Piacenza Calcio

Football club infobox
clubname = Piacenza


fullname = Piacenza Calcio SpA
nickname = "Biancorossi" (White-reds), "Papaveri" (Poppies), "Lupi" (Wolves)
founded = 1919
ground = Stadio Leonardo Garilli, Piacenza, Italy
capacity = 21,608 | chairman = Fabrizio Garilli
manager = Stefano Pioli
league = Serie B
season = 2007-08
position = Serie B, 15th
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leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FF0000|socks2=FFFFFF

Piacenza Calcio is a football club based in Piacenza, Italy. The club was formed in 1919 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having spent a large part of recent years bouncing between Italy's two top divisions (its last relegation came in 2003). The team's colors are red and white.

The club won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1986. The highest they have ever finished in their home league is 12th in Serie A, which they have achieved twice in 1997/1998 and 2001/2002.

Piacenza has been known in the past for its strong reluctance to use foreign players, presenting for most of its Serie A seasons a team made up exclusively of Italians; at present however there are some foreign players, generally European.

Notable former players include Filippo and Simone Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino and Massimo Taibi.

History

From the late 1800s football had began to gather popularity in Piacenza and was introduced into the college system in an improvised manner alongside cycling, gymnastics, archery and others. The spark that helped ignite football in the Emilia-Romagna based city was a student tournament in 1908; the football competition was played out amongst teams from various cities, eventually Collegio Morigi from Piacenza won.

The early football played in the city however, was always limited to "friendlies" apposed to any teams been entered into a league. Until Piacenza Calcio was founded in 1919 with the first club president as Giovanni Dosi. Dosi was ambitious he took control of every social, technical and administrative profile with all the attentions aim at becoming a club participating in the national championship under the FIGC.

In the first season, the club played 12 games, the opponents included; Parma, Reggiana, Spal, and prominent local side Bologna. The season was a great start for Piacenza, who only lost one game (1-0 to Bologna) gaining promotion to Prima Categoria, the first championship winning squad included the players; Fontana, Armani, Meani, Sala I, Marelli, Paleari, Cella, Galimberti, Bossola, Giiumanini, Boselli, Ronchetti, Ventura, Sala II, Raina, Ziliani I, Ziliani II, Avogadri, Sala III and Antonini.

After spending much of the club's early life in the regional leagues, they entered into Serie C for the 1935/1936 season; coming close to gaining promotion into Serie B during 1938 but lost out to Fanfulla.

Post-World War

After World War II, Piacenza competed in Serie B for the first time, competing there for two seasons before falling back down to Serie C in 1948. During 1952 for the second time the club grazed promotion but lost out this time to Cagliari.

The club were punished for illicit sportsmanship in 1956 and were thus relegated down to Serie D; this proved to be quite a heavy blow for the club as they would continue to yo-yo between Serie C and D until 1964. Piacenza finally returned to Serie B in the 1969, under coach Tino Molina and president Vincenzo Romagnoli.

1970s and 1980s

Piacenza's history until recent times was mostly undistinguished, although having a brief spell in Serie B in the 1940s and further spells in 1969-70, 1975-76 and 1987-89.

erie A: club's height

Promotion in 1991 saw a rise in the side's fortunes under coach Gigi Cagni with the club promoted to Serie A for the first time in 1993.

The side contained players such as midfielder Daniele Moretti, winger Francesco Turrini and forward Giampiero Piovani. They spent 1993-94 holding their own in mid-table and even on the fringes of the battle for a UEFA Cup, but were unfortunate to be relegated on the final day. The club wisely chose to retain Cagni and most of his squad, and they would achieve promotion as Serie B champions in 1995.

The following five years saw the club win many friends with its all-Italian lineup and successful battles against relegation. In 1997 the club acquired legendary hard man defender Pietro Vierchowod. Despite his advancing years, Vierchowod proved an outstanding purchase, more than holding his own in defence and even scoring decisive goals in the relegation battle. Relegation in 2000 was followed by an instant return to Serie A where they lasted only two years this time, despite the outstanding form shown by players like midfielder Enzo Maresca. The club has since remained in Serie B without threatening to mount a promotion challenge. On the final day of the 2006-07 Serie B season, the team needed a victory to force a Serie B promotion playoff, but were held to a draw, and thus the top 3 gained automatic promotion.

Current squad

"As of February 5, 2008" [cite web|publisher=Piacenza Calcio|title=Rosa|url=http://www.piacenzacalcio.it/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=99|language=Italian|accessdate=2007-07-25]

Out on loan

Famous players

*flagicon|Italy Alberto Gilardino
*flagicon|Romania Bogdan Pătraşcu
*flagicon|Belarus Sergei Gurenko
*flagicon|Italy Dario Hübner
*flagicon|Italy Filippo Inzaghi
*flagicon|Italy Simone Inzaghi
*flagicon|Italy Marco Marchionni
*flagicon|Italy Enzo Maresca
*flagicon|Italy Massimo Taibi
*flagicon|Italy Pietro Vierchowod
*flagicon|Italy Sergio Volpi
*flagicon|Venezuela Massimo Margiotta
*flagicon|Italy Antonio Nocerino

Honours

Anglo-Italian Cup
*Winners: 1986Serie B
*Champions: 1994/1995
*Runners-up: 2000/2001
*Promoted: 1992/1993Serie C
*Champions: 1986/1987, 1990/1991
*Runners-up: 1936/1937, 1937/1938 (*)Seconda Divisione
*Promoted: 1927/1928
*Group runners-up: 1922/1923, 1924/1925Emilian Championship:
*Champions: 1919/1920

(*) Finished equal first position but lost play-off game to A.C. Fanfulla

References

External links

* [http://www.piacenzacalcio.it Piacenza's official website]