tan Sri Datuk Tiong Hiew King (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Diŏng Hiēu-kĭng''; born 1935) is the Malaysian Chinese founder and chairman of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, a timber company founded in 1975. Its overseas timber operations in Papua N ...

, was announced as the new majority shareholder, after having acquired 95% of the club's shares. By the end of the season, the club changed its denomination to Unione Sportiva Ancona, thus severing its association with Matelica altogether.

Colors and badge

The team's color are white and red.

Stadium

Ancona-Matelica play their home matches at the 25,000 capacity, Stadio del Conero, located in the city of

Players

Current squad

''As of 31 January 2023.''

Out on loan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancona Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in the Marche Ancona Serie C clubs Association football clubs established in 2021