Ravenna Football Club is an Italian association football club, based in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

, Emilia-Romagna. It currently plays in

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 Pro ...

after achieving promotion as Group D champions in the 2016-17 Serie D season. The club was founded in 1913.

History

Foundation

The club was founded in 1913 as football section of

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

''Unione Sportiva Ravennate''. In 1920, the club merged with ''Audace Football Club'', which was founded only one year earlier, in 1919. The same year the club joined the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

, being part of the

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth 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. Depending on each league's lo ...

league. Another merger in 1921 with ''S.G. Forti per essere Liberi'' brought the club to change its denomination to ''Unione Sportiva Ravennate Forti per essere Liberi''. The main sports club disbanded in 1928, with all its sports sections become separate entities; notably, the football one assuming the denomination of ''Associazione Calcio Ravenna''.

U.S. Ravenna

In 1936 Ravenna made their first appearance in the

, where they played until 1948. In 1949 the club, now playing in the amateur Interregionale league, became known as ''Unione Sportiva Ravenna'', then switching this denomination to ''Sarom Unione Sportiva Ravenna'' for sponsorship reasons in 1954, maintaining it for ten years. Ravenna returned to Serie C in 1950 for a single season, and again in 1955, playing in this division until 1971, when they relegated to Serie D. Another Serie C spell from 1972 to 1976 was followed by two consecutive relegations. Two promotions in a row from 1980 to 1982 then brought the club back to the pro leagues, in the recently created

Serie C2 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 2 ...

. Ravenna relegated to Serie D in 1984, but promptly returned to Serie C2. In 1992, Ravenna were awarded Serie C2 champions, being promoted to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), 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 ...

. Only one year later, in 1993, Ravenna won the Serie C1 league and gained promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

for a historical first time. However, this lasted only one season, and Ravenna returned to Serie C1 in 1994. They returned to Serie B in 1996, playing in the Italian second division until 2001, when they were relegated to Serie C1 and successively cancelled by the Federation because of financial troubles.

Ravenna Calcio

A new club, ''Ravenna Calcio'', was admitted to play

Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is competed amongst 36 teams, in two different groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The club who finishe ...

and obtained two consecutive promotions that brought them back to Serie C2 in 2003. In 2005, Ravenna were promoted to Serie C1 after playoffs, and on 9 May 2007 Ravenna won the 2006–07 Serie C1/B in advance of one matchday, following a 0–0 away tie against

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'Italia) ...

, being thus promoted to

, after six seasons from their last appearance in the second-highest division of Italy. They were relegated in 2008 after a poor Serie B campaign to

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 1978� ...

. In their first season back in Serie C1, now rebranded as

, Ravenna was coached by debutant manager

Gianluca Atzori Gianluca Atzori (born 6 March 1971) is an Italian football manager and former player, current coach of Floriana. Career Playing Atzori started his professional playing career with Rome-based Serie C side Lodigiani in 1988, then playing mostly ...

and missed immediate promotion by losing the playoff semifinals to

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, who later went on to win the playoff finals as well. For the 2009–10 season, Ravenna were forced to search for a new head coach after Atzori left for

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 Coppa ...

club

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, and former

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

''Primavera'' coach

Vincenzo Esposito Vincenzo Esposito (; born March 1, 1969) is an Italian former professional basketball player and coach, he lastly worked for Germani Basket Brescia of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), in Italy. During his playing career, he played at the shooting g ...

was appointed as a replacement. However, the season started with a huge off-the-field shock, as young Albanian midfielder

Brian Filipi Brian Filipi (11 August 1989 – 19 September 2009) was an Albanian football midfielder/striker who spent his short professional career with Ravenna. Club career Born in Lezhë, Brian Filipi made his first team debut with Ravenna in the 2008� ...

, a regular for the team despite his 20 years of age, was hit by a car and left dead on 19 September 2009. On 18 July 2011 it was excluded by the Federal Council from

, but on 12 August 2011 it was admitted in Serie D/D. after conciliation with

FIGC The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

2012: Bankruptcy after Relegation

In the season 2011–12 it was relegated to

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) 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 Ao ...

. On 29 June 2012 Ravenna Calcio in strong financial difficulty was declared bankrupt by the court of Ravenna.

From S.C. Ravenna Sport 2019 to Ravenna Football Club

A new club, Ravenna Sport 2019 was admitted to play Promozione Emilia- Romagna and was promoted to

. In summer 2013 the club was renamed with the current name.

Colors and badge

The team's colors are red and yellow.

Current squad

Notable former players

Notable former managers

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

Francesco Guidolin Francesco Guidolin (; born 3 October 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, most recently the manager of Premier League team Swansea City. He has coached various Italian club sides in Serie A, winning the 1996–97 Coppa Italia ...

Walter Novellino Walter Alfredo Novellino (born 4 June 1953; ), is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Novellino was born at Montemarano, province of Avellino. After spending his childhood in São Paulo, Brazi ...

Gyula Zsengellér Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker. A legend of Újpest FC, he is most famous for his part in taking the Hungarian national team to the 1938 World Cup Final. He was that ...

Albert Meyong Albert Meyong Zé (born 19 October 1980), known as Meyong, is a Cameroonian former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He spent most of his professional career in Portugal, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 231 matches and ...

Achievements

**Winners (3): 1992–93, 1995–96, 2006–07 * Super Coppa di Lega Serie C1 **Runners-up (1): 2006–07 *

**Winners (1): 1991–92 **Runners-up (1): 2004–05 *

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 Dilettant ...

**Winners (6): 1950–51, 1956–57, 1971–72, 1981–82, 1984–85, 2002–03 **Runners-up (1): 1955–56 * Scudetto Dilettanti **Winners (1): 1956–57 *

**Winners (1): 2001–02 *

Emilia-Romagna **Winners (4): 1954–55, 1996–97, 1980–81, 2012–13 **Runners-up (3): 1920–21, 1978–79, 1979–80 *

**Winners (1): 1939–40 **Runners-up (2): 1937–38, 1938–39 *''Seconda Divisione'' **Winners (1): 1929–30 *''Terza Divisione'' Emilia-Romagna **Winners (1): 1927–28

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravenna Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Emilia-Romagna Association football clubs established in 1913 Serie B clubs Serie C clubs 1913 establishments in Italy