Pol. Nuovo Campobasso Calcio
Encyclopedia
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...
located in Campobasso
Campobasso
-Main sights:The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local ruler Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins. The castle has Guelph merlons and stands on a commanding point, where traces of ancient settlements have been found...
, Molise, currently playing in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
The current club was refounded in 2003 to represent the city of Campobasso after the cancellation of Associazione Calcio Campobasso. The nickname of the club is lupi (Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
for "wolves") after the official and historical club logo, and they play their home matches at Stadio Nuovo Romagnoli
Stadio Nuovo Romagnoli
Stadio Nuovo Romagnoli is a sports stadium primarily used for association football located in Campobasso, Italy. The stadium currently hosts the home matches of Pol. Nuovo Campobasso Calcio, who play in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000...
.
History
The first football club in Campobasso was founded in 1919 under the denomination of Società Sportiva Campobasso, and achieved their first promotion to Serie CSerie 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 1975. After three seasons in Serie C, Campobasso were admitted to 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....
following the league split into two different tiers (Serie C1 and 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...
); they played Serie C1 until 1981–82, when Campobasso, thanks to a second place in the final league table, achieved a historical first 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...
.
Campobasso played at the Serie B level for five consecutive seasons, the best result being in 1983–84 (seventh place); they also enjoyed a surprising 1–0 home win 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...
in a 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...
match on 13 February 1985. In 1986–87, Campobasso were relegated after losing a three-way relegation playoff to 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 Taranto
Taranto Sport
A.S. Taranto Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Taranto, Apulia. The club was founded in 1904. Taranto currently plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione, having last been in Serie B in 1993. The team's colors are red and blue.-History:...
. In 1987–88 Campobasso obtained a fourth place in the Serie C1 table, and hosted a 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...
match against Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi is an Italian football coach. He is best known for his success coaching Italian teams, particularly with Milan where he won back to back European Cups as coach in the late eighties where he was head coach of the Italy national football team . He was twice manager of A.C...
's AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. The club however experienced two consecutive relegations in 1988–89 and 1989–90, and a successive cancellation because of financial troubles in the summer of 1990. Refounded as Football Club Campobasso, they were admitted to play 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...
, and returned to 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...
in 1993, but were again cancelled in 1996. Another refoundation, as Associazione Calcio Campobasso, happened soon later, with the new club joining 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...
and returning to 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...
in 2000. In their first Serie C2 campaign, Campobasso narrowly missed immediate promotion to Serie C1 after being defeating to promotion playoffs despite a second place in the regular season; however, this successful campaign was followed by relegation in 2001–02 and another cancellation weeks later.
In 2003, Polisportiva Nuovo Campobasso Calcio were founded, reaching promotion to Serie D two years later.