Calcio Catania
Encyclopedia
Calcio Catania is an Italian football
club founded in 1908 and based in Catania
, Sicily
. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B
, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times. They currently compete in Serie A after climbing back up the football pyramid.
The club has achieved moderate success in the top league, the highest position ever reached by the club is 8th in Serie A
twice, both during the early 1960s. The farthest Catania have progressed in cup competitions is the final of the Coppa delle Alpi
.
can be traced back to English cargo ship
s, thanks to the workers who brought the game to Sicily. Specifically the earliest Catania team can be traced to match which took place on 2 May 1901 at San Raineri di Messina against Messina, the team was named Royal Yacht Catania; an English ship with a local Catanian crew.
The ship workers team was just a pastime however, Catania's first professional and most stable football club was founded on 19 June 1908, by Italian film director Gaetano Ventimiglia and Francesco Sturzo d'Aldobrando, who founded the club under the name A.S. Educazione Fisica Pro Patria. Early on they would always play against sailors visiting the port of Catania, particularly foreign ships. Though their first ever match was against Regina Margherita
an Italian battleship
, the game ended in a 1–1 draw and the Catania line-up that day consisted of; Vassallo, Gismondo, Bianchi, Messina, Slaiter, Caccamo, Stellario, Binning, Cocuzza, Ventimiglia and Pappalardo. Just two years later they changed the name to Unione Sportiva Catanese.
In the North of Italy, football was more organised and those clubs competed in the early Italian Football Championship
s, while Catania and other Southern clubs competed in competitions such as the Lipton, Sant' Agata and Agordad cups. U.S. Catanese survived the First World War and just after it played in the local Coppa Federale Siciliana
. Seven seasons later in 1927 they were entered into the Campionato Catanese, which was won in the 1928–29 season. As they gained promotion the club were entered into the Second Division, and changed their name first to Società Sportiva Catania. They first competed in Serie B
in the 1934–35 season where they finished 4th; that season Genoa won the Serie B title.
Catania played in the league for 3 seasons during this period, before being relegated. Down in Serie C
, Catania were crowned champions in the 1938–39 season, finishing above Sicilian rivals Siracusa
and Messina (who came in 2nd and 3rd respectively). Their return to Serie B was not a pleasant one, the club finished bottom of the league and won only three games that season. The club's name was briefly changed to Associazione Calcio Fascista Catania during the 1942–43 season in Serie C
, which ended prematurely because of the 2nd World War.
After World War II ended, a local competition was organised, the Campionato Siciliano. US Catanese were back; at the end of that season a local team named Elefante Catania were merged into the club. The merged club kept the Catanese name and competed in Serie C
during the 1945–46 season, but finished last. In the same league that season a team called Virtus Catania were also present and finished 8th.
At the end of the season, Catanese and Virtus merged together to form Club Calcio Catania, with the first president as Santi Manganaro-Passanisi (who had been president of Catanese). They were entered into Serie C
where they spent three seasons, after an epic duel with Reggina
for first place Catania prevailed with stars such as Goffi, Messora, Ardesi and Prevosti, gaining promotion to Serie B
during 1948–49.
for the Catanian club, as they managed to achieve promotion to Serie A
on two separate occasions during this time. Their first promotion from Serie B
came, when in the 1953–54 season Catania beat out Cagliari and Lombardy side Pro Patria to be crowned champions of the division. Their first season in Serie A, saw Catania achieve a respectable 12th place finish, but the club were forcibly relegated due to financial scandal (as were Udinese
).
Under the management of Carmelo Di Bella
(who had played for the club in the late '30s) Catania gained promotion from Serie B in the 1959–60 season. The race for promotion in third spot went down to the last day of the season and was very tense. Catania had lost their final game 4–2 to Brescia
and needed Parma to get a good result against Triestina
for the Sicilian club to secure promotion. That is exactly what happened and Catania had thus gained promotion once more.
Catania returned into Serie A
for the 1960–61 season, to begin what would be a six-year stay in the league. Their return season was emphatic as the newly promoted club finished in 8th above top Italian clubs such as Lazio
and Napoli
. This season produced several notable wins; they beat Napoli and Bologna twice, Sampdoria
3–0 at home and most notably they beat AC Milan 4–3 in Sicily and then on the final day of the season they beat Internazionale
2–0, with goals from Castellazzi and Calvanese. This rubbed the salt into the wounds of Inter who lost the closely contested title that year to Juventus
.
Four years later in 1965 they would also finish 8th in the league, this time above Roma
and Sicilian rivals Messina
. Many of the club's most notable stars played around this time, such as; midfielders Alvaro Biagini and the Brazilian Cinesinho, along with wingers Carlo Facchin and Giancarlo Danova in the side. Catania more than held their own amongst the giants of Italian football, with wins against Juventus (2–0), Fiorentina
(2–0) and Lazio (1–0).
in the Sicilian derby
before the Palermitan club were promoted. Catania followed in 1969–70 with a third place finish; though their stay in Serie A this time was very brief and they were relegated back down after one season. Their most impressive results that season was 3–1 win against Lazio and a draw at home against AC Milan, Catania lacked goalscorers at the time as they only scored 18 goals altogether in 30 games.
Worse was to come for the club, who in 1973–74 were relegated down to Serie C
, but fortunately for the club they were able to bounce straight back with a promotion into Serie B as champions. A similar situation happened in 1976–77, where they were relegated down to Serie C. This time however, they were not able to bounce right back; they finished 2nd and then 3rd before finally being crowned champions of what was now known as Serie C1
in 1979–80.
After three short seasons, Catania were promoted in 3rd place behind AC Milan and Lazio, into Serie A. They played the 1983–84 season in Italy's top league, but it proved to be an especially dismal season, with only one win (which came against Pisa
) and 12 points despite the presence of Claudio Ranieri
and Brazilian imports Luvanor and Pedrinho
.
for the latter part of the 1980s. The lowest point of the club's history, however, was reached in 1993, when the team was cancelled by the FIGC because of financial irregularities.
However, after a long judicial battle, the magistrature declared the Italian Federation decision as invalid, and forced it to include the team back into the footballing fold. Catania was thus included in the Sicilian Eccellenza
(the sixth level of Italian football), but in the meantime another Sicilian football team, Atletico Leonzio from Lentini
(in the Province of Syracuse
), had been relocated in the city and renamed Atletico Catania
. Despite all of this, the "real" Catania was able to rise back to Serie C
in a relatively small number of years, and even back to Serie B in 2002.
During 2003, Catania was at the centre of a controversy that led to the enlargement of Serie B from 20 to 24 teams, known as Caso Catania. The club claimed that Siena
fielded an ineligible player in a 1–1 tie, a result which saw Catania relegated, whereas the two extra points from a victory would have kept them safe. They were awarded a 2–0 victory, before the result being reverted, and then re-awarded again. In August, the FIGC decided to let Catania, along with Genoa
and Salernitana stay in Serie B, the newly-reborn Fiorentina were also added for the 2003–04 season. The ruling led to protests and boycott
s by the other Serie B clubs that delayed the start of the season.
The league went down to 22 teams for 2004–05, while at the same time Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams. During the start of that season, Antonino Pulvirenti, chairman of the flight company Windjet
and owner of Acireale
, a Sicilian Serie C1
team, bought the club. Catania's new ownership let the team enjoy a revival, and in 2005–06
Catania ended in second position, earning promotion to Serie A.
season saw Catania in Serie A
for its first appearance in 22 years. In their first season back Catania began well, though they recorded a couple of heavy defeats, their home form saw them peak as high as 4th after 20 games.
Their return season changed drastically on 2 February 2007, due to the 2007 Catania football violence
incident. It happened during the Sicilian derby
with Palermo
, policeman Filippo Raciti
was killed during football-related violence caused by Catania ultras
outside the Massimino stadium. The event led FIGC commissioner Luca Pancalli
to cancel all football-related events in the country for a period of time; including league and national team matches. Catania chairman and owner Antonino Pulvirenti announced his willingness to leave the football world, stating it was not possible to go on producing football in Catania.
After the Italian football league restarted, Catania continued on but dropped in form largely. In truth their slump in form had started just before the derby incident and all together they failed to win for twelve games in a row, before beating Udinese
1–0 in late April 2007, they eventually finished 13th.
The following season, with Marino leaving for Udinese
and Silvio Baldini
taking charge of the team, proved to be much harder. Poor results in the league table were however coupled with impressive performance in the Coppa Italia
, where Catania reached a historical place in the semi-finals, then lost to Roma. Meanwhile, Baldini resigned from his post on 31 March 2008, being replaced by Walter Zenga
in a somewhat surprise appointment (at least due to Zenga's lack of expertise at the Serie A level). Despite this, Zenga managed to lead the rossazzurri off the relegation zone, saving his side from falling down to Serie B in a heated final week game, a 1–1 home tie to Roma, with an equaliser goal scored by Jorge Andrés Martínez
at the 85th minute. Zenga was successively confirmed in charge of the team for the upcoming 2008–09 season.
On 5 June 2009 Walter Zenga left Catania to be the manager at arch-rival Palermo. He was replaced by Gianluca Atzori, a relative coaching neophyte with just one year's experience at Lega Pro Prima Divisione team Ravenna. Atzori was noted for using an attacking 4-3-3 formation at Ravenna and was expected to continue a similar approach with the Elefanti.
On 8 December 2009 Siniša Mihajlović
was appointed new head coach of Catania, taking over from Gianluca Atzori. He signed a contract until June 2011 with the Elefanti. Arriving at the club that was dead last in the Serie A standings, Mihajlović debuted with a loss against Livorno. However, the following week, his team pulled off a stunning upset by beating heavily favoured Juventus away in Turin with a 2–1 scoreline. After Mihajlović's departure to Fiorentina
, Catania appointed Marco Giampaolo
as new head coach for the 2010–11 season; on January 2011, Catania decided to remove Giampaolo from his position due to poor results and replace him with former Argentine star Diego Simeone, who had no previous experience at Serie A level but managed to guide the Sicilians to safety before to part company by the end of the season, after only four months in charge of the team. As a replacement, Catania appointed 37-year old Vincenzo Montella
, at his second managerial experience after having served as caretaker at Roma
during the final part of the 2010–11 season.
Amedeo Biavati
Riccardo Carapellese
Claudio Ranieri
Ennio Mastalli
Giovanni Vavassori
Giuseppe Mascara
Albano Bizzarri Mariano Andujar
Luis Oliveira
Johan Walem
Pedrinho
Chinesinho
Juan Manuel Vargas
Jorge Andres Martinez
Michele Giuffrida
|align=left|1956–59
|-
|align=left|Ignazio Marcoccio
|align=left|1959–69
|-
|align=left|Angelo Massimino
|align=left|1969–73
|-
|}
|width="30"|
|valign="top"|
|}
Football in Italy
Football is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 4 times , trailing only Brazil . Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful European nation in the subject of football...
club founded in 1908 and based in Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times. They currently compete in Serie A after climbing back up the football pyramid.
The club has achieved moderate success in the top league, the highest position ever reached by the club is 8th in Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
twice, both during the early 1960s. The farthest Catania have progressed in cup competitions is the final of the Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi , was a football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league to start 1960 and then aided by the Swiss League in 1962 for the reason that the majority of the Alps are in Switzerland...
.
History
The origins of football being played by representatives of the Province of CataniaProvince of Catania
Catania is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania.It has an area of 3,552 km², and a total population of 1,073,881 . There are 58 comunes in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Catania...
can be traced back to English cargo ship
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
s, thanks to the workers who brought the game to Sicily. Specifically the earliest Catania team can be traced to match which took place on 2 May 1901 at San Raineri di Messina against Messina, the team was named Royal Yacht Catania; an English ship with a local Catanian crew.
Regina Margherita class battleship
The Regina Margherita was a class of battleships built for the Italian Regia Marina between 1898 and 1905. The class comprised two ships: Regina Margherita and Benedetto Brin....
an Italian battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, the game ended in a 1–1 draw and the Catania line-up that day consisted of; Vassallo, Gismondo, Bianchi, Messina, Slaiter, Caccamo, Stellario, Binning, Cocuzza, Ventimiglia and Pappalardo. Just two years later they changed the name to Unione Sportiva Catanese.
In the North of Italy, football was more organised and those clubs competed in the early Italian Football Championship
Italian Football Championship
The Italian Football Championship was the most senior football championship in Italy from the 1897/1898 season to the 1921/1922 season. In that last season, a concurrent championship, the Prima Divisione, was played by the richest clubs, which wanted to improve their income with a more elitarian...
s, while Catania and other Southern clubs competed in competitions such as the Lipton, Sant' Agata and Agordad cups. U.S. Catanese survived the First World War and just after it played in the local Coppa Federale Siciliana
Coppa Federale Siciliana
Coppa Federale Siciliana was a Sicilian football competition which took place in during May 1920. The tournament took place just once, in the aftermath of World War I...
. Seven seasons later in 1927 they were entered into the Campionato Catanese, which was won in the 1928–29 season. As they gained promotion the club were entered into the Second Division, and changed their name first to Società Sportiva Catania. They first competed in Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
in the 1934–35 season where they finished 4th; that season Genoa won the Serie B title.
Catania played in the league for 3 seasons during this period, before being relegated. Down in Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
, Catania were crowned champions in the 1938–39 season, finishing above Sicilian rivals Siracusa
U.S. Siracusa
Unione Sportiva Siracusa, commonly referred to as simply Siracusa or the abbreviation US Siracusa, is an Italian association football club located in Syracuse, Sicily. The club was founded in 1924 and for most of its history has played in the lower divisions of professional Italian football...
and Messina (who came in 2nd and 3rd respectively). Their return to Serie B was not a pleasant one, the club finished bottom of the league and won only three games that season. The club's name was briefly changed to Associazione Calcio Fascista Catania during the 1942–43 season in Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
, which ended prematurely because of the 2nd World War.
Rebirth
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
during the 1945–46 season, but finished last. In the same league that season a team called Virtus Catania were also present and finished 8th.
At the end of the season, Catanese and Virtus merged together to form Club Calcio Catania, with the first president as Santi Manganaro-Passanisi (who had been president of Catanese). They were entered into Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
where they spent three seasons, after an epic duel with Reggina
Reggina Calcio
Reggina Calcio are an Italian association football club, the main club of the city of Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in the Italian Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo...
for first place Catania prevailed with stars such as Goffi, Messora, Ardesi and Prevosti, gaining promotion to Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
during 1948–49.
Golden years
The late 1950s through 1960s are considered the golden yearsGolden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
for the Catanian club, as they managed to achieve promotion to Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
on two separate occasions during this time. Their first promotion from Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
came, when in the 1953–54 season Catania beat out Cagliari and Lombardy side Pro Patria to be crowned champions of the division. Their first season in Serie A, saw Catania achieve a respectable 12th place finish, but the club were forcibly relegated due to financial scandal (as were Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
).
Carmelo Di Bella
Carmelo Di Bella was an Italian football player and manager. Di Bella spent the vast majority of his career in Sicily where he was a prominent figure in the footballing scene, especially in relation to the island's most successful clubs; Catania and Palermo.-Playing career:Di Bella, a left wing,...
(who had played for the club in the late '30s) Catania gained promotion from Serie B in the 1959–60 season. The race for promotion in third spot went down to the last day of the season and was very tense. Catania had lost their final game 4–2 to Brescia
Brescia Calcio
Brescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...
and needed Parma to get a good result against Triestina
U.S. Triestina Calcio
Unione Sportiva Triestina is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.It is in the season 2010-11 from Serie B, having returned there in 2002 after 11 seasons in Serie C and Serie D, the club was relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione.-History:The club was...
for the Sicilian club to secure promotion. That is exactly what happened and Catania had thus gained promotion once more.
Catania returned into Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
for the 1960–61 season, to begin what would be a six-year stay in the league. Their return season was emphatic as the newly promoted club finished in 8th above top Italian clubs such as Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
and Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
. This season produced several notable wins; they beat Napoli and Bologna twice, Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
3–0 at home and most notably they beat AC Milan 4–3 in Sicily and then on the final day of the season they beat Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
2–0, with goals from Castellazzi and Calvanese. This rubbed the salt into the wounds of Inter who lost the closely contested title that year to Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
.
Four years later in 1965 they would also finish 8th in the league, this time above Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
and Sicilian rivals Messina
F.C. Messina Peloro
Associazione Calcio Rinascita Messina is an Italian football club based in Messina, Sicily. It currently plays in Serie D.- Brief history :The origins of the team go back to 1900 when Messina F.C was founded in the city. The club has spent most of its history in the lower Italian football leagues...
. Many of the club's most notable stars played around this time, such as; midfielders Alvaro Biagini and the Brazilian Cinesinho, along with wingers Carlo Facchin and Giancarlo Danova in the side. Catania more than held their own amongst the giants of Italian football, with wins against Juventus (2–0), Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
(2–0) and Lazio (1–0).
Mixed fortunes in the '70s and '80s
After their relegation in 1966 Carmelo Di Bella left and Catania stayed in Serie B; clashing with PalermoU.S. Città di Palermo
Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, the club had various names before assuming its final form in 1987 and is currently...
in the Sicilian derby
Sicilian derby
The Derby di Sicilia is a local derby between Italian football clubs Calcio Catania and U.S. Città di Palermo. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and the teams are fierce rivals...
before the Palermitan club were promoted. Catania followed in 1969–70 with a third place finish; though their stay in Serie A this time was very brief and they were relegated back down after one season. Their most impressive results that season was 3–1 win against Lazio and a draw at home against AC Milan, Catania lacked goalscorers at the time as they only scored 18 goals altogether in 30 games.
Worse was to come for the club, who in 1973–74 were relegated down to Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
, but fortunately for the club they were able to bounce straight back with a promotion into Serie B as champions. A similar situation happened in 1976–77, where they were relegated down to Serie C. This time however, they were not able to bounce right back; they finished 2nd and then 3rd before finally being crowned champions of what was now known as Serie C1
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....
in 1979–80.
After three short seasons, Catania were promoted in 3rd place behind AC Milan and Lazio, into Serie A. They played the 1983–84 season in Italy's top league, but it proved to be an especially dismal season, with only one win (which came against Pisa
Pisa Calcio
Associazione Calcio Pisa 1909 is an Italian association football club, based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as A.C. Pisa , after the cancellation of the old one because of economical troubles...
) and 12 points despite the presence of Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
and Brazilian imports Luvanor and Pedrinho
Pedro Luís Vicençote
Pedro Luís Vicençote, best known as Pedrinho is a former Brazilian football player in defender role....
.
Decline and revival
The decline of Catania started most evidently after its last relegation to Serie B. The team was no longer able to reach the top division of Italian football, and instead continued to decline, being relegated for a while into Serie C1Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....
for the latter part of the 1980s. The lowest point of the club's history, however, was reached in 1993, when the team was cancelled by the FIGC because of financial irregularities.
However, after a long judicial battle, the magistrature declared the Italian Federation decision as invalid, and forced it to include the team back into the footballing fold. Catania was thus included in the Sicilian Eccellenza
Eccellenza Sicily
Eccellenza Sicily is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs on the Isle of Sicily, Italy. It is competed amongst 32 teams, in two different groups . The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D...
(the sixth level of Italian football), but in the meantime another Sicilian football team, Atletico Leonzio from Lentini
Lentini
Lentini , historically Leontini, Leontinoi , or Leontium, is a town and comune in the Province of Syracuse, southeast Sicily .-History:...
(in the Province of Syracuse
Province of Syracuse
The Province of Syracuse is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Syracuse.It has an area of 2,109 km², and a total population of 396,167 ....
), had been relocated in the city and renamed Atletico Catania
A.S.D. Atletico Catania F.C.
Unione Sportiva Dilettantistica Atletico Catania is an Italian association football club founded in 1986 and based in Catania, Sicily. Throughout its history, the club played extensively at Serie C1 and Serie C2 professional level, almost gaining promotion to Serie B on two occasions during the 1990s...
. Despite all of this, the "real" Catania was able to rise back to Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
in a relatively small number of years, and even back to Serie B in 2002.
During 2003, Catania was at the centre of a controversy that led to the enlargement of Serie B from 20 to 24 teams, known as Caso Catania. The club claimed that Siena
A.C. Siena
Associazione Calcio Siena is an Italian football club based in Siena.The club currently plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B at the end of the 2010-2011 season....
fielded an ineligible player in a 1–1 tie, a result which saw Catania relegated, whereas the two extra points from a victory would have kept them safe. They were awarded a 2–0 victory, before the result being reverted, and then re-awarded again. In August, the FIGC decided to let Catania, along with Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
and Salernitana stay in Serie B, the newly-reborn Fiorentina were also added for the 2003–04 season. The ruling led to protests and boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s by the other Serie B clubs that delayed the start of the season.
The league went down to 22 teams for 2004–05, while at the same time Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams. During the start of that season, Antonino Pulvirenti, chairman of the flight company Windjet
Windjet
Wind Jet S.p.A., also styled as Windjet, is a scheduled and charter passenger airline based in Catania, Italy. It was founded in 2003, following the disbandment of Air Sicilia, by current CEO Antonino Pulvirenti, also owner of football team Calcio Catania...
and owner of Acireale
A.S. Acireale
Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Acireale Calcio 1946 is an Italian association football club, based in Acireale, Sicily. The club have spent most of their history in Serie C, although they have played for two seasons in Serie B.-History:...
, a Sicilian Serie C1
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....
team, bought the club. Catania's new ownership let the team enjoy a revival, and in 2005–06
Serie B 2005-06
This article contains information on the 2005-2006 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:...
Catania ended in second position, earning promotion to Serie A.
Return to Serie A
The 2006–07Serie A 2006-07
The Serie A 2006–2007 season began September 10, 2006. It was scheduled to begin on August 26 and 27, but was then postponed due to the Serie A scandal of 2006. It is the 104th Italian championship ever held, the first without the presence of Juventus, and the 75th Serie A league, the first...
season saw Catania in Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
for its first appearance in 22 years. In their first season back Catania began well, though they recorded a couple of heavy defeats, their home form saw them peak as high as 4th after 20 games.
Their return season changed drastically on 2 February 2007, due to the 2007 Catania football violence
2007 Catania football violence
On February 2, 2007, football violence occurred between football supporters and the police in Catania, Italy. The clashes occurred during and after the Serie A match between Catania and Palermo football clubs, also known as the Sicilian derby...
incident. It happened during the Sicilian derby
Sicilian derby
The Derby di Sicilia is a local derby between Italian football clubs Calcio Catania and U.S. Città di Palermo. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and the teams are fierce rivals...
with Palermo
U.S. Città di Palermo
Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, the club had various names before assuming its final form in 1987 and is currently...
, policeman Filippo Raciti
Filippo Raciti
Filippo Raciti was an Italian police officer who was killed in a violent confrontation between Calcio Catania football supporters and police officers....
was killed during football-related violence caused by Catania ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
outside the Massimino stadium. The event led FIGC commissioner Luca Pancalli
Luca Pancalli
Luca Pancalli is a sports manager and former swimmer. He is currently the Commissioner of the Italian Football Federation....
to cancel all football-related events in the country for a period of time; including league and national team matches. Catania chairman and owner Antonino Pulvirenti announced his willingness to leave the football world, stating it was not possible to go on producing football in Catania.
After the Italian football league restarted, Catania continued on but dropped in form largely. In truth their slump in form had started just before the derby incident and all together they failed to win for twelve games in a row, before beating Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
1–0 in late April 2007, they eventually finished 13th.
The following season, with Marino leaving for Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
and Silvio Baldini
Silvio Baldini
Silvio Baldini is an Italian association football manager and the former head coach of Vicenza in the Serie B league.- Coach :...
taking charge of the team, proved to be much harder. Poor results in the league table were however coupled with impressive performance in the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
, where Catania reached a historical place in the semi-finals, then lost to Roma. Meanwhile, Baldini resigned from his post on 31 March 2008, being replaced by Walter Zenga
Walter Zenga
Walter Zenga is a retired Italian footballer and current manager. He is a long-time goalkeeper for the Italian national team and Internazionale. He also holds Romanian citizenship...
in a somewhat surprise appointment (at least due to Zenga's lack of expertise at the Serie A level). Despite this, Zenga managed to lead the rossazzurri off the relegation zone, saving his side from falling down to Serie B in a heated final week game, a 1–1 home tie to Roma, with an equaliser goal scored by Jorge Andrés Martínez
Jorge Andrés Martínez
Jorge Andrés Martínez Barrios is a Uruguayan footballer who currently plays for Cesena in the Italian Serie A.-Montevideo Wanderers F.C.:...
at the 85th minute. Zenga was successively confirmed in charge of the team for the upcoming 2008–09 season.
On 5 June 2009 Walter Zenga left Catania to be the manager at arch-rival Palermo. He was replaced by Gianluca Atzori, a relative coaching neophyte with just one year's experience at Lega Pro Prima Divisione team Ravenna. Atzori was noted for using an attacking 4-3-3 formation at Ravenna and was expected to continue a similar approach with the Elefanti.
On 8 December 2009 Siniša Mihajlović
Siniša Mihajlovic
Siniša Mihajlović is a Serbian football manager and former player. He was in charge of Serie A club Fiorentina since June 2010 to November 2011....
was appointed new head coach of Catania, taking over from Gianluca Atzori. He signed a contract until June 2011 with the Elefanti. Arriving at the club that was dead last in the Serie A standings, Mihajlović debuted with a loss against Livorno. However, the following week, his team pulled off a stunning upset by beating heavily favoured Juventus away in Turin with a 2–1 scoreline. After Mihajlović's departure to Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
, Catania appointed Marco Giampaolo
Marco Giampaolo
Marco Giampaolo is an Italian association football manager.-Playing career:Born in Bellinzona, Switzerland, but originary from Giulianova, Giampaolo is a former midfielder who played for several Serie C teams, including Giulianova Calcio, Gubbio, Licata and Siracusa, before to make his Serie B...
as new head coach for the 2010–11 season; on January 2011, Catania decided to remove Giampaolo from his position due to poor results and replace him with former Argentine star Diego Simeone, who had no previous experience at Serie A level but managed to guide the Sicilians to safety before to part company by the end of the season, after only four months in charge of the team. As a replacement, Catania appointed 37-year old Vincenzo Montella
Vincenzo Montella
Vincenzo Montella is a retired Italian footballer. Currently he is the youngest head coach of Serie A, after being named at the helm of Sicilian outfit Catania on 9 June 2011....
, at his second managerial experience after having served as caretaker at Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
during the final part of the 2010–11 season.
Current squad
Out on loan and co-ownership 2011–12
Notable former players
Enzo BearzotEnzo Bearzot
Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot was an Italian association football player and manager. He is best known for having led the Italian national football team to a triumph in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.-Playing career:...
Amedeo Biavati
Amedeo Biavati
Amedeo Biavati was an Italian footballer, who was born in Bologna.He played in Serie A with Bologna and with Catania in Serie B. For the Italian team was 1938 World Champion....
Riccardo Carapellese
Riccardo Carapellese
Riccardo Carapellese was an Italian football striker and coach.He was born in Cerignola, province of Foggia. He died in Rapallo in 1995 at 73 years of age.-Club:...
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
Ennio Mastalli
Giovanni Vavassori
Giovanni Vavassori
Giovanni Vavassori is an Italian football manager and former centre back, last in charge of Verona.-Playing:...
Giuseppe Mascara
Giuseppe Mascara
Giuseppe Mascara is an Italian professional football player currently playing for Napoli in the Italian Serie A. He is equally adept at playing as a striker or as a wide forward.-U.S. Ragusa:...
Albano Bizzarri Mariano Andujar
Mariano Andújar
Mariano Gonzalo Andújar is an Argentine football goalkeeper. He currently plays for Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A.-Club Atlético Huracán:...
Luis Oliveira
Luis Oliveira
Luis Airton Barroso Oliveira is a former Brazilian-Belgian football player and currently coach of the Nuorese.He spent most of his playing career in Italy.-Career:...
Johan Walem
Johan Walem
Johan Walem is a former football midfielder and is now a TV consultant for Belgacom TV. He was one of the best Belgian midfielders of his generation, but he gained surprisingly few caps for the national team, scoring two goals.His former clubs are Molenbeek , Anderlecht, Udinese, Parma ,...
Pedrinho
Pedro Luís Vicençote
Pedro Luís Vicençote, best known as Pedrinho is a former Brazilian football player in defender role....
Chinesinho
Chinesinho
Sidney Colônia Cunha , commonly known as Chinesinho, was a Brazilian footballer who played at both professional and international levels, as a midfielder.-Career:...
Juan Manuel Vargas
Juan Manuel Vargas
Juan Manuel Vargas Risco , is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a wing-back for Italian Serie A club A.C.F. Fiorentina, and the Peru national team and is currently the team's captain...
Jorge Andres Martinez
Jorge Andrés Martínez
Jorge Andrés Martínez Barrios is a Uruguayan footballer who currently plays for Cesena in the Italian Serie A.-Montevideo Wanderers F.C.:...
Presidential history
Catania have had several presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents, here is a list of them from 1946 onwards.Michele Giuffrida
|align=left|1956–59
|-
|align=left|Ignazio Marcoccio
|align=left|1959–69
|-
|align=left|Angelo Massimino
Angelo Massimino
Angelo Massimino was an Italian enterpreneur and football owner, who served as chairman of Calcio Catania for almost 25 years....
|align=left|1969–73
|-
|}
|width="30"|
|valign="top"|
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| Salvatore Coco | 1973–74 |
| Angelo Massimino | 1974–87 |
| Angelo Attaguile | 1987–91 |
| Salvatore Massimino | 1991–92 |
| Angelo Massimino | 1992–96 |
| Grazia Codiglione | 1996–00 |
| Riccardo Gaucci | 2000–04 |
| Antonino Pulvirenti | 2004– |
|}
Managerial history
Catania have had many managers and trainers throughout the history of a club, in some seasons more than one manager was in charge. Here is a chronological list of them from 1946 onwards.Stadium information
- Name: Stadio Angelo MassiminoStadio Angelo MassiminoStadio Angelo Massimino is a multi-use stadium in Catania, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the home of Calcio Catania. The stadium was built in 1937 and holds 23,420...
- Location: CataniaCataniaCatania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
- Capacity: 23,420
- Inauguration: 27 November 1937
- Pitch Size: 110 x 70 metres
Catania first made their debut at the Stadio Angelo Massimino
Stadio Angelo Massimino
Stadio Angelo Massimino is a multi-use stadium in Catania, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the home of Calcio Catania. The stadium was built in 1937 and holds 23,420...
, then called the Stadio Cibali in 1937. The stadium was renamed in honour of former president Angelo Massimino in 2002. Massimino had been president of the club from 1969 until his death in 1996.
It has been proposed that the club would move to a 33,765 seater stadium named Stadio Dèi Palici, which is to be located in the southern outskirts of the city of Catania in an industrial zone called Pantano d'Arci.
Honours
Serie BSerie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
- Champions: 1953–54
- Promoted: 1959–60, 1969–70, 1982–83, 2005–06
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi , was a football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league to start 1960 and then aided by the Swiss League in 1962 for the reason that the majority of the Alps are in Switzerland...
- Runners-up: 1964
Serie C
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
/ Serie C1
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....
- Champions: 1938–39, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1974–75, 1979–80
- Promoted: 2001–02
Serie C2
Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
- Champions: 1998–99
Serie D
Serie D
Serie D is the top level of the Italian non-professional football association called Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. The association represents over a million football players and thousands of football teams across Italy. Serie D ranks just below Lega Pro Seconda Divisione , and is thus considered the...
- Champions: 1994–95
Eccellenza Sicily
Eccellenza Sicily
Eccellenza Sicily is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs on the Isle of Sicily, Italy. It is competed amongst 32 teams, in two different groups . The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D...
- Promoted: 1993–94
Club records
- Highest League Position: 8th, in the 1960–61 and 1964–65 seasons.
- Most League Appearances: 281, Damiano Morra between 1975 and 1984.
- Most League Goals: 47, Guido Klein and Adelmo PrennaAdelmo PrennaAdelmo Prenna was an Italian professional football player and coach.He played for 6 seasons in the Serie A for A.S. Roma, SPAL 1907 and Calcio Catania....
. - Most Serie A Appearances: 150, Giuseppe VavassoriGiuseppe VavassoriGiuseppe Vavassori was an Italian professional football player.After his death a stadium in Rivoli was named after him.-Honours:* Serie A champion: 1957/58, 1959/60, 1960/61....
between 1961 and 1966.