Calcio Padova, commonly referred to as Padova, is an Italian football club based in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

. Founded in 1910, Padova currently play in , having last been in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in 1996. The team's official colours are white and red. The team was refounded in 2014 after the sports title was awarded to Biancoscudati Padova for the 2014–15 Serie D season as a phoenix club. The old holder of the title was in the process of liquidation after it was expelled from 2014–15 Lega Pro. The original Padova was renamed Football Padova in order to allow the new iteration of Padova to use the original name of the club, Calcio Padova in 2015.

History

In the 1940s, the team was coached by Béla Guttmann. Padova's golden days were the late 1950s, when the team managed by

Nereo Rocco Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football, football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy ...

, reached the heights of third place in 1958 thanks to the wing wizardry of Kurt Hamrin. Forwards Sergio Brighenti and Aurelio Milani would star as Padova remained a force in Serie A, before relegation in 1962. The rest of the 1960s would see the club in Serie B before going into a serious decline ahead of a 1980s revival. The revival would see Padova return to Serie B in the early 1980s, and within a decade they would be serious promotion contenders. A play-off win over

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

in 1994 saw the club return to Serie A after 32 years. After a dire start to the 1994–95 season, Padova looked like fulfilling most experts' predictions of a swift return to Serie B. They nonetheless found their form in the second half of the year and when they recorded a 1–0 win away to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, they were six points clear of the drop zone. However, they eventually ended up contesting the relegation play-off against

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, due to a late Inter Milan goal assisted by a Rubén Sosa corner, which they won on penalties. There would be no such luck the following year, as Padova were relegated, with further relegations in 1998 and 1999. Since 2001, they have resided in

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

and

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

. The team returned in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

at the end of the 2008–2009 season. In total, Calcio Padova participated in 11

Prima Divisione Prima Divisione (''First Division'') was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1921 to 1926. The competition was initially founded in opposition to the FIGC by the richest clubs of Northern Italy, which disagreed the ...

Divisione Nazionale Divisione Nazionale ''(National Division)'' was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1926 to 1929. History The competition was the evolution of former Prima Divisione ''(First Division)'' which had two main proble ...

championships between 1914–15 and 1928–29 (best place being 3rd in 1922–23) and 16

championships between 1929–30 and 1995–96 (best place being 3rd in 1957–58); in

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, the best place was runner-up in 1967. Padova won a Coppa Italia Serie C in 1980, and played also 34 Serie B championships (won in 1947–48) and 29 Serie C1/ C2/Lega Pro Prima Divisione championships (won in 1936–37, 1980–81 and 2000–01). Padova finished runner-up the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...

of 1983. In the

2013–14 Serie B The 2013–14 Serie B (known as the Serie B Eurobet for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 of which were returning from the 2012–13 Serie B, 2012–13 season, ...

season, Padova were relegated after finishing 20th, and on 15 July 2014, the team did not sign up to the 2014–15 Lega Pro championship. In April 2015, the company was put into liquidation.

Biancoscudati Padova

The club was founded in the summer of 2014, with the name ''Società Sportiva Dilettantistica a r.l. Biancoscudati Padova'', after the non-inclusion of Calcio Padova in

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

and

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

. The first official match was Biancoscudati Padova- Castellana (2–0), valid for the

Coppa Italia Serie D Coppa Italia Serie D (Italian language, Italian for Serie D Italian Cup) is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie D in Italy, Italian football (soccer), football. The competition is held since the 1999–2000, when Ser ...

, played 24 August 2014. On 19 April 2015, by virtue of a 2–1 away victory against Legnago, the team secured promotion to Lega Pro. On 5 June 2015, changed its name to ''Biancoscudati Padova Spa''. On 6 July 2015, changed its name to ''Calcio Padova Spa'', after the old ''Calcio Padova'' changed its name to ''Football Padova Spa – società in liquidazione''.

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Honours

**Winners: 1947–48 (group B) *

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, 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 ...

**Winners: 1936–37 (group C), 2017–18 (group B), 2024-25 (group A) *

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

**Winners: 1980–81 (group B), 2000–01 (group A) *

**Winners: 2014–15 (group C) * Coppa Italia Serie C **Winners: 1979–80, 2021–22 *

Supercoppa di Serie C The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C. The competition was inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national foo ...

**Winners: 2018

Divisional movements

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padova Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Veneto Sport in Padua Association football clubs established in 1910 Italian football First Division clubs Serie C clubs 1910 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs