Calcio Padova

Football club infobox
clubname = Padova


fullname = Calcio Padova SpA
nickname = "Biancoscudati" (White-Shielded), "Patavini" (Patavins)
founded = 1910
ground = Stadio Euganeo,
Padua, Italy
capacity = 32,336 | chairman = Marcello Cestaro
manager = Carlo Sabatini
league = Lega Pro Prima Divisione - A
season = 2007-08
position = Serie C1/A, 6th
pattern_b1=_redcross | body1=FFFFFF
pattern_la1= | leftarm1=FFFFFF
pattern_ra1= | rightarm1=FFFFFF
shorts1=FFFFFF
socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_b2=_whitecross | body2=FF0000
pattern_la2= | leftarm2=FF0000
pattern_ra2= | rightarm2=FF0000
shorts2=FF0000
socks2=FF0000

Calcio Padova is an Italian football club, based in Padua, Veneto. The club was founded in 1910. Padova currently plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione (known as Serie C1), having last been in Serie A in 1996. The team's colors are red and white.

Some of the famous players who played for Padova include Kurt Hamrin, Walter Zenga, Angelo Di Livio, Alessandro Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Pasquale Foggia, and Alexi Lalas.

History

Padova's golden days were the late 1950s, when the team, managed by Nereo Rocco, 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 in 1994 saw the club return to Serie A after 32 years. After a dire start to 1994/95, Padova looked like fulfilling most experts' predictions of a swift return. They nonetheless found their form in the second half of the year and when they recorded a 1-0 win away to Juventus, they were six points clear of the drop zone. However, they eventually needed a play-off against Genoa to stave off relegation, 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 and Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

Achievements

*1922-23 – Northern League (group C): 1st place, qualified for semi-final round
*1931-32 – Serie B: 2nd place, promoted to Serie A
*1936-37 – Serie C (girone A): 1st place, promoted to Serie B
*1947-48 – Serie B (girone B): 1st place, promoted to Serie A
*1957-58 – Serie A: 3rd place
*1980-81 – Serie C2 (girone B): 1st place, promoted to Serie C1
*1980-81 – Coppa Italia Serie C: winners
*1982-83 – Serie C1 (girone A): 2nd place, promoted to Serie B
*1986-87 – Serie C1 (girone A): 2nd place, promoted to Serie B
*1993-94 – Serie B: 4th place, promoted to Serie A "(after play-off with Cesena)"
*2000-01 – Serie C2 (girone A): 1st place, promoted to Serie C1

Playing squad

elected Former Players

* Demetrio Albertini
* Nicola Amoruso
* Antonio Benarrivo
* Sergio Brighenti
* Alessandro Del Piero
* Angelo Di Livio
* Stefano Fiore
* Giuseppe Galderisi
* Giovanni Vecchina
* Kurt Hamrin
* Vincenzo Iaquinta
* Michel Kreek
* Alexi Lalas
* Cristiano Lucarelli
* Zlatan Muslimovic
* Jorge Quinteros
* Goran Vlaović
* Walter Zenga

elected Former Managers

* flagicon|Austria Béla Guttmann: 1949-50
* Nereo Rocco: 1953-59

External links

* [http://www.padovacalcio.it/ Official site]