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Football Club Crotone S.r.l., or simply Crotone, is an Italian football club based in Crotone, Calabria currently playing in Serie C. Founded on September 20, 1910, Crotone holds its home games at Stadio Ezio Scida, which has a seating capacity of 16,647.[2]
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| Full name | Football Club Crotone S.r.l. | |||
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| Nickname(s) | I Pitagorici (The Pythagoreans) Gli Squali or Lo Squalo Calabrese (The Sharks or The Shark of Calabria) Rossoblù (Red and Blue) | |||
| Founded | 1910 | |||
| Ground | Stadio Ezio Scida | |||
| Capacity | 16,647[citation needed] | |||
| Chairman | Gianni Vrenna[1] | |||
| Head coach | Lamberto Zauli | |||
| League | Serie C Group C | |||
| 2022–23 | Serie C Group C, 2nd of 20 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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History edit
The club is based in the ancient Greek settlement of Kroton, one of the first Greek colonies in what is now known as modern day Italy. The club is proud[according to whom?] of their Greek origins with their banners and slogans and regularly depicting Greek icons[vague][clarification needed] such as soldiers of Sparta.[3]
The first team from Crotone, Società Sportiva Crotona, was founded on 20 September 1910, but without adhering to the Italian Football Federation, and the following main teams of Crotone, like Milone Crotone, did not participate before 1921 in several minor leagues including Prima Divisione (which later would be known as Serie C).[citation needed] Following World War II, a new club, Unione Sportiva Crotone, replaced the previous one, playing seven seasons in Serie C.[citation needed]
In 1963, the club was relegated to Serie D, but returned to the third division the following year, remaining there for fourteen consecutive seasons, missing promotion in 1977 when finishing third behind Bari and Paganese.[citation needed] In 1978, following the Italian football league reorganisation, Crotone was relegated to Serie C2 and the following year was declared bankrupt.[citation needed] A new club, Associazione Sportiva Crotone, began competing again in the Prima Categoria (eighth division).[citation needed]
Crotone was promoted to Serie C2 in 1984–85, but only for one season.[citation needed] The team's name was changed to Kroton Calcio, and the club was promoted again to C2 after the 1986–87 season, where it played until 1991.[citation needed] A second bankruptcy led to the foundation of Football Club Crotone Calcio with Raffaele Vrenna as chairman, starting in the Promozione (7th level).[citation needed] Crotone gained successive promotions to Serie C2 and C1, winning in the play-offs against Locri and Benevento, respectively.[citation needed]
Under Antonello Cuccureddu, Crotone first reached Serie B in 2000, returning to the second level two seasons later.[citation needed] Again in division two in 2004, after disposing of Viterbese in the promotion play-offs, it remained in the category until the 2006–07 season.[citation needed]
After being beaten by Taranto in the 2008 play-offs, Crotone returned to the second division the following season, defeating Benevento.[citation needed]
The team was promoted to Serie A, the Italian top flight, for the first time in its history in 2016.[4] In the 2016–17 season, the club finished 17th, securing a place in the next Serie A season.[citation needed] This was despite the Calabrian side only winning two points from the first ten matches, one of the poorest starts the Italian top-flight had seen in years.[quantify][citation needed] Crotone remained in the relegation positions for almost the entire season before an impressive[tone] revival saw the club achieve a seven-match unbeaten run from matchdays 30 to 36, including five wins in that time, and the season was concluded with a 3-1 victory over Lazio on the last matchday, a result that saw Crotone jump above Empoli to 17th place and thus secured another season in Serie A in what was hailed[by whom?] as a football miracle, led by 13-goal top scorer Diego Falcinelli and coach Davide Nicola.[5]
In the following season, Crotone failed to avoid relegation after losing against Napoli in the last match of the Serie A campaign, returning to Serie B after two seasons.[citation needed]
Following the 2019-20 season, the club was promoted to Serie A once more in second place, only behind Benevento in the table.[citation needed] However, the club's top-flight campaign was less than satisfactory.[citation needed] After spending the majority of the season in the last spot of the table, and losing incredible[tone] matches that were an early indicator of the hardship the club would endure,[tone] Crotone was mathematically relegated to Serie B after 34 games, following a loss to would-be champions Inter.[citation needed] This relegation came in contrast to several excellent[tone] performances from individual players, particularly striker Simy, who scored 20 league goals during the season, a record for a relegated team.[6] Nevertheless, the 92 goals Crotone conceded was one more than Casale conceded in 1933-34, setting a new Serie A record for goals against in a single season.[7]
To reduce wage bills following relegation to Serie B, the club loaned out attacking midfielder Junior Messias to AC Milan with an option for the latter to buy, and striker Simy to Salernitana (sold to the latter in January 2022)[citation needed]. The team's attacking power weakened.[citation needed] Crotone finished 19th in the league and suffered a second successive relegation to 2022-23 Serie C.[citation needed]
Colours and badge edit
Team colours are dark blue and white, due to their Greek origins, and also red.[citation needed] The club's kits are traditionally dark blue and red stripes.[citation needed]
Some of the team's mottos are "Salutate la Magna Grecia" ("Salute Greater Greece")[8][9] and "Noi siamo la Magna Grecia" ("We are Greater Greece").[10] Fans of FC Crotone pride themselves as being ”La Capitale Della Magna Grecia” ("The capital of Greater Greece").[9] The team's nickname is "I Pitagorici" ("the Pythagoreans"), deriving from the well-known Greek philosopher Pythagoras.[11]
Rivalries edit
FC Crotone has a fierce rivalry against LFA Reggio Calabria in what's called the "Magna Graecia derby".[12][13] The club also maintains rivalries against Cosenza Calcio and US Catanzaro 1929.[14][15]
Players edit
Current squad edit
- As of 1 February 2024[16]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching staff edit
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Lamberto Zauli
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| Assistant coach | Massimiliano Nardecchia
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| Assistant coach | Giuseppe Brescia
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| Goalkeeper coach | Antonio Macrì
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| Fitness coach | Fabio Allevi
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| Fitness coach | Elmiro Trombino
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| Physiotherapist | Armando Cistaro
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| Physiotherapist | Matteo Errico
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| Physiotherapist | Riccardo Pupo
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| Chief doctor | Massimo Iera
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| Club doctor | Massimo Bisceglia
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Managers edit
Giorgio Tricoli (1954–1955)- Bruno Giordano (1996–1997)
- Antonello Cuccureddu (1999–2001)
- Giuseppe Papadopulo (2000–2001)
- Antonio Cabrini (2001)
- Stefano Cuoghi (2001–2002)
- Franco Selvaggi (2002)
- Gian Piero Gasperini (2003–2004)
- Andrea Agostinelli (2004–2005)
- Gian Piero Gasperini (2005–2006)
- Elio Gustinetti (2006–2007)
- Guido Carboni (2007)
- Francesco Moriero (2008–2009)
- Franco Lerda (2009–2010)
- Leonardo Menichini (2010)
- Eugenio Corini (2010–2011)
- Leonardo Menichini (2010–2012)
- Massimo Drago (2012–2015)
Ivan Jurić (2015–2016)- Davide Nicola (2016–2017)
- Walter Zenga (2017–2018)
- Giovanni Stroppa (2018–2021)
- Serse Cosmi (2021)
- Francesco Modesto (2021)
- Pasquale Marino (2021)
- Francesco Modesto (2021–present)
References edit
- ^ "Società" (in Italian). F.C. Crotone. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ "Italy - FC Crotone - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". nr.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ "Italian Football Team FC Crotone is Uniquely Proud of Its Greek Origins". 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Crotone promoted to Serie A for first time in their history". espnfc.com. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ "Crotone's great escape". The Football Times. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ "2020-21 Serie 1 top scorers". sportskeeda.com.
- ^ "Crotone 2020-21 Season Review". Football Italia. 27 May 2021.
- ^ "Οταν 3000 οπαδοί φωναζαν: Salutate la Magna Grecia -Υποκλιθειτε στη Μεγάλη Ελλάδα". Olympia.gr (in Greek). 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b Kampouris, Nick (20 May 2022). "Italian Football Team FC Crotone Is Uniquely Proud of Its Greek Origins". Greek Reporter.
- ^ "Οι Ιταλοί δεν ξεχνούν την ιστορία και φωνάζουν «Είμαστε η ΜΕΓΑΛΗ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ»". Cognosco Team (in Greek). 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ Cianfanelli, Marco (2021-07-21). "FC CROTONE: MAGNA GRECIA E SQUALI - di Marco Cianfanelli". PennantsMuseum (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ Perri, Matteo (2012-04-12). "La Reggina indossa la Calabria, maglie speciali derby con il Crotone". Passione Maglie (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Crotone-Reggina 1-1, la sintesi". F.C. Crotone (in Italian). 2021-09-11. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ God (2003-09-10). "News da Benevento". UsCatanzaro.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ Redazione (2023-04-09). "Crotone, poker del Cosenza nel derby del campionato Primavera". Calcio Crotone (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Crotone squad". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
External links edit
- Official website (in Italian and English)