Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Pisa, 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

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. The team currently plays in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

. The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as Pisa Calcio (and registered in ''Eccellenza'', the regional football division in Italy), after the cancellation of the former because of economical troubles. It was excluded again from Italian football in 2009, after the property failed to collect enough money to pay off the club's debts. In summer 2009 it was refounded with the denomination A.C. Pisa 1909. Pisa won two

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...

s, in 1986 and 1988. They play their home matches at Arena Garibaldi - Stadio Romeo Anconetani, named after Romeo Anconetani, the chairman who brought and led the club in Serie A during the 1980s. In 2016, Giuseppe Corrado bought the club and planned the new Pisa stadium. In January 2021, billionaire Alexander Knaster acquired a 75% stake in the club.

History

Pisa S.C.

After promotion to

in 1965, Pisa took three years to reach

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 ...

for the first time. Despite a brave effort, Pisa was relegated on the final day of the 1968–69 season. Spending much of the 1970s in Serie C, Pisa returned to Serie B in 1979 (by which time the club had come under the presidency of the much-loved Romeo Anconetani) and were promoted to Serie A in 1982, embarking on a period of six out of nine seasons in Serie A. With Danish international

Klaus Berggreen Klaus Berggreen (born 3 February 1958) is a Danish former footballer who played as a midfielder, most prominently for Italian clubs Pisa and A.S. Roma. He played 46 matches and scored five goals for the Danish national team, and he represented ...

among their stars, Pisa managed a credible 11th place in the 1982–83 Serie A with 27 points and 27 goals scored and conceded in 30 games. The following season brought relegation (during which they recorded just 3 wins and 16 draws) with 15,000 fans travelling to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

for the fateful penultimate game. Promotion followed in 1985, and the team seemed capable of staying up until losing their last three games. The cycle was repeated in 1987, only for a side containing players like

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

and Paul Elliott to stay up. The last promotion to Serie A was achieved in 1990, and with the talents of players like Maurizio Neri,

Michele Padovano Michele Padovano (; born 28 August 1966) is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. Career Padovano began his professional career at Asti T.S.C. in Serie C2, before short spells at Cosenza, Pisa, Napoli and Genoa. He then signe ...

and

Lamberto Piovanelli Lamberto is an Italian male given name taken from the name Lambert. It may refer to: *Lamberto Alvarez, Artist - Contemporary *Lamberto Antonio, Philippine writer * Lamberto V. Avellana (1915–1991), prominent Filipino film and stage director *La ...

up front and

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

Henrik Larsen Henrik Larsen (born 17 May 1966), nicknamed ''Store Larsen'' (''Big Larsen''), is a Danish football manager and former professional player, who played as a midfielder. He was last the manager of Lyngby Boldklub. He was the joint top scorer at t ...

and

Aldo Dolcetti Aldo Dolcetti (born 23 October 1966 in Salò, Brescia Province, Italy) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Career Playing career Dolcetti began as a youngster at Juventus but spent a season at Nova ...

in midfield, the side started well and was briefly atop the standings, only to suffer another relegation. Relegation brought considerable financial strains to the club, and by 1994 they had lost a relegation play-off and were condemned to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

Pisa Calcio

Bankruptcy saw Pisa reformed in

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 ...

, only to return to

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

in 1996 and C1 in 1999. Pisa have since worked towards attaining Serie B status, which was achieved in 2007. Their crowds have been among the better in Italy's lower divisions owing to the dedication of their fans. In May 2002

Maurizio Mian Maurizio Mian (born 25 March 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and pharmaceutical heir who is the Chief executive officer, CEO of The Gunther Corporation. A noted Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric, Mian has often used his dog Gunther as a figure ...

's "Gunther Reform Trust" became the owner of Pisa, installing wealthy celebrity

German shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

dog Gunther IV as honorary president. In the 2002–03 Serie C1 season, Pisa reached the play-off final but were defeated in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

by UC AlbinoLeffe. President Gunther would attend matches at Arena Garibaldi and bark in support of the team. On one occasion

Rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

unfurled a

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

bearing the legend: "Poisoned meatballs for Gunther". After two further seasons ended in mid-table finishes, Mian sold Pisa in 2005. In 2005–06, the team, initially thought to be a protagonist for the promotion, were in continuous struggles, and avoided relegation after playoffs in two dramatic regional derbies against Massese. The 2006–07 season, with new boss

Piero Braglia Piero Braglia (born 10 January 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, currently in charge of Serie C club Gubbio. Career Playing A midfielder, Braglia started his professional career with Serie C team Montevarchi, then making h ...

, brought Pisa back to fight for a promotion spot: the ''nerazzurri'' ended the regular season in third place, and eventually won the promotion playoffs by defeating

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

in the semi-finals and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

in the finals. For the

2007–08 Serie B The 2007–08 Serie B regular season is the seventy-sixth since its establishment. It started on August 25, 2007, and ended with the promotion playoff final on June 15, 2008. At the end of the year, three teams were promoted to Serie A, the fir ...

campaign, the first in 13 years,

Giampiero Ventura Gian Piero Ventura (; born 14 January 1948) is an Italian football manager. His playing career as a midfielder was spent in the lower leagues, having not made the grade at Sampdoria, where he began his coaching career with the youth team in 197 ...

was named to replace Braglia at the helm of the ''nerazzurri''. Despite initial predictions of a mid-low table place, Pisa's impressive performances brought the team to fight for a direct promotion spot, also thanks to a forward line composed by

Alessio Cerci Alessio Cerci (; born 23 July 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger. Cerci started his professional football career at Roma, playing four times for the first team before serving periods on loan at Brescia, Pisa an ...

José Ignacio Castillo José Ignacio Castillo Álvarez (born 11 April 1975) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Serie D A prolific striker, nicknamed ''Nacho'', he moved in Italy in 2001 to join Serie D club Brindisi, offering a m ...

and

Vitali Kutuzov Vitali Vladimirovich Kutuzov ( be, Віталь Уладзіміравіч Кутузаў; born 20 March 1980) is a Belarusian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Kutuzov was born in Pinsk. He signed with BAT ...

which proved to be among the finest in the league. The club ended the regular season in sixth place, therefore achieving a spot to the promotion playoffs, where Pisa was later defeated by

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

. In 2008–09, the club was acquired by Rome entrepreneur Luca Pomponi, who initially failed into appointing

Alessandro Costacurta Alessandro Costacurta (born 24 April 1966) is an Italian football pundit, manager and a former professional defender, who usually played as a centre back. Throughout his club career, Costacurta spent over twenty years with AC Milan between 19 ...

as new head coach, thus confirming Ventura as ''nerazzurri'' boss. The club, which was weakened by the departures of Cerci, Castillo, Kutuzov and several other players, did not manage to repeat its performances, with Ventura being ultimately sacked in March 2009, with the club in mid-table place. The appointment of Bruno Giordano, which was made to improve the team results, however proved to be disappointing in terms of results, as Pisa slowly lost positions in the table, and shockingly got directly relegated in the final game of the season due to an injury-time home defeat to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

which left the Tuscans in 18th place. The unexpected relegation also unveiled a number of massive financial issues which prevented the club from registering in the

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

, and in July 2009 the club was excluded by the Italian Football Federation for the second time in its history.

A.C. Pisa 1909

Pisa has been refounded with the denomination of A.C. Pisa 1909 S.S.D. (in which S.S.D. is a legal suffix required by F.I.G.C.) to start again from

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 ...

under new ownership. At the end of the season Pisa won Group D ( it, Girone D) of Serie D and was promoted to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

for the 2010–11 season. The team was then admitted to

for the 2010–11 season to fill vacancies created by a row of club exclusions in second and third tier of Italian football league system. Thus the S.S.D. legal suffix was drop and replaced by S.r.l. On 12 June 2016 Pisa gained promotion to Serie B after seven years by defeating Maceratese (3–1),

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

(3–0 on aggregate) and

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

in the two-legged play-off final (5–3 on aggregate), however, the club was relegated to Serie C the following season after finishing second-last.

Pisa Sporting Club

Having moved back to

in 2019, the club changed back its name to Pisa Sporting Club in the summer of 2021.

Squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Notable former players

Honours

: Winners: 1985–86, 1987–88 *

: Winners: 1984–85, 1986–87 *

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 ...

: Winners: 1933–34, 1964–65, *

: Winners: 1998–99, *

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C ( it, Serie C Italian Cup), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the ...

: Winners: 1999–2000

Divisional movements

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisa Football clubs in Tuscany Association football clubs established in 1909 Italian football First Division clubs Serie A clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Serie D clubs Eccellenza 1909 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 1994 establishments in Italy 2009 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs