Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 (formerly A.S. Livorno Calcio, commonly known as Livorno), is a semi-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 on ...

club based in

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 ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. They compete 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 Dilettanti ...

, the top tier of semi-professional Italian football after their promotion from the regional

Eccellenza Tuscany Eccellenza Tuscany ( it, Eccellenza Toscana) is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in Tuscany, Italy. It is competed amongst 37 teams, in three different groups (A, B and C). The winners of the Groups compete together in final ...

league. The team's colours are dark red ( in Italian, from which the team nickname derives). Livorno were one of the original sides of

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 Cop ...

, but since the 1950s have been mostly outside of the top flight due to two club refoundings in 1991 and 2021, which necessitated a start from the Eccellenza. Their best placement in Italian Serie A was second place in 1942–43 season, during which the gave life to a head-to-head competition with

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. US Livorno play their home matches at the Stadio Armando Picchi.

History

Founded 15 February 1915 as A.S. Livorno Calcio, the club ended the Italian Football Championship 1919–20 in second place, losing the final to Internazionale. One year later, they were defeated in the semi-final by arch-rivals

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 ci ...

. In 1933, the club moved to the current stadium, originally named after Edda Ciano Mussolini, daughter of fascist dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

. Livorno was one of the original Serie A teams. They played in top level during periods of 1929–31, 1933–35 and 1937–39. Successively, Livorno ended as Serie A runners-up in the 1942–43 season. Livorno left Serie A in 1949 after seven consecutive seasons. They were relegated to

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 P ...

soon after (1951–52 season), making a return to Serie B in 1955 for a single season and again from 1964 to 1972. They relegated to Serie C2 in 1982–83 and played again in third level between 1984 and 1989. The club was then cancelled in 1991, being forced to start 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 A ...

; two consecutive promotions led the team back 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 ...

. The club was promoted to

Serie C1 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 ...

in 1997 and was acquired by Aldo Spinelli two years later. Under the new property, Livorno returned to Serie B in 2001. Livorno were promoted to Serie A after finishing third in the Serie B 2003–04, one of six clubs to be promoted that season. It had been 55 years since Livorno's last season in the top flight, and as a result of this, most were predicting an instant return to Serie B for the club. The first match in the major league was attended by Italian President

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born ...

, a Livorno's citizen and team supporter in his childhood. There were spells of struggle during the season, but there were many more good performances shown, and Livorno finished a surprise and creditable ninth place in the league for the Serie A 2004–05, also thanks to goals by striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who won the Serie A top scorer award that season, outscoring even the likes of

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, or Andrii Mykolaiovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian football manager, a former professional football player and a former politici ...

and

Adriano Adriano or Adrião is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: * Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer, music theo ...

. The Serie A 2005–06 saw Livorno in sixth place after the first half of the season the team, being involved for qualification to the next

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. However, shortly after

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerhous ...

announced his resignations after having been criticised by club's chairman Aldo Spinelli. Donadoni was replaced by veteran coach Carlo Mazzone, who was only able to save a UEFA Cup place due to the expulsion of three teams from Europe in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal. Mazzone then saw his team suffer a run of seven straight defeats. In May 2006,

Daniele Arrigoni Daniele Arrigoni (born 28 August 1959) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a defender. Playing career Arrigoni was born in Cesena. A defender, made fifteen Serie A appearances in his first professional playing se ...

was appointed new coach for the next season. In the Serie A 2006–07 season, Livorno took part to the

for their first time ever. The Tuscan side were drawn to face Austrian team SV Pasching in the first round, beating them comfortably 3–0 on aggregate. They thus qualified for the group stages being drawn in Group A, along with Rangers,

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

, and Maccabi Haifa. After a home loss to Rangers (2–3) and two 1–1 draws against Partizan in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

(where

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Marco Amelia Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...

scored in the 87th minute) and Maccabi (in Livorno), the Tuscan side gained a 1–0 victory over Auxerre in the last game played in France, thus earning a spot in the

Round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the competition. However, Spanish team

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

knocked out Livorno from the UEFA Cup by winning 4–1 on aggregate. After day 19 of the Italian Serie A, Arrigoni was sacked by chairman Spinelli, but his position was kept due to the strong opposition by the team. His dismissal was, however, only delayed, as Arrigoni was eventually fired on 21 March 2007, and replaced by Fernando Orsi, who managed to keep the team away from the relegation battle. For the 2007–08 campaign, Orsi was confirmed as head coach and a number of notable signings such as Francesco Tavano, Diego Tristan and Vikash Dhorasoo were finalised, but also the transfer of Lucarelli to

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

club

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. The club, however, did not start well, making a mere two points in the first seven matches, and Orsi was sacked on 9 October and replaced by Giancarlo Camolese. Despite showing some positive signals at the beginning, Livorno found himself again at the bottom of league table. On 28 April 2008, Camolese was fired as Orsi was re-appointed, but in the penultimate day of the season, the team could not avoid relegation, due to a 1–0 home defeat against

. They finished last in the Serie A standings of the 2007–08 season. Thus, being relegated to Serie B. They finished Serie B as the third place team in 2008–09 season and returned to Serie A after winning promotion play-offs after defeating successively

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

with a 4–3 aggregate score and

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 ...

with a 5–2 aggregate score. However, this return was short-lived and one season later they relegated again to Serie B after finishing last. Livorno were promoted again after they beat

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

2–1 on aggregate to get the Serie A promotion. In 2014 Livorno relegated back to Serie B again. The club also sold flagship striker Paulinho for €8 million fee, in order to cover the net loss. In 2016 Livorno relegated again to Lega Pro, but two years later the team managed to bounce back to Serie B. In the 2019–20 season of Serie B, Livorno ended up last, leading them to be relegated to

. In the 2020–21 Serie C season, Livorno finished in last place with 29 points following a five-point deduction due to failure to pay player wages on time, and was relegated to

. However, due to the club's bankruptcy, they could not pay the admission fee for Serie D and were reformed in the

under the new denomination of Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 and the ownership of former

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 ...

chairman Paolo Toccafondi. In the 2021-22 season, Livorno finished first in Group B of the Eccellenza Toscana, but were narrowly defeated in the national playoffs by S.S.D. Pomezia Calcio. However, Livorno were later admitted back to Serie D in place of Figline, who were barred from promotion after throwing a game against Tau Calcio Altopascio which influenced the promotion tournament seeding.

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

Managers

Jack Kirwan John Henry Kirwan (9 February 1878 – 9 January 1959) was an Irish football player and coach. As a player, he was described as an out and out winger with good pace and skills, playing as an outside-left for, among others, Everton, Tottenham ...

(1923–24) * Karl Stürmer (1934–36) *

József Viola József Viola (10 June 1896 – 18 August 1949) also known as Giuseppe Viola was a Hungarian football player and coach, who played as a midfielder. He is most prominent for his time in Italy and his association with clubs such as Juventus. He al ...

(1940–41) * Hermann Felsner (1948–50) * Mario Magnozzi (1954–56) * Arturo Silvestri (1959–61) * Carlo Parola (1964–65) *

Aldo Puccinelli Aldo Puccinelli (25 December 1920 – 11 March 1994) was an Italian association football player and manager. He holds the record of league appearances with Lazio (339). References {{DEFAULTSORT:Puccinelli, Aldo 1920 births 1994 deaths It ...

(1969–70) *

Armando Picchi Armando Picchi (; 20 June 1935 – 27 May 1971) was an Italian football player and coach. Regularly positioned as a libero, he captained the Internazionale side known as "La Grande Inter". Club career Early career Born in Livorno, Picchi star ...

(1969–70) * Costanzo Balleri (1970–72) * Giovan Battista Fabbri (1973–74) *

(1975) *

Francisco Lojacono Francisco Ramón Lojacono (, ; 11 December 1935 – 19 September 2002) was an Italian Argentine football player and manager. A midfielder, he began his playing career in Argentina with San Lorenzo, before moving to Italy to play with Vicenza, ...

(1975–76) *

Tarcisio Burgnich Tarcisio Burgnich (; 25 April 1939 – 26 May 2021) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender. Throughout his career, Burgnich played for Udinese, Juventus, Palermo, Internazionale, and Napoli; although he won title ...

(1978–80) * Idilio Cei (1981–82) * Costanzo Balleri (1982–83) * Giuliano Zoratti (1992–94) * Giuseppe Papadopulo (1 July 1995 – 30 June 1996) *

Paolo Stringara Paolo Stringara (born 22 September 1962) is an Italian football coach and a former professional player, He is currently assistant coach of South Korea. Playing career Stringara started his career in the youth ranks of Inter Milan, then making his ...

(1996–98) * Simone Boldini (30 December 1998–99) *

Pietro Carmignani Pietro "Gedeone" Carmignani (born 22 January 1945) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player. He is best known for his playing career as a goalkeeper and, later, for being one of the most trusted assistants of manager Arrigo S ...

(1999–00) *

Osvaldo Jaconi Osvaldo may refer to the following people: Given name *Osvaldo Alonso, Cuban football player *Osvaldo Ardiles (born 1952), an Argentine football player and coach *Osvaldo Bagnoli, an Italian football coach *Osvaldo Brandão, a Brazilian football c ...

(1 July 2000 – 30 June 2002) *

(1 July 2002 – 30 June 2003) * Walter Mazzarri (1 July 2003 – 30 June 2004) * Franco Colomba (1 July 2004 – 11 January 2005) *

(11 January 2005 – 6 February 2006) * Carlo Mazzone (7 February 2006 – 30 June 2006) *

(1 July 2006 – 14 January 2007) * Fernando Orsi (20 March 2007 – 10 October 2007) * Giancarlo Camolese (10 October 2007 – 28 April 2008) *

Leonardo Acori Leonardo Acori (born 16 January 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Acori played since 1974 to 1983 in the football team of G.S. Banco di Roma. Coaching career Acori's first coachin ...

(4 June 2008 – 23 May 2009) *

Gennaro Ruotolo Gennaro Ruotolo (, ; born 20 March 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager who played as a midfielder. Career Playing career Ruotolo started his career with Sorrento in 1984, but is best known for having been a key player for Genoa fo ...

(23 May 2009 – 20 October 2009) *

Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Fausto ...

(21 October 2009 – 25 January 2010) *

(2010) *

Giuseppe Pillon Giuseppe "Bepi" Pillon (born 8 February 1956) is an Italian football manager and former player. Career Player Born in Preganziol, Province of Treviso, Pillon moved his first footsteps into football with hometown team Pro Mogliano, before to joi ...

(30 June 2010 – 12 February 2011) *

Walter Novellino Walter Alfredo Novellino (born 4 June 1953; ), is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Novellino was born at Montemarano, province of Avellino. After spending his childhood in São Paulo, Brazil ...

(12 February 2011 – 21 December 2011) *

Armando Madonna Armando Madonna (born 5 July 1963 in Alzano Lombardo, Province of Bergamo) is an Italian football manager and former player. Career Playing A midfielder, Madonna made his professional debut in 1981 for Atalanta; he then spent five seasons with Pi ...

(22 December 2011 – 6 May 2012) * Attilio Perotti (6 May 2012 – 6 June 2012) *

Davide Nicola Davide Nicola (born 5 March 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He was most recently head coach of Serie A club Salernitana. Club career Nicola was born in Luserna San Giovanni. During his time in Genoa C.F ...

(6 June 2012 – 13 January 2014) * Attilio Perotti (13 January 2014 – 21 January 2014) *

Domenico Di Carlo Domenico "Mimmo" Di Carlo (born 23 March 1964) is an Italian football coach and a former player, currently in charge of Pordenone. Career Player Di Carlo started his playing career in his native city, playing for the local Serie C2 team Real ...

(21 January 2014 – 21 April 2014) *

(21 April 2014 – 30 June 2014) *

Carmine Gautieri Carmine Gautieri (born 20 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player. He is currently the head coach of Serie C club Avellino. Playing career Gautieri amassed a total 227 games with 26 goals in Serie A, the top le ...

(4 July 2014 – 4 January 2015) * Ezio Gelain (4 January 2015 – 18 March 2015) *

Christian Panucci Christian Panucci (; born 12 April 1973) is an Italian former footballer and manager. In his playing career he played as a defender. A versatile footballer, he began his career as a right-back, but was also capable of playing on the left; as he ...

(18 March 2015 – 25 November 2015) * Bortolo Mutti (25 November 2015 – 27 January 2016) *

(27 January 2016 – 21 March 2016) * Franco Colomba (21 March 2016 – 16 April 2016) * Ezio Gelain (16 April 2016 – 2020) *

(2020-2021) *Giuseppe Angelini (2022-)

Supporters

Livorno's supporters are well known for their

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in ...

which often spark fiercely violent clashes with opposing right-wing supporter groups, especially those of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. Former

striker

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward ...

once made a Roman salute to his own fans during a match against Livorno, when tensions were running high between the two clubs' ''

ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley P ...

'' groups. Since 2005, a group of migrant Livorno supporters resident in northern Europe have styled themselves (). A so-called "triangle of brotherhood" has developed between the most heavily supported left-wing fan clubs of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Livorno, and

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, namely between Commando Ultras 84, Brigate Autonome Livornesi 99, and Original 21. Their connection is mostly an ideological one. They also have a connection with Adana Demirspor (Şimşekler) and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

In Europe

UEFA Cup

Honours

**Runners-up (2): 1919–20, 1942–43 *

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 ...

**Winners (2): 1932–33, 1936–37 **Runners-up (1): 1939–40 **Other Promotions (3): 2003–04, 2008–09, 2012–13 * Serie C/Serie C1/Lega Pro **Winners (3): 1963–64, 2001–02, 2017–18 **Promotions (5): 1954–55, 1959–60, 1963–64, 2001–02, 2017–18 * Serie C2/Lega Pro Seconda Divisione **Winners (1): 1983–84 **Runners-up (1): 1995–96, 1996–97 **Promotions (2): 1983–84, 1996–97 * Coppa Italia Serie C/Coppa Italia Lega Pro **Winners (1): 1986–87 **Runners-up (1): 2001-02

Divisional movements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Livorno Football clubs in Tuscany Association football clubs established in 1915 Italian football First Division clubs Serie A clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Serie D clubs Eccellenza 1915 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 1991 establishments in Italy 2021 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs