Livorno

Club Overview

Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio is a football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. The club was formed in 1915 and currently plays in Italian Serie A, having returned there in 2004 after last playing in Italy's top division in 1949. The team's colors are dark red or maroon (amaranto in Italian, from which the team nickname derives). The best placement in Italian Serie A was second place in 1942/1943 season, during which the amaranto gave life to a head-to-head competition with Torino. The team features in their home fixtures at the 18,200 seater Stadio Armando Picchi.

Club History

Founded in 1915 as U.S. Livorno, the club ended the Italian Football Championship 1919-20 in second place, losing the final to Inter. One year later they were defeated in the semi-final by arch-rivals Pisa. In 1933 the club moved to the current stadium, originally named after Edda Ciano Mussolini, daughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Successively Livorno ended as Serie A runners-up in the 1942-43 season. Livorno left Serie A in 1949 after seven consecutive seasons. They relegated to Serie C soon after, making a return to Serie B in 1955 for a single season and again from 1964 to 1972. The club was then cancelled in 1991, being forced to start from Eccellenza; two consecutive promotions led the team back to Serie C2. The club was promoted to Serie C1 in 1997 and was acquired by Aldo Spinelli two years later. Under the new property, Livorno returned to Serie B in 2001.

Livorno were promoted to Serie A after finishing third in the Serie B 2003-04, one of six clubs to be promoted that season. It had been fifty-five years since Livorno's last season in the top flight, and as a result of this, most were predicting an instant return to Serie B for the club. There were spells of struggle during the season, but there were many more good performances shown, and Livorno finished a surprise and creditable ninth place in the league for the Serie A 2004-05, also thanks to goals by striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who won the Serie A topscorer award that season outscoring even the likes of Shevchenko and Adriano.

The Serie A 2005-06 saw Livorno in sixth place after the first half of the season the team, being involved for qualification to the next UEFA Cup. However, shortly after Roberto Donadoni announced his resignations after having been criticised by club's chairman Aldo Spinelli. Donadoni was replaced by veteran coach Carlo Mazzone, who was only able to save a UEFA Cup place due to the expulsion of four teams from Europe in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal. Mazzone then saw his team suffer a run of seven straight defeats. In May 2006 Daniele Arrigoni was appointed new coach for the next season.

In the Serie A 2006-07, Livorno took part to the UEFA Cup for their first time ever. The Tuscan side were drawn to face Austrian team SV Pasching in the first round, beating them comfortably 3-0 on aggregate. They thus qualified for the group stages being drawn in Group A, along with Rangers, Auxerre, Partizan Belgrade and Maccabi Haifa. After a home loss to Rangers (2-3) and two 1-1 draws against Partizan (in Serbia, where goalkeeper Marco Amelia scored in the 87th minute) and Maccabi (in Livorno), the Tuscan side gained a 1-0 victory over Auxerre in the last game played in France, thus earning a spot in the round of 32 of the competition. However, Spanish team Espanyol knocked out Livorno from the UEFA Cup by winning 4-1 on aggregate.

After day 19 of Italian Serie A Arrigoni was sacked by chairman Spinelli, but his position was kept due to the strong opposition by the team. His dismissal was however only delayed, as Arrigoni was eventually fired on March 21, 2007, and replaced by Fernando Orsi who managed to keep the team away from the relegation battle. For the 2007-08 campaign, Orsi was confirmed as head coach and a number of notable signings such as Francesco Tavano and Vikash Dhorasoo were finalized, but also the transfer of Lucarelli to Ukrainian club FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The club however did not start well, making a mere two points in the first seven matches, and Fernando Orsi was sacked on October 9 and replaced by Giancarlo Camolese.

Club Rivalries

Pisa, Fiorentina, Lazio

Stars of the Current Squad

Tavano, Diamanti, Marco Amelia

Club Legends

Cristiano Lucarelli, Igor Protti

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

Team Honours

Club Management

Fernando Orsi

Uniforms

Dark red or maroon

Stadium

Stadio Armando Picchi

Sponsors

Livorno's supporters are known for their left-wing politics and their fierce, often violent, rivalries with several "right wing" team supporters

Important Links

www.livornocalcio.it

References

www.wikipedia.com