AC Pisa (Italy)

Associazione Calcio Pisa 1909 from the city of Pisa in Tuscany is a professional football club formed in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club. The club have had a turbulent history having been reformed on a couple of occasions.

Students in the city began playing football at Piazza San Paolo in Ripa d’Arno before forming an official club; Pisa SC. ‘I Nerazzurri’ soon came up against the local opposition of Alfea FC.

Pisa won the Tuscany regional title in 1914-15 before Arena Garibaldi was inaugurated in October 1919 following World War One. Hungarian coach József Ging took charge of the team.

In 1921 Pisa were runners-up in the Prima Categoria Italian championship after they defeated Livorno in the Central-Southern title decider before going down 2-1 to Pro Vercelli in Turin as star player Gnerucci was the victim of vicious man marking.

The team failed to recover from the disappointment and found themselves playing at the third level of Italian football by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, Arena Garibaldi was upgraded and renamed as Campo del Littorio.

Many mixed seasons of results followed before Pisa played in Serie B in the 1947-48 campaign; finishing as runners-up to Palermo in Group C. The club was relegated to Serie C in 1951-52 after three seasons of mid-table finishes.

Worse was to follow in 1953-54 as Pisa went down to IV Serie. Several players were badly injured in a coach crash on the way back from a game at Fabriano. Short on playing personnel Pisa ended the campaign being relegated to Promozione; the fifth level.

Pisa sealed promotion back to IV Serie in 1956-57 with a 1-0 victory against Grosseto. The following season saw the momentum continue as the club regained their Serie C place with a second successive promotion.

The election of Giuseppe Donati as club President for 1963-64 saw a re-organised club and many new players return to Serie B as the Girone B title of Serie C was clinched in 1964-65.

After a couple of seasons of struggle, Pisa won promotion to Serie A in 1967-68. However, their spell at the top table of Italian football lasted just twelve months before a return to Serie B.

Two seasons later Pisa went down to Serie C under new President Rota. A fifth place finish in 1977-78 led to a place in Serie C1 for the following year after a restructuring of the league system.

The club was bought by Romeo Anconetani who oversaw new investment leading to promotion to Serie B in 1978-79 and then a return to Serie A after a runners-up finish in 1981-82; with their spell in the top flight lasting two seasons as Danish international Klaus Berggreen starred.

Pisa regrouped and won the Serie B title and promotion at the first attempt in 1984-85. The jump proved too much with the Nerazzurri going straight back down. In typical fashion, the team returned to Serie A just twelve months later.

Pisa returned to Serie B at the conclusion of the 1988-89 campaign with English defender Paul Elliott and future Brazilian captain and manager Dunga in the side, before returning to Serie A at the first attempt.

Despite the goals of Michele Padovano, the team failed to survive and went down once again in 1990-91. The side also contained the likes of Diego Simeone, Henrik Larsen, Maurizio Neri, Lamberto Piovanelli and Aldo Dolcetti

After a couple of sixth place finishes, Pisa finished 1993-94 having to play in the Relegation tie-breaker against Acireale in Salerno. The game ended 0-0 before the Sicilians won 4-3 on penalties.

The club was declared bankrupt; quickly reforming as Pisa Calcio and playing at the fifth level in Eccellenza. The club quickly restored their status, winning promotion to Serie C2 in 1995-96 and then Serie C1 in 1998-99.

The 2002-03 season ended in disappointment with Pisa losing the promotion play-off to AlbinoLeffe before the team survived relegation in the play-offs in a derby against US Massese in 2005-06.

Coach Piero Braglia led his team to another promotion play-off final in 2006-07 after defeating Venezia. AC Monza were beaten 2-1 on aggregate to seal a return to Serie B.

Giampiero Ventura was in charge of Pisa as the goals of José Ignacio Castillo, Alessio Cerci and Vitali Kutuzov took the team to the play-offs in 2007-08. US Lecce ended any dreams of promotion with an aggregate victory in the semi-finals.

Luca Pomponi, an entrepreneur from Rome bought the club in 2008. He attempted but failed to appoint Alessandro Costacurta as the new head coach. Ventura’s side struggled with the loss of star players before being replaced by Bruno Giordano in March 2009.

The team slipped down the table leading to relegation on the final day of the season. It was also unveiled that the club was carrying massive financial issues. The Italian Football Federation excluded the club for a second time.

AC Pisa was formed to continue the club lineage playing in Serie D under new ownership, and going on to win Girone D in 2009-10 and then finishing around half way in the table for the next couple of seasons.

AC Perugia were defeated before Pisa lost the play-off final 3-1 over two legs against Latina to deny the club promotion in 2012-13. The following season the team lost out in the semi-final stage against Frosinone after seeing off L'Aquila.

In 2015 the club was passed on to a consortium led by Dr. Fabrizio Lucchesi. The side finished as runners-up in Girone B in 2015-16. Maceratese and then Pordenone were beaten before an aggregate win over Foggia sealed promotion back to Serie B.

The team was led by head coach, the former Italy, Milan and Rangers midfielder Gennaro Gattuso. Pisa lasted just one season at their elevated status. Back in Serie C any hopes of an immediate return were extinguished by Viterbese in the play-offs.

However, 2018-19 ended in success. A third place finish in Girone A was surpassed by victories against Carrarese, SS Arezzo and then US Triestina to seal promotion back to Serie B with Luca D'Angelo in charge of the team.

Striker Davide Moscardelli captained Pisa in 2019-20 with Michele Marconi scoring the goals having being assisted by the guile of Francesco Lisi and Gaetano Masucci.

AC Pisa will play in Serie B in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

Tuesday 3^rd December 2019

I’d finished night shift a few days after returning from a cricket holiday in Thailand. I was perhaps a little ambitious to book another outing so soon after; especially one that would take in four cities in two different countries in the space of just over two days.

I’d gone straight to Stansted by train after work and boarded the flight to Tuscany needing some sleep. I’d like to relate how the journey went, but I’ve no idea. I was comatose on the runway and woke just before we were due to land.

Time was of the essence. It was nearing 2pm and I wanted to take a look at the famous Leaning Tower and then take a train to Florence for a look at the city before a nap to restore myself for the Coppa Italia clash between Fiorentina and Cittadella.

I eventually worked out that the Pisamover light railway was the best way to reach the city centre. After alighting at the central station I followed my Google Map App and determined that the LAM Rossa service from stop 4 was the bus required.

This dropped me at Piazza del Duomo from where I walked through the gates to see some very impressive buildings. Torre di Pisa didn’t let me down. It was sensational. I was so glad to have finally ticked it off my bucket list.

While time was valuable, I was feeling pretty good. My brother Nick had hinted that Arena Garibaldi was conveniently located just around the corner, so I decided to chance it. I was far from sure if I’d ever return?

Via Piave was a small lane off Via Contessa Matilde just around the back of the tower that led to Arena Garibaldi-Romeo Anconetani Stadium, to give Pisa’s home its full title; which recognised the President from the Serie A days.

Initially it looked as though I’d be out of luck, with all gates seemingly secured. However, I’m a stubborn bugger and my persistence paid off courtesy of a wonderful groundsman who’d left the top gate ajar.

There was nobody about on the forecourt, so I proceeded and went down the access between the Main Stand and the north curve. My favourate curator was out in the middle tending to the pitch.

The stadium was showing its age. It once had a running track around the pitch but the area was excavated to increase capacity on a further shallow bank closer to the playing area. Only the one side had a roof.

I took as many photos as I could without going too far from my vantage point. There is a limit to how far you can push your good fortune! It was an unexpected bonus that wasn’t thought about seriously an hour earlier.

The Bianchi 1 bus stop on nearby Via Luigi Bianchi allowed me to take the Linea 2 service back to the station; with perfect timing so that I could purchase a ticket and then jump aboard the train to Florence.

The trip was underway. If only everything went as smoothly as my brief sojourn around Pisa!