A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in

San Benedetto del Tronto San Benedetto del Tronto is a city and ''comune'' in Marche, Italy. Part of an urban area with 100,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most densely populated areas along the Adriatic Sea coast. It is the most populated city in Province of Ascoli P ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

. Sambenedettese currently plays 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 ...

History

Foundation

The original club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 1956, the club was first promoted to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

, a division where they spent a total of 21 seasons (the last time of which was in 1989). In the 1980s, they also had a young

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

as a goalkeeper in their stint in the Italian second division. In 1994, the club went bankrupt and was successively forced to restart from

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

. In 2000, the club was acquired by

Luciano Gaucci Luciano Gaucci (December 28, 1938 – February 1, 2020) was an Italian entrepreneur and sportsman. He was the owner of various clubs: * Perugia Calcio, a football club based in Perugia, Umbria. * Viterbese Calcio, a football club based in Viterbo, ...

and eventually won promotion back to professionalism in 2001 and then to

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 ...

just a year later. In 2009, the club was forced to restart again from Eccellenza, this time as U.S. Sambenedettese 1923. In 2012–13 season, Sambenedettese won Group F of Serie D, but it was not promoted to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione as it was excluded by Federal Council's decision for incomplete documentation of submission to the league. The company behind the club also changed the name to U.S. Sambenedettese 1923 S.r.l. at that time. Refounded as A.S.D. Sambenedettese Calcio, the club restarted from Eccellenza Marche and promptly won promotion to Serie D. On 4 August 2015, Franco Fedeli acquired the then-Serie D club, and in 2016 Sambenedettese were promoted back to Lega Pro as the Group F winner of

2015–16 Serie D The 2015–16 Serie D was the sixty-eighth edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represents the fourth tier in the Italian football league system. The phoenix club of Parma Calcio was added to this league. ...

. The club was known as S.S.D. Sambenedettese ARL at that time. At the start of 2016–17 season the company behind the club changed the name to S.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. (P.IVA 02177180441), but marketing as S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio. In 2020, the club was sold by Franco Fedeli to Italian-Argentine entrepreneur and

Bangor City F.C. Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

owner Domenico Serafino. However, less than a year later, after Serafino failed to comply with several financial requirements, the club was declared bankrupt. The club's naming rights were then acquired by entrepreneur Roberto Renzi and was refounded as A.S. Sambenedettese. After repaying all debts, the newly reformed club was formally accepted by the Italian Football Federation, this way maintaining their spot in the Serie C league. The club was however excluded from Serie C due to financial irregularities and successively admitted to

following a successful appeal and the payment of a league membership fee. In 2023, Sambenedettese were also excluded from Serie D, and the club's naming rights were assigned to fellow Serie D club Porto d'Ascoli, who restarted under the new denomination of U.S. Sambenedettese.

Players

First team squad

Colors and badge

The team's colors are red and blue.

Rivalries

The main rivalry is with Ascoli. They are in the same province – Province of Ascoli Piceno.

Honours

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...

**Winners: 1991–92

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambenedettese Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in the Marche Association football clubs established in 1923 Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Province of Ascoli Piceno 1923 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs