Pescara

Full name	Delfino Pescara 1936 S.p.A.
Nickname(s)	I Delfini (The Dolphins) I Biancazzurri (The White and Blues) Gli Adriatici (The Adriatics)
Founded	1936 (1936)
Ground	Stadio Adriatico
Capacity	20,515
Chairman	Daniele Sebastiani
Manager	Zdeněk Zeman
League	Serie C Group B
2022–23	Serie C Group C, 3rd of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo.

The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 2012–13 and last participated in 2016–17. The team's official colors are white and light blue varied between either azure or sky blue, manifested in striped shirts with white socks and shorts.

History

Aside from a spell in Serie B in the 1940s, Pescara had a relatively undistinguished history until promotion to Serie B in 1974. With players like Giorgio Repetto and Bruno Nobili in the midfield, they managed to win their first promotion to Serie A in 1977 after winning the promotion play-off, but ultimately finished their first season in Serie A in last place. A second promotion after a play-off followed, but once more they would be relegated from the top flight and then descended to Serie C1 within two years.

The performance of Pescara in the Italian football league structure since the first season of a unified Serie A (1929/30).

Nonetheless, after returning to Serie B after a year, Pescara would enjoy a revival after the appointment of Giovanni Galeone as coach in 1986. His philosophy of attacking football saw the Biancazzurri promoted to Serie A as champions in 1987, where they lasted two years with players such as Júnior and Blaž Slišković among the club's star players. Galeone would return during the 1990–91 season and oversaw another promotion the following year.

After relegation, Pescara remained in Serie B side throughout the 1990s, narrowly missing promotion in 1999. Relegation to C1 followed in 2001, with promotion in 2003 being followed by two revoked relegations in a row due to bankruptcy and scandals affecting other clubs. Pescara was ultimately relegated in the 2006–07 season, with three presidential and managerial changes during the season. In December 2008, the debt-ridden club was legally declared out of business and its control passed to a bankruptcy trustee appointed by the Court of Pescara. In February 2009, a takeover from a group named Delfino Pescara 1936 was finalized with Deborah Caldora becoming the first woman to serve as chairman of the club. In the meantime, results did not improve significantly and in March, Giuseppe Galderisi was dismissed from the head coaching post with Antonello Cuccureddu being appointed as the new boss.

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Eusebio Di Francesco was appointed as the new coach. Pescara finished second in Girone B of Lega Pro Prima Divisione and qualified for the promotional play-offs. They defeated Reggiana in the semi-final and Verona in the final and subsequently returned to Serie B after a three-year absence. The following season started with the appointment of Zdeněk Zeman as new head coach; the Czech manager immediately brought Pescara back into national coverage thanks to his well-known all-attacking playing style that turned out to match perfectly with promising youngsters such as Marco Verratti with loanees Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, who guided the squad to promotion to Serie A. Pescara secured promotion to the top-level after a 19-year absence after defeating Sampdoria with a 3–1 score in an away match on 20 May 2012. In the last minute of the final game of the regular season, Pescara striker Riccardo Maniero netted the winner in a match against Nocerina to claim Pescara's second Serie B title after Torino's draw away to AlbinoLeffe.

Pescara's 2012–13 campaign in Serie A – after losing Zeman, Verratti, Immobile and Insigne – ended with relegation back to the second tier.^[1] Three years later, under World Cup winner Massimo Oddo, the team returned to Serie A with a 3–1 aggregate win over Trapani in the playoff final.^[2] Zeman returned in February 2017 to the team,^[3] who again lasted just one year at the top before being relegated in last place.^[4]

In August 2018, Pescara launched a public mini-bond investment opportunity via sports investment platform Tifosy to raise a minimum of €2,000,000.^[5] The investment scheme raised a total of €2,300,000 to develop the club's youth sector and facilities.^[6]

Following an online competition to ease children's boredom during the coronavirus lockdown, the team adopted six-year-old Luigi D'Agostino's shirt design for the 2020 season.^[7]

After a poor 2020-21 campaign, the side were relegated to Serie C, the third tier of Italian football.

Supporters

One of Pescara's main rivals is Bari.^[8]

Players

Current squad

As of 4 January 2024^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Manuel Gasparini (on loan from Potenza) 2 DF  ITA Lorenzo Milani 5 DF  ITA Davide Di Pasquale (on loan from Arezzo) 6 MF  ITA Niccolò Squizzato 7 FW  ITA Michele Masala 8 MF  ITA Salvatore Aloi 9 FW  ITA Edoardo Vergani 10 FW  ITA Davide Merola (on loan from Empoli) 11 MF  ITA Federico Accornero (on loan from Genoa) 13 DF  ITA Riccardo Brosco 15 DF  ITA Romano Floriani Mussolini (on loan from Lazio) 17 MF  EST Georgi Tunjov

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  ITA Roberto Pierno 22 GK  ITA Alessandro Plizzari 23 DF  ITA Filippo Pellacani 24 DF  SVK Ivan Mesík 25 DF  MDA Cornelius Staver 27 DF  ITA Brando Moruzzi 28 MF  ITA Antonino De Marco 29 FW  ITA Luigi Cuppone 30 MF  ITA Matteo Dagasso 31 FW  ITA Christian Tommasini 33 MF  ITA Simone Franchini (on loan from Padova)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Denis Manu (at Pineto until 30 June 2024) — FW  ALB Aristidi Kolaj (at Lumezzane until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ARG Facundo Lescano (at Triestina until 30 June 2024)

Coaching staff

As of 16 November 2023^[10]

Position	Name
Head coach	Zdeněk Zeman
Assistant coach	Giovanni Bucaro
Goalkeeper coach	Giovanni Di Fiore
Match analyst	Diego Labricciosa
Team manager	Francesco Troiano
Sporting director	Daniele Delli Carri

Managerial history

Name	Nationality	Years
Edmondo De Amicis		1937–38
Pietro Piselli		1938–39
Armando Bonino		1939–40
Mario Pizziolo		1940–41
Luigi Ferrero		1941–43
Edmondo De Amicis		1944–45
Giuseppe Marchi		1945–46
József Bánás		1946–47
Mario Pizziolo		1947–48
Gino Piccinini		1948–49
Benedetto Stella		1949–50
Luigi Del Grosso		1950–53
Umberto De Angelis		1953–55
Alfredo Notti		1955–56
Alfredo Monza Renato Piacentini Orazio Sola		1956–57
Renato Piacentini		1957–58
Aurelio Marchese Mario Tontodonati		1958–59
Ljubo Benčić Mario Tontodonati		1959–61
Umberto De Angelis		1961–62
Leonardo Costagliola		1962–63
Ljubo Benčić Renato Piacentini		1963–64
Ljubo Benčić Vincenzo Marsico		1964–65
Antonio Giammarinaro Alfredo Notti		1965–66
Sergio Cervato		1966–67
Antonio Giammarinaro		1967–68
Gianni Seghedoni Mario Tontodonati		1968–69
Dante Lacorata Mario Tontodonati		1969–70
Francesco Capocasale		1970–71
Enzo Falini Vitaliano Patricelli		1971–72
Domenico Rosati		1972–76
Giancarlo Cadé		1976–78
Antonio Valentín Angelillo		1978–79
Gustavo Giagnoni Claudio Tobia Mario Tontodonati		1979–80
Aldo Agroppi		1980–81
Giuseppe Chiappella Saul Malatrasi Mario Tiddia		1981–82
Domenico Rosati		1982–84
Enrico Catuzzi		1984–86
Giovanni Galeone		1986–89
Ilario Castagner Edoardo Reja		1989–90
Giovanni Galeone Carlo Mazzone		1990–91
Giovanni Galeone		1991–92
Vincenzo Zucchini		1992–93
Gianni Corelli Giorgio Rumignani Franco Scoglio Vincenzo Zucchini		1993–94
Francesco Oddo Giorgio Rumignani		1994–95
Luigi Maifredi Francesco Oddo		1995–96
Delio Rossi		July 1996 – June 1997
Adriano Buffoni Maurizio Viscidi		1997–98
Luigi De Canio Francesco Giorgini		July 1998 – June 1999
Giovanni Galeone		July 1999 – Nov 2000
Tarcisio Burgnich Giovanni Galeone Delio Rossi		2000–01
Ivo Iaconi		July 2001 – May 2004
Cetteo Di Mascio		May 2004 - June 2004
Giovanni Simonelli		June 2004 – June 2005
Maurizio Sarri		July 2005 – July 2006
Davide Ballardini Aldo Ammazzalorso Luigi De Rosa Vincenzo Vivarini		July 2006 – June 2007
Franco Lerda		July 2007 – June 2008
Giuseppe Galderisi		July 2008 – March 2009
Antonello Cuccureddu		2009–10
Eusebio Di Francesco		Jan 2010 – June 2011
Zdeněk Zeman		June 2011 – June 2012
Giovanni Stroppa		June 2012 – November 2012
Cristiano Bergodi		November 2012 – March 2013
Cristian Bucchi		March 2013 – June 2013
Pasquale Marino		June 2013 – February 2014
Serse Cosmi		February 2014 – July 2014
Marco Baroni		August 2014 – May 2015
Massimo Oddo		May 2015 – February 2017
Luciano Zauri (caretaker)		February 2017
Zdeněk Zeman		February 2017 – March 2018
Massimo Epifani		March 2018 – April 2018
Giuseppe Pillon		April 2018 – May 2019
Luciano Zauri		June 2019 – January 2020
Nicola Legrottaglie		January 2020 – July 2020
Andrea Sottil		July 2020 – August 2020
Massimo Oddo		August 2020 – November 2020
Roberto Breda		November 2020 – January 2021
Gianluca Grassadonia		January 2021 – June 2021
Gaetano Auteri		June 2021 –

Honours

• Serie B
  • Champions (2): 1986–87,^[11] 2011–12
• Serie C
  • Champions (1): 1973–74,
• Serie D
  • Champions (1): 1972–73,

Divisional movements

Series	Years	Last	Promotions	Relegations
A	7	2016–17	-	6 (1978, 1980, 1989, 1993, 2013, 2017)
B	39	2020–21	6 (1977, 1979, 1987, 1992, 2012, 2016)	5 (1949, 1982, 2001, 2007, 2021)
C	29	2021–22	5 (1941, 1974, 1983, 2003, 2010)	3 (1935✟, 1950, 1972)
75 out of 90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929
D	10	1972–73	1 (1938, 1958, 1973)	never
E	1	1936–37	1 (1937)	never

• Forerunner red-blue AC Pescara (1932–1935) included

References

External links

• Official website (in Italian)
• Soccerway Profile
• ESPN Profile Archived 4 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Delfino Pescara 1936.