Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, 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

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) 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 (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

and currently compete in the

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, 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 ...

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

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

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

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 ...

. The first team from

to reach Serie A, Ternana enjoys a local rivalry with

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. Ternana plays its home matches at the

Stadio Libero Liberati The Stadio Libero Liberati is a multi-use stadium in Terni, Italy. It is currently used mostly for association football, football matches and the home of Ternana Unicusano Calcio. The stadium was built in 1969 and holds 17,460. The stadium was ...

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. 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 in 1950. A third relegation, this time to

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 ...

, 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 Corrado may refer to: Places *Anticoli Corrado, comune in the City of Rome * Monte Vidon Corrado, comune in the Province of Fermo People Given name *See Corrado (given name) Surname * Andrea Corrado (1873-1963), Italian ship owner * Andrea Di Corr ...

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 Edmondo Fabbri (16 November 1921 – 8 July 1995) was an Italian football player and coach; a fast player, he mainly played as a winger. Playing career Fabbri was born in Castel Bolognese. During his club career, he played for several teams. ...

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 Trie ...

and

Renzo Ulivieri Renzo Ulivieri (born 2 February 1941) is an Italian football manager. He is the current chairman of the ''Associazione Italiana Allenatori Calcio'' (Italian Football Managers' Association). Career After a very short playing career as a midfielde ...

, 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 The 1979–80 Coppa Italia, the 33rd Coppa Italia was an Italian Football Federation domestic cup competition. Roma won the cup after defeat Torino on penalty. Group stage Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 ...

, where Ternana reached the semi-finals, being then eliminated 3–1 on aggregate by

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. During the 1980s Ternana played between

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 ...

and

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 ...

, 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 (, ; , , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Southern Italy, east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo, Abruzzo region. In Italian, the adjectival form is ''teatino'' and inhabitants of Chieti ar ...

. 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 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 ...

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

Teramo Teramo (; ) 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) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

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

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 60 ...

missed a promotion in Serie A finishing 4 points behind

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

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

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

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

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

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 Stefano Bandecchi (born 4 April 1961) is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. A member and coordinator of the centrist party Popular Alternative, he holds the office of Mayor of Terni since 2023. He founded the Niccolò Cusano University i ...

(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 and returned to Serie B after a three-year purgatory. In their last season in Serie C, Ternana dominated the (Southern) group C, finishing 22 points ahead Catanzaro.

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 Ultra may refer to: Science and technology * Ultra (cryptography), the codename for cryptographic intelligence obtained from signal traffic in World War II * Adobe Ultra, a vector-keying application * Sun Ultra series, a brand of computer work ...

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'' (English: "The Messenger") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper based in Rome, Italy. It has been in circulation since 1878. It is one of the main national newspapers in Italy. History and profile ''Il Messaggero'' ...

'' (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) *

(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 Leonardo Acori (born 16 January 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Acori played since 1974 to 1983 in the football team of G.S. Banco di Roma. Coaching career Acori's first coachi ...

(1994–95) * Massimo Silva (1995–96) * Luciano Spinosi (1996) *

(1996–98) * Antonello Cuccureddu (1998) *

(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, Inter Milan, and Napoli; although he won titles ...

(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 ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''co ...

(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 Fernando "Nando" Orsi (born 12 September 1959 in Rome) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. Playing career After starting out at Roma, Orsi, a former goalkeeper, made his professional debut in 1979 for S ...

(2010–11) * Bruno Giordano (2011) * Domenico Toscano (2011–13) * Attilio Tesser (2013–15) * Domenico Toscano (2015) *

Roberto Breda Roberto Breda (born 21 October 1969) is an Italian football coach and former player. Playing career A midfielder, Breda made his Serie A debut with Sampdoria and later played with several other teams ranging from the top flight to Serie C club ...

(2015–2016) * Cristian Panucci (2016) *

Benito Carbone Benito Carbone (born 14 August 1971) is an Italian association football, football manager and former professional player. Since August 2024, he is the head coach of Inter Milan's Inter Milan Youth Sector, under-18 side. As a player, he was play ...

(2016–2017) * Carmine Gautieri (2017) *

Fabio Liverani Fabio Liverani (; born 29 April 1976) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. He is the head coach of club Ternana. He made 288 Serie A appearances across 12 seasons, representing Perugia, Lazio, Fiorentina and Palermo. He was the ...

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

Luigi De Canio Luigi "Gigi" De Canio (born 26 September 1957) is an Italian association football, football manager and a former player who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full-back. Career Player De Canio, a Defender (football)#Full-back ...

(2018–2019) * Alessandro Calori (2019) * Fabio Gallo (2019–2020) *

Cristiano Lucarelli Cristiano Lucarelli (; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a forward. Club career Lucarelli was born in Livorno, Italy. A journeyman striker, he had stints with eight different teams (includ ...

(2020–present)

Honours

**Winners: 1971–72 *

**Winners: 1967–68, 1991–92, 2011–12, 2020–21 *

**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. The competition was inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national foo ...

**Winners:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{Serie B Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Umbria Association football clubs established in 1925 Serie C clubs 1925 establishments in Italy