Rende Calcio 1968 S.r.l. is an

Italian football Football ( ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Brazil (with five), runners-up in two finals both against Brazil, (1970, 1994) and ...

club, based in

Rende Rende is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, 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 taken ...

, Calabria, currently playing in

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

, 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 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

for their first time in 1978, and then even

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

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, 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 Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, losing 4–0 to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

and changed its name to

Fortitudo Cosenza Cosenza Calcio S.r.l. is an Italian football club, based in Cosenza, Calabria. Currently the team plays in . For the 2025/2026 season it shall play in the Serie C History Cosenza Calcio The club was founded in 1926 as "Cosenza Foot-Ball Club" ( ...

, taking the place of local club A.S. Cosenza Calcio, that was facing financial problem. The owner of the club also changed from

Franco Chiappetta Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

Damiano Paletta Damiano may refer to: *Damiano (surname) *Damiano (given name) *Damiano, Pella, village in Pella regional unit, Greece *Damiano Defence The Damiano Defence is a chess opening beginning with the moves: # e4 e5 # Nf3 f6? The defence is one of th ...

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 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 the Prima Categoria level progress ...

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 ...

in 2009.

Return to Serie D

In the season 2012–13 the team was promoted from Eccellenza Calabria to

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.

References

External links

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