A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in

San Benedetto del Tronto San Benedetto del Tronto is a city and ''comune'' in Marche, Italy. Part of an urban area with 100,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most densely populated areas along the Adriatic Sea coast. It is the most populated city in Province of Ascoli P ...

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 ...

. Sambenedettese currently plays in

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 ...

History

Foundation

The club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 1956, the club was first promoted to

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 ...

, a division where they spent a total of 21 seasons (the last time of which was in 1989). In the 1980s, they also had a young

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

as a goalkeeper in their stint in the Italian second division. In 1994, the club went bankrupt and was successively forced to restart from

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 ...

. In 2000, the club was acquired by

Luciano Gaucci Luciano Gaucci (December 28, 1938 – February 1, 2020) was an Italian entrepreneur and sportsman. He was the owner of various clubs: * Perugia Calcio, a football club based in Perugia, Umbria. * Viterbese Calcio, a football club based in Viterbo, ...

and eventually won promotion back to professionalism in 2001 and then 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 ...

just a year later. In 2009, the club was forced to restart again from Eccellenza, this time as U.S. Sambenedettese 1923. In 2012–13 season, Sambenedettese won Group F of Serie D, but it was not promoted to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione as it was excluded by Federal Council's decision for incomplete documentation of submission to the league. The company behind the club also changed the name to U.S. Sambenedettese 1923 S.r.l. at that time. Refounded as A.S.D. Sambenedettese Calcio, the club restarted from Eccellenza Marche and promptly won promotion to Serie D. On 4 August 2015, Franco Fedeli acquired the then-Serie D club, and in 2016 Sambenedettese were promoted back to Lega Pro as the Group F winner of

2015–16 Serie D The 2015–16 Serie D was the sixty-eighth edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represents the fourth tier in the Italian football league system. The phoenix club of Parma Calcio was added to this league. P ...

. The club was known as S.S.D. Sambenedettese ARL at that time. At the start of 2016–17 season the company behind the club changed the name to S.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. (P.IVA 02177180441), but marketing as S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio. In 2020, the club was sold by Franco Fedeli to Italian-Argentine entrepreneur and

Bangor City F.C. Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

owner

Domenico Serafino Domenico Giuseppe Serafino (born 1967) is an Italian musician and music producer. He is best noted for his role as chairman/ owner of association football clubs in Italy and Wales, many of which have gone out of business. Music career Serafino is ...

. However, less than a year later, after Serafino failed to comply with several financial requirements, the club was declared bankrupt. The club's naming rights were then acquired by entrepreneur Roberto Renzi and was refounded as A.S. Sambenedettese. After repaying all debts, the newly-reformed club was formally accepted by the Italian Football Federation, this way maintaining their spot in the Serie C league. The club was however excluded from Serie C due to financial irregularities and successively admitted to

following a successful appeal and the payment of a league membership fee. In 2023, Sambenedettese were also excluded from Serie D, and the club's naming rights were assigned to fellow Serie D club Porto d'Ascoli, who restarted under the new denomination of U.S. Sambenedettese.

Players

First team squad

Colors and badge

The team's colors are red and blue.

Rivalries

The main rivalry is with

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. They are in the same province – Province of Ascoli Piceno.

Honours

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 c ...

:Winners: 1991–92

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambenedettese Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in the Marche Association football clubs established in 1923 Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Province of Ascoli Piceno 1923 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs