Nissa F.C. A.S.D.

Nissa

Full name	Nissa Football Club Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica
Founded	1962
Ground	Stadio Marco Tomaselli, Caltanissetta, Italy (Capacity: 15,000)
League	Serie D/I
2010-11	Serie D/I, 6th
Home colours Away colours

Nissa Football Club Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica, commonly known as Nissa, is an Italian association football club, based in Caltanissetta, Sicily. They will compete the 2008–09 season in Serie D, after having won the Eccellenza Sicily A. Their official colours are red and yellow.

Nissa play their home matches at Stadio Marco Tomaselli, informally known as Pian del Lago, with a capacity of 15,000. This venue also hosted a Italy national under-21 football team match in 1994, which ended in a 2–1 win for the azzurrini against Croatia national under-21 football team, but is best remembered for seeing the Italian team play with Nissa's red-coloured home shirts due to both teams having very similar jersey colours and lacking the corresponding reserve kits.^[1]

History

Stadio Marco Tomaselli (Pian del Lago), Nissa's home venue

The club was founded in 1962, as heir of former local club Unione Sportiva Nissena, who lived from 1947 to 1962, and assumed the original denomination of Nissa Sport Club 1962.^[2] They initially played in minor amateur league before reaching Serie D in 1967, where they spent a total of five season before being relegated in 1972. They returned to play Serie D only in 1979, later starting plans for a historical enter into the world of Italian professional football.^[2] Nissa were however relegated in 1983, only to be readmitted to fill a league vacancy; they consequently decided to take advantage of the opportunity and build a strong team that promptly won the 1984 Serie D league, and finally ensuring promotion to Serie C2.^[3]

Nissa's debut as a professional team came in a Coppa Italia Serie C match against Reggina, ended in a 2–2 home tie. In their first Serie C2 season, they barely escaped relegation by winning the four final matches. The following campaign was far more successful, as Nissa managed to achieve a good sixth place in the final place. However, Nissa's time into professional football came to an end in 1987, as they were relegated back to Interregionale.^[3] This was followed by a financial crisis that caused a relegation to Promozione in 1989; the club promptly returned to Interregionale the following season, but only to be canceled from football due to bankruptcy in 1992. A minor Promozione club, Caltanissetta, was consequently admitted to Eccellenza under the denomination of Nuova Nissa, being promoted to Serie D in 1995. However this club folded only three years later, in 1998, due to financial issues. After a year without a major football team in Caltanissetta, in 1999 minor clubs Sommatino and Nissena 1996 merged to found the current club, gaining the right to play Promozione, and immediately winning promotion to Eccellenza. In the following years, Nissa fought hard to go on their rise into the football pyramid, without succeeding in it until 2008, when they won the Girone A of Eccellenza Sicily after a long battle with Trapani.^[3]

References

1. ^ Enzo Sasso (17 November 1994). "La Under in rosso fa fatica solo a trovare le maglie" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. p. 41. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1994/novembre/17/Under_rosso_fatica_solo_trovare_co_0_9411175827.shtml. Retrieved 10 June 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Nissa Calcio – La storia" (in Italian). NissaCalcio.it. http://www.nissacalcio.it/storia1.htm. Retrieved 9 May 2008. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Nissa Calcio – La storia" (in Italian). NissaCalcio.it. http://www.nissacalcio.it/storia2.htm. Retrieved 9 May 2008. 

External links

• Official website (Italian)