Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an

Italian football Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times ( 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing on ...

club based in

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It i ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

(in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seasons) and 28 times in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

, where it will play during the 2021–22 season, having earned promotion from

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega P ...

the season before. The first team from

to reach Serie A, Ternana enjoys a local rivalry with

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

. Ternana plays its home matches at the Stadio Libero Liberati.

History

Serie A

Foundation

The club was founded in 1925 as Terni F.B.C after the merger between ''Terni Football Club'' and ''Unione Sportiva Ternana'', reaching the II Division in 1926 and the I Division (nowadays known as

) just a year later.

From Serie C to Serie B

The club, however, folded in due to financial difficulties, being refounded in 1929 as Unione Fascista Ternana (a denomination that was common during the Italian fascist regime). Folding again in 1933, the club returned to footballing action in 1935 under the name Polisportiva Mario Umberto Borzacchini, after a racing car driver and a native of Terni who had died at the

1933 Monza Grand Prix Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

. In 1938 the new club reached promotion to

, missing a second consecutive promotion the following year. In 1946, after the World War II, football restarted in Italy and Ternana played in the

, missing promotion for two consecutive years, and being relegated to Serie C in 1949 and

IV Serie The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti ...

in 1950. A third relegation, this time to Promozione, came in 1953, and was followed by two years in the regional division for Ternana before returning to IV Serie in 1955. The club returned to

in 1964, and

in 1968, the latter under coach Corrado Viciani.

1970s–1993: From Serie A to bankruptcy

In 1972, Ternana finally won Serie B and reached Serie A for their first time, again with Viciani as coach. However, the club did not prove to be ready for Serie A, as they were promptly relegated in their debut appearance in the top flight, managing only three wins in 30 matches. In 1974, again in Serie B, Ternana managed to reach one of the three top spots, winning their second promotion to Serie A; this was, however, followed by yet another sad relegation. In the following years, despite a number of noted head coaches such as Edmondo Fabbri,

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Tries ...

and Renzo Ulivieri, Ternana did not manage to return in the top flight, and instead were relegated to Serie C in 1980, despite a prestigious run in the 1979–80 Coppa Italia, where Ternana reached the semi-finals, being then eliminated 3–1 on aggregate by

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. During the 1980s Ternana played between

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

and Serie C2, before going bankrupt on 12 December 1987. Managed by an official liquidator, Ternana ended the season and escaped relegation. The club, bought in the summer of 1988 by a consortium headed by Gaspare Gambino, won promotion to Serie C in 1988–89 after winning the penalty shootout in a playoff against

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo regi ...

. Successively, Ternana won Serie C1 in 1992 and marked their return to Serie B. The promotion was, however, followed by financial troubles that prevented new signings. At the end of the season, which the team finished in the last position, Ternana went officially bankrupt.

1993–1998: From the refoundation to Serie B

On the summer 1993 the club was refounded as Ternana Calcio and was being forced to begin again from

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti ...

. In their first Serie D campaign, Ternana missed promotion, ending in third place behind

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and '' comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Ital ...

and local rivals Narnese. This was followed by another unsuccessful attempt, as Ternana lost promotion to

Viterbese The Viterbese or it, Asino Viterbese, italic=no is a breed of donkey from Lazio in central Italy. It is particularly associated with the town and province of Viterbo from which it takes its name, and with the Monti della Tolfa and the town o ...

; despite this, the club was later readmitted to Serie C2 to fill a league vacancy (''ripescaggio''). In 1996–97 and 1997–98, with a new president and Luigi Delneri as head coach, Ternana won two consecutive promotions, thus returning to Serie B.

1998–present: From Serie B to Lega Pro Prima Divisione and back

Ternana played Serie B from 1998 until 2006. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

missed a promotion in Serie A finishing 4 points behind

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. In 2006 they were relegated to Serie C1 (since the season 2008–09

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 197 ...

). In the season 2010–11 the club was relegated to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of ...

after losing the play-out, but it was later readmitted to

on 4 August 2011 to fill vacancies. In the following season 2011–12 it was promoted from

. Back in Serie B, Ternana has avoided relegation as well as play-outs for 6 consecutive seasons. In June 2017, the ownership of the club passed to the Stefano Bandecchi (owner of the Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano). When the club was bought by Unicusano, thus adding the name of the private university to the club. The word "Unicusano" was also added to the crest in 2017–18 season, but was removed in May 2018. Ternana was relegated from Serie B on 12 May 2018.

Colors and badge

The team's colours are red and green. It is the only Italian professional team with a red and green combination.

Supporters

The

ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley P ...

supporters of Ternana Calcio are called "The Freak Brothers". Like many Italians ultras, they are linked with the political left."Terni, addio a Rambo: capo storico dei Freak Brothers ultras della Ternana,"
''

Il Messaggero ''Il Messaggero'' ( Italian : "The Messenger") is an Italian newspaper based in Rome, Italy. It has been in circulation since 1878. History and profile ''Il Messaggero'' was founded in December 1878. On 1 January 1879, the first issue of ''Il ...

'' (31 March 2018).

Squad

Current squad

Out on loan

Managers

* Karl Harmer (1930) * Guido Gianfardoni (1939–41) * Enrico Colombari (1941–42) * Oreste Cioni (1952–54), (1960–61), (1965–66) * Umberto Pinardi (1969–70) * Luís Vinício (1970–71) *

(1976–77) * Renzo Ulivieri (1978–79) * Gian Piero Ghio (1980–81) * Lauro Toneatto (1985–86) * Mario Facco (1986–88) * Claudio Tobia (1988–90) * Angelo Orazi (1990–91) * Roberto Clagluna (1991–92) * Franco Liguori (1992–93) * Claudio Tobia (1993–94) * Leonardo Acori (1994–95) * Massimo Silva (1995–96) * Luciano Spinosi (1996) * Luigi Delneri (1996–98) *

Antonello Cuccureddu Antonello Cuccureddu (, ; 4 October 1949) is an Italian association football coach and former player who played as a defender. He last managed Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Grosseto in 2014. Club career A central defender, Cuccureddu spent hi ...

(1998) * Luigi Delneri (1998–99) * Vincenzo Guerini (1998–00) *

Tarcisio Burgnich Tarcisio Burgnich (; 25 April 1939 – 26 May 2021) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender. Throughout his career, Burgnich played for Udinese, Juventus, Palermo, Internazionale, and Napoli; although he won title ...

(1999–00) *

Andrea Agostinelli Andrea Agostinelli (born 20 April 1957) is an Italian football coach and former professional footballer. He played as midfielder. Coaching career In April 2013, he was hired by Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; l ...

(2000–01) * Bruno Bolchi (2001–02) * Mario Beretta (2002–04) * Bruno Bolchi (2004) * Corrado Verdelli (2004) * Giovanni Vavassori (2004) * Domenico Caso (2005–06) * Renzo Gobbo (2010) * Fernando Orsi (2010–11) * Bruno Giordano (2011) *

Domenico Toscano Domenico Toscano (born 4 August 1971) is an Italian football coach and former midfielder, currently working as head coach of club Cesena. Playing career Raised in Reggina, in 1989, at the age of 18, he was sent on loan to Adelaide Nicastro, a ...

(2011–13) * Attilio Tesser (2013–15) *

(2015) *

Roberto Breda Roberto Breda (born 21 October 1969) is an Italian football coach and former player. He was most recently the manager of Serie B club Pescara. Playing career A midfielder, Breda made his Serie A debut with Sampdoria and later played with severa ...

(2015–2016) * Cristian Panucci (2016) * Benito Carbone (2016–2017) *

Carmine Gautieri Carmine Gautieri (born 20 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player. He is currently the head coach of Serie C club Avellino. Playing career Gautieri amassed a total 227 games with 26 goals in Serie A, the top le ...

(2017) *

Fabio Liverani Fabio Liverani (; born 29 April 1976) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder, who was most recently in charge of Cagliari. He made 288 Serie A appearances across 12 seasons, representing Perugia, Lazio, Fiorentina and Palermo. He wa ...

(2017) * Sandro Pochesci (2017–2018) * Ferruccio Mariani (2018) *

Luigi De Canio Luigi De Canio (born 26 September 1957) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a full-back. Career Player De Canio, a full back, played mostly with Serie C1 and Serie C2 teams, his lone season in Serie B being 1979– ...

(2018–2019) *

Alessandro Calori Alessandro Calori (born 29 August 1966) is an Italian football coach and former player, last in charge as head coach of Ternana. As a defender, he is mostly remembered for his lengthy spell with Udinese during the 90s, where he also served as ...

(2019) *

Fabio Gallo Fabio Gallo (born 11 September 1970) is an Italian football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently head coach of Serie C club Foggia. Playing career Between 1988 and 2007, Gallo played for Inter, Oltrepò Ca ...

(2019–2020) * Cristiano Lucarelli (2020–present)

Honours

: Winners: 1971–72 *

: Winners: 1967–68, 1991–92, 2011–12.

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, * Serie C2 : Winners: 1996–97, *

Supercoppa di Serie C The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C, inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national football championship f ...

: Winners: 2021,

Bibliography

References

External links

Official website
{{Serie A Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Umbria Association football clubs established in 1925 Serie B clubs Serie A clubs Serie D clubs Serie C clubs 1925 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 1993 establishments in Italy