Taranto Football Club 1927, commonly referred to as Taranto, is a professional

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

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

, Apulia. Originally founded in 1927 by the union of two pioneering clubs that created the first city squad, Taranto currently plays in . Taranto is 19th in the all-time

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 ...

ranking, though Taranto has not played in Serie B since

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, having played in the "serie cadetta" 31 times, more than any other Italian club which never played in Serie A.

History

A.S. Taranto

The first team ever founded in the city of Taranto was the ''Mario Rapisardi'', established in 1904. However, in 1904 another team, ''U.S. Pro Italia'', was founded. That year, the two teams attempted unsuccessfully to merge with each other. In 1911, after the founding of ''Audace Foot Ball Club'' by a group of local students, a rivalry between the two teams started, lasting until 1927, when the two teams merged to form ''A.S. Taranto''. The new team first promoted to Serie B in 1935, played only one year in that category. In 1947, after merging with ''U.S. Arsenale Taranto'', another team in the city, the club assumed the name of ''U.S. Arsenaltaranto'', which lasted until 1955, when the old one was restored. In 1965, the new venue was inaugurated, after a hundred days of construction. A number of years played in Serie B and

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 ...

saw the highest peak ever reached by Taranto in 1977–1978, when the team, led by striker

Erasmo Iacovone Erasmo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Claudio Erasmo Vargas (born 1974), Mexican race walker *Erasmo Carlos (born 1941), Brazilian singer and songwriter *Erasmo Catarino (born 1977), Mexican singer, winner on the TV show ' ...

, was seriously fighting for a surprising promotion. However, on 6 February 1978, Iacovone was killed in a car accident. After his death, Taranto's venue was named after him. Taranto left Serie B in 1980/1981 and reached it again three years later. In 1985 the club was declared bankrupt by magistrates, and was taken over before the end of that season. Because of all that, it was forced to change its name to a different one, ''Taranto Football Club SpA''. However, after more economic woes, the team was disbanded in 1993.

Another club

A new team, named ''Taranto Calcio 1906'', was established in 1993 and registered 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 ...

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 ...

. The team reached Serie C2/C in 1994/1995, but went into liquidation in 1998, so that a new team, again named ''U.S. Arsenaltaranto'', was admitted to Serie D. In 2000 it was admitted to Serie C2/C, and changed its name to ''Taranto Calcio Srl''. However, in 2004 the team was declared bankrupt one more time, and the consequent bankruptcy auction entrusted the club in the hands of businessman Vito Luigi Blasi, who changed its name in ''Taranto Sport Srl''. In 2005/2006, the team ended second, gaining a spot in the promotion play-offs. The final phase of the Serie C2/C league ended in a triumph for Taranto Sport, which won the playoff finals against

Rende Rende is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy, home to the headquarters of the University of Calabria. It has a population of about 35,000, or more than 60,000 if the university students living there are tak ...

and returned to

Serie C1/B 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� ...

. On 29 June 2012 it was excluded from Italian professional football and did not take its place in the 2012–13 championship of

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 ...

Taranto Football Club 1927

On 20 July 2012 the new company Taranto Football Club 1927 S.p.A. was established. It restarted from the

(Girone H) thanks to Article 52 of N.O.I.F. In 2013 the team finished 7th in the league. In 2014 it ended the season in second place and lost to Arezzo in the play-offs. The next season ended in similar fashion, with Taranto ending the season in second place and losing in the play-offs semifinal to

Sestri Levante Sestri Levante ( la, Segesta Tigullorum/Segesta Tigulliorum) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, Italy. Lying on the Mediterranean Sea, it is approximately south of Genoa and is set on a promontory. While nearby ...

. In 2015 the club was renamed to Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Taranto Football Club 1927. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

the team finished the season in second place and lost in the play-offs to

Fondi Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. I ...

, but eventually benefitted from a

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

and promoted to

Lega Pro 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 ...

. The following season Taranto finished 20th in Lega Pro/C and thus got relegated back to

after just one season. In 2017–18 the team finished 4th in Serie D/H and lost to

Cavese Cavese 1919 S.r.l., commonly known as just Cavese, is an Italian football club based in Cava de' Tirreni, Campania, that currently plays in . The first city club was founded in 1919 as Unione Sportiva Cavese. It was refounded as Pro Cavese in 1 ...

the playoff final. A year later the team finished 3rd in Serie D/H but again lost in the playoff final, this time to Audace Cerignola. The team finished 6th in 2019–20 Serie D/H, thus failing to qualify for the playoffs. In 2020-21, Taranto finished in first place in Group H, thus securing promotion to

Colors and badge

The team's colors are red and blue.

Current squad

Out on loan

References

External links

*
Miky & Genny – Complete database since 1904 and current season

{{Serie B Football clubs in Apulia Association football clubs established in 1927 Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Serie D clubs 1927 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 1993 establishments in Italy 2012 establishments in Italy