| Clubname: | Pescara |
| Fullname: | Delfino Pescara 1936 S.p.A. |
| Nickname: | I Delfini (The Dolphins) I Biancazzurri (The White and Blues) Gli Adriatici (The Adriatics) |
| Ground: | Stadio Adriatico |
| Capacity: | 20,515 |
| Chairman: | Daniele Sebastiani |
| Manager: | Zdeněk Zeman |
| Current: | 2023–24 Delfino Pescara 1936 season |
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| Website: | http://www.pescaracalcio.com/ |
Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo.
The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 2012–13 and last participated in 2016–17. The team's official colors are white and light blue varied between either azure or sky blue, manifested in striped shirts with white socks and shorts.
Aside from a spell in Serie B in the 1940s, Pescara had a relatively undistinguished history until promotion to Serie B in 1974. With players like Giorgio Repetto and Bruno Nobili in the midfield, they managed to win their first promotion to Serie A in 1977 after winning the promotion play-off, but ultimately finished their first season in Serie A in last place. A second promotion after a play-off followed, but once more they would be relegated from the top flight and then descended to Serie C1 within two years.
Nonetheless, after returning to Serie B after a year, Pescara would enjoy a revival after the appointment of Giovanni Galeone as coach in 1986. His philosophy of attacking football saw the Biancazzurri promoted to Serie A as champions in 1987, where they lasted two years with players such as Júnior and Blaž Slišković among the club's star players. Galeone would return during the 1990–91 season and oversaw another promotion the following year.
After relegation, Pescara remained in Serie B side throughout the 1990s, narrowly missing promotion in 1999. Relegation to C1 followed in 2001, with promotion in 2003 being followed by two revoked relegations in a row due to bankruptcy and scandals affecting other clubs. Pescara was ultimately relegated in the 2006–07 season, with three presidential and managerial changes during the season. In December 2008, the debt-ridden club was legally declared out of business and its control passed to a bankruptcy trustee appointed by the Court of Pescara. In February 2009, a takeover from a group named Delfino Pescara 1936 was finalized with Deborah Caldora becoming the first woman to serve as chairman of the club. In the meantime, results did not improve significantly and in March, Giuseppe Galderisi was dismissed from the head coaching post with Antonello Cuccureddu being appointed as the new boss.
At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Eusebio Di Francesco was appointed as the new coach. Pescara finished second in Girone B of Lega Pro Prima Divisione and qualified for the promotional play-offs. They defeated Reggiana in the semi-final and Verona in the final and subsequently returned to Serie B after a three-year absence. The following season started with the appointment of Zdeněk Zeman as new head coach; the Czech manager immediately brought Pescara back into national coverage thanks to his well-known all-attacking playing style that turned out to match perfectly with promising youngsters such as Marco Verratti with loanees Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, who guided the squad to promotion to Serie A. Pescara secured promotion to the top-level after a 19-year absence after defeating Sampdoria with a 3–1 score in an away match on 20 May 2012. In the last minute of the final game of the regular season, Pescara striker Riccardo Maniero netted the winner in a match against Nocerina to claim Pescara's second Serie B title after Torino's draw away to AlbinoLeffe.
Pescara's 2012–13 campaign in Serie A – after losing Zeman, Verratti, Immobile and Insigne – ended with relegation back to the second tier.[1] Three years later, under World Cup winner Massimo Oddo, the team returned to Serie A with a 3–1 aggregate win over Trapani in the playoff final.[2] Zeman returned in February 2017 to the team,[3] who again lasted just one year at the top before being relegated in last place.[4]
In August 2018, Pescara launched a public mini-bond investment opportunity via sports investment platform Tifosy to raise a minimum of €2,000,000.[5] The investment scheme raised a total of €2,300,000 to develop the club's youth sector and facilities.[6]
Following an online competition to ease children's boredom during the coronavirus lockdown, the team adopted six-year-old Luigi D'Agostino's shirt design for the 2020 season.[7]
After a poor 2020-21 campaign, the side were relegated to Serie C, the third tier of Italian football.
One of Pescara's main rivals is Bari.[8]
As of 16 November 2023[10]
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Zdeněk Zeman | |
| Assistant coach | Giovanni Bucaro | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Giovanni Di Fiore | |
| Match analyst | Diego Labricciosa | |
| Team manager | Francesco Troiano | |
| Sporting director | Daniele Delli Carri |
| Name | Nationality | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edmondo De Amicis |  | 1937–38 | |
| Pietro Piselli | | 1938–39 | |
| Armando Bonino | | 1939–40 | |
| Mario Pizziolo | | 1940–41 | |
| Luigi Ferrero | | 1941–43 | |
| Edmondo De Amicis | | 1944–45 | |
| Giuseppe Marchi | | 1945–46 | |
| József Bánás |  | 1946–47 | |
| Mario Pizziolo | | 1947–48 | |
| Gino Piccinini | | 1948–49 | |
| Benedetto Stella | | 1949–50 | |
| Luigi Del Grosso | | 1950–53 | |
| Umberto De Angelis | | 1953–55 | |
| Alfredo Notti | | 1955–56 | |
| Alfredo Monza Renato Piacentini Orazio Sola | | 1956–57 | |
| Renato Piacentini | | 1957–58 | |
| Aurelio Marchese Mario Tontodonati | | 1958–59 | |
| Ljubo Benčić Mario Tontodonati | | 1959–61 | |
| Umberto De Angelis | | 1961–62 | |
| Leonardo Costagliola | | 1962–63 | |
| Ljubo Benčić Renato Piacentini | | 1963–64 | |
| Ljubo Benčić Vincenzo Marsico | | 1964–65 | |
| Antonio Giammarinaro Alfredo Notti | | 1965–66 | |
| Sergio Cervato | | 1966–67 | |
| Antonio Giammarinaro | | 1967–68 | |
| Gianni Seghedoni Mario Tontodonati | | 1968–69 | |
| Dante Lacorata Mario Tontodonati | | 1969–70 | |
| Francesco Capocasale | | 1970–71 | |
| Enzo Falini Vitaliano Patricelli | | 1971–72 | |
| Domenico Rosati | | 1972–76 | |
| Giancarlo Cadé | | 1976–78 | |
| Antonio Valentín Angelillo | | 1978–79 | |
| Gustavo Giagnoni Claudio Tobia Mario Tontodonati | | 1979–80 | |
| Aldo Agroppi | | 1980–81 | |
| Giuseppe Chiappella Saul Malatrasi Mario Tiddia | | 1981–82 | |
| Domenico Rosati | | 1982–84 | |
| Enrico Catuzzi | | 1984–86 | |
| Giovanni Galeone | | 1986–89 | |
| Ilario Castagner Edoardo Reja | | 1989–90 | |
| Giovanni Galeone Carlo Mazzone | | 1990–91 | |
| Giovanni Galeone | | 1991–92 | |
| Vincenzo Zucchini | | 1992–93 | |
| Gianni Corelli Giorgio Rumignani Franco Scoglio Vincenzo Zucchini | | 1993–94 | |
| Francesco Oddo Giorgio Rumignani | | 1994–95 | |
| Luigi Maifredi Francesco Oddo | | 1995–96 | |
| Delio Rossi | | July 1996 – June 1997 | |
| Adriano Buffoni Maurizio Viscidi | | 1997–98 | |
| Luigi De Canio Francesco Giorgini | | July 1998 – June 1999 | |
| Giovanni Galeone | | July 1999 – Nov 2000 | |
| Tarcisio Burgnich Giovanni Galeone Delio Rossi | | 2000–01 | |
| Ivo Iaconi | | July 2001 – May 2004 | |
| Cetteo Di Mascio | | May 2004 - June 2004 | |
| Giovanni Simonelli | | June 2004 – June 2005 | |
| Maurizio Sarri | | July 2005 – July 2006 | |
| Davide Ballardini Aldo Ammazzalorso Luigi De Rosa Vincenzo Vivarini | | July 2006 – June 2007 | |
| Franco Lerda | | July 2007 – June 2008 | |
| Giuseppe Galderisi | | July 2008 – March 2009 | |
| Antonello Cuccureddu | | 2009–10 | |
| Eusebio Di Francesco | | Jan 2010 – June 2011 | |
| Zdeněk Zeman |  | June 2011 – June 2012 | |
| Giovanni Stroppa | | June 2012 – November 2012 | |
| Cristiano Bergodi | | November 2012 – March 2013 | |
| Cristian Bucchi | | March 2013 – June 2013 | |
| Pasquale Marino | | June 2013 – February 2014 | |
| Serse Cosmi | | February 2014 – July 2014 | |
| Marco Baroni | | August 2014 – May 2015 | |
| Massimo Oddo | | May 2015 – February 2017 | |
| Luciano Zauri (caretaker) | | February 2017 | |
| Zdeněk Zeman | | February 2017 – March 2018 | |
| Massimo Epifani | | March 2018 – April 2018 | |
| Giuseppe Pillon | | April 2018 – May 2019 | |
| Luciano Zauri | | June 2019 – January 2020 | |
| Nicola Legrottaglie | | January 2020 – July 2020 | |
| Andrea Sottil | | July 2020 – August 2020 | |
| Massimo Oddo | | August 2020 – November 2020 | |
| Roberto Breda | | November 2020 – January 2021 | |
| Gianluca Grassadonia | | January 2021 – June 2021 | |
| Gaetano Auteri | | June 2021 – |
| Series | Years | Last | Promotions | Relegations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 7 | 2016–17 | - | 6 (1978, 1980, 1989, 1993, 2013, 2017) | |
| B | 39 | 2020–21 | 6 (1977, 1979, 1987, 1992, 2012, 2016) | 5 (1949, 1982, 2001, 2007, 2021) | |
| C | 29 | 2021–22 | 5 (1941, 1974, 1983, 2003, 2010) | 3 (1935✟, 1950, 1972) | |
| 75 out of 90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929 | |||||
| D | 10 | 1972–73 | 1 (1938, 1958, 1973) | never | |
| E | 1 | 1936–37 | 1 (1937) | never | |