Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Victor San Marino, better known as Victor San Marino, is a

Sammarinese Sammarinese () are citizens and people of the Republic of San Marino. Language San Marino recognizes Italian as the official language. The indigenous language, known as Sammarinese, is a variety of Romagnol spoken by approximately 83 percent o ...

professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in the city of Acquaviva, that competes in the

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 ...

, the fifth tier of Italian football. Founded in 1959 and re-founded in 1973 and again in 2000, it is the only

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

based in the

Republic of San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

authorized by the

FIGC The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

to compete in the Italian football league The club colours are sky blue and white, reminiscent of the Sammarinese flag. Historically, the highest level reached by the club was the Italian third tier, with a highest finish of tenth place. This makes it therefore the only Sanmarinese football team to have played in a professional league, as the national tournament of San Marino is amateur-level. Since the club is a full member of the Italian league system, it would hypothetically represent Italy in continental competitions, rather than its home country. On 4 July 2019 the sports title of the San Marino Calcio is transferred to the Cattolica Calcio, which takes the name of "Cattolica Calcio San Marino" and which is admitted to the

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 ...

championship. The company retained its legal and administrative headquarters in the Republic of San Marino, but sporting activity took place in Cattolica and the colors become

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

and

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. In 2021, the team was refounded to represent San Marino in the Italian league system. The original club was founded in 1960 as S.S. Serenissima (''Società Sportiva Serenissima''). Serenissima merged with S.S. Juvenes in 1973, changing its name to A.C. San Marino (''Associazione Calcio San Marino'') and in 1988–89 to its final name, San Marino Calcio.

History

The club was founded as Società Sportiva Serenissima in 1960 by the

San Marino Football Federation The San Marino Football Federation (FSGC) ( it, Federazione Sammarinese Giuoco Calcio) is the governing body of football in San Marino. It organises the San Marino football league ( Campionato Sammarinese), a national cup (Coppa Titano), a supe ...

, in order to have a team representing the

in the

Italian league The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

. The club was later purchased by Sammarinese and Italian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

s. The foundation year is still disputed, mainly due to another team sponsored (but not owned) by the San Marino Football Federation, called

Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of Jul ...

- Tre Penne, having taken part in the Italian championship in 1959. The crest of Tre Penne is still visible on that of San Marino Calcio. Serenissima also inherited Libertas-Tre Penne's colors. San Marino Calcio is the only professional football team in the

that is allowed to play exclusively in the

Italian football league system The Italian football league system, also known as the Italian football pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Italy. It consists of nine national and regional tournaments, the first three b ...

. Since the San Marino Football League is completely amateur, the club is also the only professional team in the Republic. Another team from San Marino, A.C. Juvenes/Dogana, competed in both the amateur levels of Italian football and in the Sammarinese league in the past, but has since withdrawn from the

Early years

A.C. San Marino began playing in 1960 in the

Seconda Categoria The Seconda Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the 8th level (since 2014-15) in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Seconda Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

, since the

Terza Categoria The Terza Categoria is the lowest level of amateur football in Italy. It is the ninth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Terza Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

did not exist in the

at that time. After being promoted from the Seconda and

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 ...

, the team began playing in the higher level, the

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's lo ...

before being relegated to the Prima Categoria in the 1976–77 season. They continued to play in the Prima Categoria for the next four seasons until they won the championship and were promoted to the Promozione again in the 1979–80 season. A.C. San Marino's stay in the Promozione was short lived, however; within two seasons they were relegated to the Prima Categoria. The team established themselves as a

yo-yo club A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League. The name ...

as they were once again promoted to the Promozione as champions in the 1984–85 season. The team then saw back-to-back championships as they won the Promozione the following season, and were promoted for the first time to the

, the highest amateur league in Italy. San Marino's success continued as they finished in second place in Serie D in the 1986–87 season, a championship they went on to win in the following year. In the 1988–89 season, the team appeared in the lowest level of the Italian professional league (

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 ...

) for the first time. In 1988 A.C. San Marino became a

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

and changed its name from A.C. San Marino to San Marino Calcio. The renamed team was relegated to Serie D in the 1989–90 season after finishing second-last in Serie C2. After finishing 17th in the 1991–92 season San Marino Calcio were relegated again, this time to the

, but were again promoted to Serie D in the 1992–93 season. In the 1995–96 season San Marino Calcio were relegated to the Eccellenza again after a three-year stay in Serie D, but they were again promoted in the 1996–97 season. The club's success was due in part to the appointment of the

San Marino national football team The San Marino national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio di San Marino) represents San Marino in men's international association football competitions. The team is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation and represents the sma ...

manager Giampaolo Mazza, who led them to two non-consecutive Eccellenza championships. In the 1999–2000 season San Marino Calcio were promoted to the Serie C2 as champions of Serie D.

Post millennium

San Marino Calcio began the new millennium in the fourth level of Italian professional football, receiving a major boost with the arrival of the legendary

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

international Andy Selva.

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(old Napoli which bankrupted in 2004) also takeover the club as investor in 2000 but re-sold in November 2002. San Marino Calcio consolidated their place in

by finishing in the top half of the league standings for the next three seasons. The team was able to reach the 2003–04

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

final, but was defeated, and remained in Serie C2 after finishing fourth in the league. San Marino Calcio's 2004–05 season was more successful: they were victorious in the play-off final, and thus reached

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� ...

(formerly Serie C1) for the first time. The team was relegated again to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione during the 2006–07 season. In December 2006 Werther Cornieti, the chairman of the club, left due to controversial allegations and criticism during a sports broadcast. Daniele De Luigi was later confirmed as the new chairman of San Marino Calcio. In the season 2011–12 it was promoted from

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 ...

. The club stayed at that level for three seasons, but got relegated to

after a last place finish in the 2014–15 season.

Colours and badge

The club's home kit consists of a light blue shirt with white and black inserts, black shorts, and black socks. Their away kit consists of a white shirt with dark blue inserts, white shorts, and black socks. San Marino Calcio released a third kit for merchandising, which consists of a red shirt with dark blue inserts, red shorts, and red socks. The golden frame of their badge contains the team name and the phrase "''Titanus aggressurus Olympum''", which refers to the

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. Pictured in the center of the badge is a Titan. In Italian, the word "''Titan''" signifies both the race of mythological gods and

Monte Titano Monte Titano ("Mount Titan") is a mountain of the Apennines and the highest peak in San Marino. It stands above sea level and is located immediately to the east of the capital, San Marino. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 ...

, the highest point in San Marino. The left-hand circle represents the badge of Tre Penne, one of San Marino Calcio's two founding teams, and the right-hand circle represents the old San Marino Calcio badge.

Home stadium

Stadio Olimpico

The Olympic Stadium was the home of San Marino Calcio (currently Victor San Marino) until 2019. The stadium is located in Serravalle and was constructed in 1969. It is also home to the

and, in the past, to the Serravalle-based football club A.C. Juvenes/Dogana. The Olympic Stadium is an

all-seater stadium An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...

and has a capacity of 6,664.

Stadio di Acquaviva

Honours

:''As of 8 May 2012.''

:*Champions: :*Runner-up: 2011–12 :*Promoted by Play–offs 1: 2004–05 ( it)

:*Champions: :*Runners-up 1: 2011–12 (promoted) :*Promoted by Play–offs:

:*Champions 2: 1987–88 ( it), 1999–2000 ( it) :*Runners-up 1: 1986–87 ( it)

Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is competed amongst 36 teams, in two different groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The club who finishe ...

:*Champions 2: 1992–93 ( it), 1996–1997 ( it)

Emilia-Romagna :*Champions 1: 1985–86 ( it)

:*Champions 2: 1979–80, 1984–85

References

External links

*
Official site of San Marino Calcio
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Marino Calcio Serravalle (San Marino) Association football clubs established in 1960 Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in San Marino Serie C clubs Expatriated football clubs 1960 establishments in San Marino