Castel di Sangro Calcio
Encyclopedia
Castel di Sangro Calcio is an Italian association football
club from Castel di Sangro
in the Province of L'Aquila
, Abruzzo. Their moment of greatness came in 1996, when they were promoted to Serie B
, a noteworthy accomplishment for a team coming from a town of only 5,500 residents. Even greater, they were able to survive in that league another year. The story of their first season in Serie B is chronicled in the book The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss
. The team played at the 7,220 seat Teofilo Patini stadium in Castel di Sangro. The team's colours are red and yellow.
(third category).
It took them thirty years to earn a promotion to Seconda Categoria, but they did so in 1983, but the jump up a league meant they needed money for league fees, player stipends, and better equipment, and they had none. Their savior came in the form of Pietro Rezza, a southerner from the region of Puglia who married into one of the town's wealthiest families and left the operation of the team to his niece's husband, Gabriele Gravina.
Their second promotion to Prima Categoria
came a scant two years later. At this point, it no longer was possible to remain competitive by fielding a team composed solely of local talent and although they were still not professional, Gravina "hired" players from out of town to work in local jobs and play for the team. As such, they quickly moved up the ranks, and by 1989 they reached the professional ranks of Serie C2.
The difference between C1 and C2 is vast. C2 may be professional, but it is barely so, and the teams are generally from small towns. Still, it was mind-boggling that a team from tiny Castel di Sangro deep in the hinterlands of the Abruzzo not only made it there but lasted seven years. For them to get to C1 was inconceivable, for C1 contained truly professional teams, some of whom had even been in Serie A at one point (Ascoli had been there in 1990, and Lecce
in 1993; both would later return to Serie A).
Naturally, expectations were low. Simply staying in C1 itself would have been quite an accomplishment, but Jaconi outperformed far beyond that; that season they finished second, meaning they qualified for the playoffs to determine promotion to Serie B. Their first playoff was a two-legged match against nearby Gualdo. They lost the first match 1–0 on the road. At home, it looked as if the match would end in a scoreless tie (meaning that Castel di Sangro would lose on the aggregate score), when Jaconi made a seemingly bizarre substitution. With only fifteen seconds or so left, he sent in a defender who had played in only seven games the entire season. His maneuver worked to perfection: He scored seven seconds after that. Castel di Sangro thus advanced, having finished higher in the standings than fifth-place Gualdo.
The second playoff was a single match against Ascoli, to whom they had lost twice during the season. Ninety minutes went by without a goal, then thirty minutes more of overtime, still without a score, and it was up to a penalty shootout
to decide the victor. One minute before the end of overtime, Jaconi had made another inexplicable substitution: He sent in Pietro Spinosa, a goalkeeper who had not played a single minute that season. As the shootout progressed, neither side missed, until the eighth round, when Spinosa made a seemingly impossible save, securing the victory — and promotion — for his team. This was the "Miracle of Castel di Sangro".
Having been in the lower leagues, the team was forced to upgrade their stadium in accordance with Serie B regulations, and as construction hadn't finished by the beginning of the season, they played their first several home matches in nearby Chieti
. After months of delays, when it finally did open in December, the severe winter weather and poor fertilizer made the pitch unplayable, causing their first fixture there to be called off. Later that month two of their star players, Danilo di Vincenzo
and Pippo Biondi, died in a car crash.
At the beginning of 1997, another player, Gigi Prete, was arrested for drug dealing. His wife had been caught smuggling
in cocaine
from Chile
. Gravina, was also arrested in conjunction. All charges were eventually dropped.
It looked like they were going to get some help in the form of Joe Addo
of FSV Frankfurt
of the German Oberliga Hessen
. He was also captain of the Ghana national football team
, which had made the semifinals in the 1996 Summer Olympics
. However, Jaconi refused to sign the contract and Addo went on to Sparta Rotterdam
of the Eredivisie
.
Following this, Gravina announced the team was to sign a Nigeria
n player from Leicester City F.C.
of the FA Premier League
named Robert Ponnick. Being the first Premiership player to play in Serie B, the press crowded his debut in an exhibition match. The match was a disaster, with Ponnick showing almost no sense of understanding football and getting into a fight with one of his team-mates. At the end, it was revealed that the opposing team was an acting troupe and he was one of its members. The whole charade had been cooked up by Gravina in order to generate publicity. As might be expected, it worked, but all of the press was sharply negative.
Throughout the turmoil, the team was near the bottom of the standings, and only monumental performances by goalkeeper Massimo Lotti
as well as critical goals by Claudio Bonomi and Gionatha Spinesi
(obtained on loan from Inter Milan) kept them from falling to the bottom. In the second-to-last game, they scored a 2–1 victory over Pescara to keep from being relegated, and the miracle continued.
According to McGinniss, the last match of the season was fixed; he overheard players before the match discussing how Bari, who needed a victory to ensure promotion to Serie A, would be allowed to score three goals and win, with Castel di Sangro allowed one consolation goal from a penalty kick. One player explained to him that Bari had asked for a favor, and even had they not done so, Castel di Sangro was unlikely to win anyway because of the emotional and physical toll consumed by the relegation battle. However, because "it is demanded by il sistema" (McGinniss claims that several members of the Castel di Sangro squad told him that the pre-arrangement of results in end-of-season matches that are significant to one of the teams was common in Italian football), the team could not possibly refuse. Bari won the match 3–1, Castel di Sangro's goal coming from a penalty.
The first year back in Serie C1, however, saw some success in the 1999 Coppa Italia
, where they were able to defeat Serie A teams Perugia and Salernitana before losing to Inter Milan in the quarterfinals.
Since then, they have not done nearly as well, falling back down to Serie C2 and then being cancelled from Italian football in 2005. Out of its ashes a new club was formed, called Pro Castel Di Sangro.
Both Bonomi and Spinesi eventually made their way to Serie A teams, and Bonomi was the first ex-Castel di Sangro player to score in Serie A.
season, Pro Castel di Sangro battled for promotion from beginning to end. After a long, hard fought season, the club fell short of promotion by three points (73) to Canistro (76). In 2006–07, Pro Castel di Sangro clearly won the league with an 11-point advantage to the second-placed team, moving up the ranks of Italian football to Eccellenza
for the next season, with a squad featuring former Serie B protagonists Bonomi and Martino. Pro Castel di Sangro then ended their first Eccellenza campaign of the 2000s with a mid-table placement, in a league which also featured former professional teams Chieti (who were eventually crowned champions) and L'Aquila
.
In Summer 2008 the club changed denomination to A.S.D. Castel di Sangro Calcio.
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 from Castel di Sangro
Castel di Sangro
Castel di Sangro is a city and comune of 6,109 people in the Province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, southern Italy. It is the central city of the Alto Sangro e Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia.-Geography:...
in the Province of L'Aquila
Province of L'Aquila
thumb|left|200px|Map of the province.The Province of L'Aquila is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region...
, Abruzzo. Their moment of greatness came in 1996, when they were promoted 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...
, a noteworthy accomplishment for a team coming from a town of only 5,500 residents. Even greater, they were able to survive in that league another year. The story of their first season in Serie B is chronicled in the book The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss
Joe McGinniss
Joe McGinniss is an American author of nonfiction and novels. He first came to prominence with the best-selling The Selling of the President, 1968 which described the marketing of then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon, and has authored 11 works since that time...
. The team played at the 7,220 seat Teofilo Patini stadium in Castel di Sangro. The team's colours are red and yellow.
Beginnings
The village of Castel di Sangro had suffered great damage during World War II. At the end of the war, a priest named Don Arbete organized a football team to help rebuild the community. Materials were scarce, so the players used a ball of socks tied with twine. They won their first match against a neighboring town, thus setting the bar high as far as expectations went. A formal team was organized by 1953, joining the lowest of all leagues in Italy, Terza CategoriaTerza Categoria
Terza Categoria is the name of the lowest level of "amateur" football in Italy. It is considered to be the 10th and lowest level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Terza Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the Seconda...
(third category).
It took them thirty years to earn a promotion to Seconda Categoria, but they did so in 1983, but the jump up a league meant they needed money for league fees, player stipends, and better equipment, and they had none. Their savior came in the form of Pietro Rezza, a southerner from the region of Puglia who married into one of the town's wealthiest families and left the operation of the team to his niece's husband, Gabriele Gravina.
Their second promotion to Prima Categoria
Prima Categoria
Prima Categoria is the name of a level of football in Italy. It is considered to be the eighth level in the Italian football league system and is organized by the National Amateur League by the Regional Committees. Each individual league winner within the Prima Categoria level progresses to their...
came a scant two years later. At this point, it no longer was possible to remain competitive by fielding a team composed solely of local talent and although they were still not professional, Gravina "hired" players from out of town to work in local jobs and play for the team. As such, they quickly moved up the ranks, and by 1989 they reached the professional ranks of Serie C2.
1993–1996
At this point, the road to success became a little bumpy, and they struggled to stay in C2. One-third of the way through the 1993–94, things were looking bad and they were facing relegation. Gravina brought in manager Osvaldo Jaconi, who worked a minor miracle by leading the team to a seventh-place finish. The next season, he astonished again by taking them to Serie C1.The difference between C1 and C2 is vast. C2 may be professional, but it is barely so, and the teams are generally from small towns. Still, it was mind-boggling that a team from tiny Castel di Sangro deep in the hinterlands of the Abruzzo not only made it there but lasted seven years. For them to get to C1 was inconceivable, for C1 contained truly professional teams, some of whom had even been in Serie A at one point (Ascoli had been there in 1990, and Lecce
U.S. Lecce
Unione Sportiva Lecce or simply U.S. Lecce is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia who play in the Italian Serie A. After being crowned Serie B champions in 2009–10, the team successfully managed to avoid relegation in 2010-11....
in 1993; both would later return to Serie A).
Naturally, expectations were low. Simply staying in C1 itself would have been quite an accomplishment, but Jaconi outperformed far beyond that; that season they finished second, meaning they qualified for the playoffs to determine promotion to Serie B. Their first playoff was a two-legged match against nearby Gualdo. They lost the first match 1–0 on the road. At home, it looked as if the match would end in a scoreless tie (meaning that Castel di Sangro would lose on the aggregate score), when Jaconi made a seemingly bizarre substitution. With only fifteen seconds or so left, he sent in a defender who had played in only seven games the entire season. His maneuver worked to perfection: He scored seven seconds after that. Castel di Sangro thus advanced, having finished higher in the standings than fifth-place Gualdo.
The second playoff was a single match against Ascoli, to whom they had lost twice during the season. Ninety minutes went by without a goal, then thirty minutes more of overtime, still without a score, and it was up to a penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
to decide the victor. One minute before the end of overtime, Jaconi had made another inexplicable substitution: He sent in Pietro Spinosa, a goalkeeper who had not played a single minute that season. As the shootout progressed, neither side missed, until the eighth round, when Spinosa made a seemingly impossible save, securing the victory — and promotion — for his team. This was the "Miracle of Castel di Sangro".
The Serie B debut: 1996–97 season
The team's first season in Serie B was, in a nutshell, tumultuous.Having been in the lower leagues, the team was forced to upgrade their stadium in accordance with Serie B regulations, and as construction hadn't finished by the beginning of the season, they played their first several home matches in nearby Chieti
Chieti
Chieti is a city and comune in Central Italy, 200 km northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region...
. After months of delays, when it finally did open in December, the severe winter weather and poor fertilizer made the pitch unplayable, causing their first fixture there to be called off. Later that month two of their star players, Danilo di Vincenzo
Danilo Di Vincenzo
Danilo Di Vincenzo was an Italian footballer. He played as a striker. He played in Serie B with Cosenza and Castel di Sangro and in Serie C with various other teams. He died in the morning of 10 December 1996 in a car accident.-External links:* *...
and Pippo Biondi, died in a car crash.
At the beginning of 1997, another player, Gigi Prete, was arrested for drug dealing. His wife had been caught smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
in cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
from Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. Gravina, was also arrested in conjunction. All charges were eventually dropped.
It looked like they were going to get some help in the form of Joe Addo
Joe Addo
Joseph Addo is a former Ghanaian football defender and one-time captain of the Ghana national team.- Career :Addo went to the United States to attend college and play soccer at George Mason University...
of FSV Frankfurt
FSV Frankfurt
FSV Frankfurt is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. The club plays in the shadow of larger and much more successful Eintracht Frankfurt, which has recently returned to 2nd tier football...
of the German Oberliga Hessen
Hessenliga
The Hessenliga is the highest football league in the state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of eleven Oberligas in German football, the 5th tier of the German football league system. It was, until the introduction of the 3...
. He was also captain of the Ghana national football team
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
, which had made the semifinals in the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
. However, Jaconi refused to sign the contract and Addo went on to Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
of the Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
.
Following this, Gravina announced the team was to sign a Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n player from Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
of the FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
named Robert Ponnick. Being the first Premiership player to play in Serie B, the press crowded his debut in an exhibition match. The match was a disaster, with Ponnick showing almost no sense of understanding football and getting into a fight with one of his team-mates. At the end, it was revealed that the opposing team was an acting troupe and he was one of its members. The whole charade had been cooked up by Gravina in order to generate publicity. As might be expected, it worked, but all of the press was sharply negative.
Throughout the turmoil, the team was near the bottom of the standings, and only monumental performances by goalkeeper Massimo Lotti
Massimo Lotti
Massimo Lotti is an Italian footballer who plays for Venezia at Serie D. He spent half of his career at Lega Pro .-Biography:...
as well as critical goals by Claudio Bonomi and Gionatha Spinesi
Gionatha Spinesi
Gionatha Spinesi is an Italian former footballer.-Career:Spinesi started playing for Pisa Calcio. In November 1995 he signed for Inter Milan, however, he was not able to make appearance in the first team. Sold in January 1997 to Castel di Sangro, he played two unimpressive Serie B seasons for the...
(obtained on loan from Inter Milan) kept them from falling to the bottom. In the second-to-last game, they scored a 2–1 victory over Pescara to keep from being relegated, and the miracle continued.
According to McGinniss, the last match of the season was fixed; he overheard players before the match discussing how Bari, who needed a victory to ensure promotion to Serie A, would be allowed to score three goals and win, with Castel di Sangro allowed one consolation goal from a penalty kick. One player explained to him that Bari had asked for a favor, and even had they not done so, Castel di Sangro was unlikely to win anyway because of the emotional and physical toll consumed by the relegation battle. However, because "it is demanded by il sistema" (McGinniss claims that several members of the Castel di Sangro squad told him that the pre-arrangement of results in end-of-season matches that are significant to one of the teams was common in Italian football), the team could not possibly refuse. Bari won the match 3–1, Castel di Sangro's goal coming from a penalty.
Falling down: 1997–98 season and on
Their second year in Serie B did not go nearly as well. Many players were sold or left through other means, and Jaconi was fired midway through the season. Their relegation that year was their first in any league since 1983.The first year back in Serie C1, however, saw some success in the 1999 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 they were able to defeat Serie A teams Perugia and Salernitana before losing to Inter Milan in the quarterfinals.
Since then, they have not done nearly as well, falling back down to Serie C2 and then being cancelled from Italian football in 2005. Out of its ashes a new club was formed, called Pro Castel Di Sangro.
Both Bonomi and Spinesi eventually made their way to Serie A teams, and Bonomi was the first ex-Castel di Sangro player to score in Serie A.
Quest for promotion
In the 2005–2006 PromozionePromozione
Promozione is the name of a level of football in Italy. It is considered to be the 7th level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level...
season, Pro Castel di Sangro battled for promotion from beginning to end. After a long, hard fought season, the club fell short of promotion by three points (73) to Canistro (76). In 2006–07, Pro Castel di Sangro clearly won the league with an 11-point advantage to the second-placed team, moving up the ranks of Italian football to Eccellenza
Eccellenza
Eccellenza is the sixth level of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Aosta Valley which share 2 divisions...
for the next season, with a squad featuring former Serie B protagonists Bonomi and Martino. Pro Castel di Sangro then ended their first Eccellenza campaign of the 2000s with a mid-table placement, in a league which also featured former professional teams Chieti (who were eventually crowned champions) and L'Aquila
A.S.D. L'Aquila Calcio 1927
L'Aquila Calcio 1927 is an Italian association football club located in L'Aquila, Abruzzo.They are currently playing the 2010–11 season in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione B being promoted from the Serie D/F in the 2009–10 season...
.
In Summer 2008 the club changed denomination to A.S.D. Castel di Sangro Calcio.
Former players
- Carlo CudiciniCarlo CudiciniCarlo Cudicini is an Italian goalkeeper who currently plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. In his 10 years at Chelsea he established himself as one of England's best goalkeepers before injury and the arrival of Petr Cech displaced him as first-choice...
(currently with Tottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
) - Vincenzo IaquintaVincenzo IaquintaVincenzo Iaquinta, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus. He is a strong striker who can also play on the wing.-Reggiolo:...
(currently with Juventus) - Gionatha SpinesiGionatha SpinesiGionatha Spinesi is an Italian former footballer.-Career:Spinesi started playing for Pisa Calcio. In November 1995 he signed for Inter Milan, however, he was not able to make appearance in the first team. Sold in January 1997 to Castel di Sangro, he played two unimpressive Serie B seasons for the...
(currently with CataniaCalcio CataniaCalcio 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...
)