Rende Calcio 1968 S.r.l. 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 only ...

club, based in

Rende Rende is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy, home to the headquarters of the University of Calabria. It has a population of about 35,000, or more than 60,000 if the university students living there are take ...

, Calabria, currently playing in

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 ...

, the fourth highest football division in Italy.

History

Rende Calcio

The club was founded in 1968 with the name Sesso Rende and renamed as Rende Calcio. The club's first coach was the late Mario Portone, who afterward became the mayor of the Calabrian city, and won promotion to

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 ...

for their first time in 1978, and then even

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 ...

one year later. Rende played a consecutive five Serie C1 seasons before being relegated back to Serie C2 in 1984, and

in 1987. In 1992 the club relegated again, this time to

Eccellenza Calabria Eccellenza Calabria is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in the Southern Italian region of Calabria, Italy. It is competed among 16 teams, in one group. The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The club who finishes se ...

, and returned to Serie D only in 1997. Rende were relegated to Eccellenza again in 2000, but two consecutive promotions from 2003 to 2005 led the club back into professionalism, spending a total two seasons into

, and also playing in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

, losing 4–0 to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in a one-legged round in Rome. In July 2007 the club moved to

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

and changed its name to Fortitudo Cosenza, taking the place of local club

A.S. Cosenza Calcio A.S. Cosenza Calcio was an Italian football club based in Cosenza, Calabria. The club was an illegitimate phoenix club of Cosenza Calcio 1914 S.p.A., by the relocation of a local club from Castrovillari to Cosenza in 2003 (with a new team was ref ...

, that was facing financial problem. The owner of the club also changed from Franco Chiappetta to

Damiano Paletta Damiano may refer to: *Damiano (surname) * Damiano (given name) * Damiano, Pella, village in Pella regional unit, Greece. *Damiano Defence, a series of chess opening moves See also *San Damiano (disambiguation) San Damiano is the Italian for Saint ...

in March 2007.

S.S. Rende

The club was refounded in 2007 switching the denomination of the minor local club Santo Stefano to Società Sportiva Rende. The club won

Prima Categoria The Prima Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the seventh level (since 2014–15) in the Italian football league system and is organized by the National Amateur League by the Regional Committees. Each individual league winner within ...

in 2008 and

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 ...

in 2009.

Return to Serie D

In the season 2012–13 the team was promoted from

to fill the vacancies created.

Return to Serie C

In the season 2016–17 the team played in

and placed second in the football pitch. It also won the playoff final against Cavese for 2–1 at the Marco Lorenzon Stadium in

. For this reason, the team was kicked off in Serie C 2017–2018.

Colors and badge

The team's colors are red and white.

Current squad

References

External links

Official website
Association football clubs established in 1968 Serie C clubs 1968 establishments in Italy Rende {{Italy-footyclub-stub