Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera (formerly Unione Sportiva Pontedera 1912) is an Italian association football club located in

Pontedera Pontedera (; ) is an Italian comune with a population of 30070, located in the province of Pisa, Tuscany, Central Italy, central Italy. The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florence. It houses the headquarte ...

, Tuscany. Currently it plays in

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 ...

, the third tier of Italian football.

History

Founded in 1912, Pontedera, a team from a city in the

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 the Leaning Tow ...

neighbourhood, played

for several years without never gaining a single promotion to

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 ...

. In 1993/1994, a second place in Serie C2/B allowed Pontedera to be promoted to Serie C1: during that season, the team was known for having longily been the only undefeated team in all Italian professional leagues, and for having incredibly won 2–1 to the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

coached by

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

in a friendly match played in April 1994. Pontedera played Serie C1 just in 1994/1995, and relegated to Serie D in 2001, and even

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

in 2002. Pontedera returned to Serie D in 2005, after having won its Eccellenza round. In 2006

Maurizio Mian Maurizio Mian (born 25 March 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and pharmaceutical heir who is the CEO of The Gunther Corporation. A noted eccentric, Mian has often used his dog Gunther as a figurehead for his investments in sports clubs, propert ...

's Gunther Corporation briefly held a controlling interest in Pontedera.

Pornographic film actor A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

Ilona Staller Ilona Anna Staller (born 26 November 1951), known by her stage name Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-Italian former porn star, politician, and singer. Staller gained fame in the early 1970s through her radio show ''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?'' a ...

("Cicciolina") was installed as the club "godmother", while another pornographic actress Valentine Demy served as one of three club Presidents, alongside a Polish

lap dance A lap dance (or contact dance) is a type of erotic dance performance offered in many strip clubs in which the dancer typically has body contact with a seated patron. Lap dancing is different from table dancing, in which the dancer is close to ...

r named Karolcia and a British rapper named Prodigal1. The performance was related to Mian's

left-libertarian Left-libertarianism, also known as left-wing libertarianism, is a political philosophy and type of libertarianism that stresses both individual freedom and social equality. Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to ...

views on

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...

and his upcoming appearance in the

2006 Italian general election The 2006 Italian general election was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freed ...

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

, head coach of Italy national team and World Cup champion in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, started his professional managing career as Pontedera head coach in 1985–1986.

Serie D 2010–11

At the end of the

2010-11 Serie D 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Pontedera gained access to the Serie D play-off for promotion in

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 ...

, but they were eliminated in the third round.

Back into professionalism

In the

2012-13 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Pontedera finished second in Girone B, and was promoted to

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 ...

. This was the second consecutive promotion for the team. The 2013–14 season saw Pontedera topping the Lega Pro Prima Divisione table for the earlier weeks of the season, and then completing the regular season in eighth place and thus ensuring a Serie B promotion playoff spot, then losing to

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

on penalties in the first round.

Colors and badge

Its colours are all-dark red.

Current squad

''As of 29 January 2025''

Out on loan

Notable former managers

References

External links

Official website
Football clubs in Tuscany Association football clubs established in 1912 Serie C clubs 1912 establishments in Italy Pontedera {{Italy-footyclub-stub