U.S. Città di Pontedera

Not to be confused with Pontevedra CF.
Pontedera
Full name Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera
Nickname(s) Granata
Founded 1912
Ground Stadio Ettore Mannucci,
Pontedera, Italy
Ground Capacity 5,014
Chairman Gianfranco Donnini
Manager Paolo Indiani
League Lega Pro/B
2015–16 Lega Pro/B, 7th

Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera (formerly Unione Sportiva Pontedera 1912) is an Italian association football club located in Pontedera, Tuscany. Currently it plays in Lega Pro.

History

Founded in 1912, Pontedera, a team from a city in the Pisa neighbourhood, played Serie C for several years without never gaining a single promotion to Serie B. In 1993/1994, a second place in Serie C2/B allowed Pontedera to be promoted to Serie C1: during that season, the team was known for having longily been the only undefeated team in all Italian professional leagues, and for having incredibly won 2–1 to the Italy national football team coached by Arrigo Sacchi in a friendly match played in April 1994. Pontedera played Serie C1 just in 1994/1995, and relegated to Serie D in 2001, and even Eccellenza in 2002. Pontedera returned to Serie D in 2005, after having won its Eccellenza round.

In summer 2006, The Gunther Corporation purchased Pontedera. It was reported in The Guardian newspaper on 17 May 2007 that the owner of Pontedera is a dog named Gunther IV, who inherited it from Gunther III who in turn inherited it from his owner Countess Libenstein.

Marcello Lippi, head coach of Italy national team and World Cup champion in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, started his professional managing career as Pontedera head coach in 1985–1986.

Serie D 2010–11

At the end of the 2010-11 Serie D season, Pontedera gained access to the Serie D play-off for promotion in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, but they were eliminated in the third round.

Back into professionalism

In the 2012-13 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season, Pontedera finished second in Girone B, and was promoted to Lega Pro Prima Divisione. This was the second consecutive promotion for the team. The 2013–14 season saw Pontedera topping the Lega Pro Prima Divisione table for the earlier weeks of the season, and then completing the regular season in eighth place and thus ensuring a Serie B promotion playoff spot, then losing to Lecce on penalties in the first round.

Colors and badge

Its colours are all-dark red.

Current squad

As of 2016.[1][2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
29 Italy GK Gianclaudio Lori
12 Italy GK Alessandro Giacomel
1 Italy GK Leonardo Citti
4 Italy DF Giacomo Risaliti
6 Italy DF Lorenzo Polvani
5 Italy DF Federico Vettori
21 Italy DF Alessandro Videtta
13 Italy DF Nicolò Curti
2 Italy DF Lorenzo Borri
23 Italy DF Claudio Zappa (on loan from Juventus)
24 Italy DF Riccardo Massa
3 Italy DF Andrea Gemignani
19 Italy DF Riccardo Calcagni
No. Position Player
14 Italy MF Daniel Gemignani
18 Italy MF Giacomo Calò
17 Italy MF Gianmarco Chella
8 Italy MF Simone Della Latta
16 Italy MF Francesco Corsinelli
30 Albania MF Elvis Kabashi (on loan from Juventus)
20 Italy MF Luca Bargiggia
10 Italy MF Francesco Di Santo
7 Italy FW Claudio Santini
15 Italy FW Roberto Bonaventura
9 Italy FW Davide Cais (on loan from Juventus)
11 Nigeria FW King Udoh (on loan from Juventus)

Notable former managers

References

  1. http://www.uspontedera.it/atleti/
  2. "PONTEDERA, I NUMERI DELLE MAGLIE" (in Italian). U.S. Città di Pontedera. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.


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