Manfredonia Calcio S.r.l. Sportiva Dilettantistica commonly known as Manfredonia Calcio or just Manfredonia is an Italian association football club, based in

Manfredonia Manfredonia () is a town and Comune, commune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the Gulf of Manf ...

, in the Province of Foggia, Apulia. Currently it plays in

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 ...

History

Foundation

The club, founded in 1932 as Associazione Sportiva Manfredonia. Manfredonia is known for having been the first Italian professional team to play its home matches on a

synthetic Synthetic may refer to: Science * Synthetic biology * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic elements, chemical elements that are not naturally found on Earth and therefore have to be created in ...

football field. The club also used Polisportiva Manfredonia as its denomination in 1940–41. Manfredonia returned to play in the professional leagues only in 2004 (as S.S. Manfredonia Calcio S.r.l.), following 64 years of absence from

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 ...

. In 2004–05 Manfredonia won promotion from

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 ...

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 ...

, but finished last in its division in 2007–08 and was directly relegated back down to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

(ex-Serie C2). The club also won the appeal to remain in the professional league in July 2008. The club initially failed the financial inspection by the ''Commissione di Vigilanza sulle Società di Calcio'' (Co.Vi.So.C.) of

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

. At the end of the

2009–10 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione The 2009–10 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season was the thirty-second football league season of Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the second since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It was divided into tw ...

season, the company had major financial problems that led the team to failure. According to FIGC, the club had a capital shortfall of €918,661, in May 2010. The membership of the old company in FIGC was finally revoked in 2013.

Refoundation

Thanks to

Article 52 of N.O.I.F. ("Article 52 of the Italian Football Federation regulations for internal organisation") governs the status of Phoenix club (sports), phoenix clubs of football in Italy. The article was revised in 2004, 2008, 2010, and 2014. Many Commas, or paragra ...

, a phoenix club was founded in the summer of 2010 as A.S.D. Manfredonia Football 1932 and began the season in the

Eccellenza Apulia Eccellenza Apulia () is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in the Southern Italian region of Apulia, Italy. It is competed among 20 teams, in one group. The winner of the group is promoted to Serie D. The club who win play-off als ...

. In the following year the club was renamed as A.S.D. Manfredonia Calcio. In July 2016 the football club was incorporated again as a ''

società a responsabilità limitata (S.r.l. or Srl) is a type of legal corporate entity in Italy, which literally means (but is not entirely equal to) 'limited liability company'. It has a similar form to (S.s.d a r.l.) for amateur sports-related companies and their correspondin ...

'' (means limited liability company): Manfredonia Calcio S.r.l. Sportiva Dilettantistica.Entry
in Registro Imprese (in Italian), Accessed on 6 September 2016

Colors and badge

The team's colors are light blue and white.

Rivalry

Manfredonia had a local rivalry with

Foggia Calcio Calcio Foggia 1920, commonly referred to as Foggia, is an Italian football club based in Foggia, Apulia. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in the top level Serie A in 1995. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian ...

. They are both from the same province. In 2007 the match ended with multiple injuries among the journalists.

Notable players

;former players with international caps * Ahmed Barusso * Simone Rota * Marco Sau ;former players who played in Serie A * Eugênio Rômulo Togni * Marco Sansovini

References

External links

* Football clubs in Apulia Calcio Association football clubs established in 1932 Serie C clubs 1932 establishments in Italy {{Italy-footyclub-stub