U.S. Pistoiese 1921
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| Full name | Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 s.r.l. |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Arancioni (Orange), Olandesina (Little dutch girl) |
| Founded | 1921 1937 (refounded) 1945 (refounded) 1988 (refounded) 2009 (refounded) |
| Ground |
Stadio Marcello Melani, Pistoia, Italy |
| Capacity | 13,195 |
| Chairman | Orazio Ferrari |
| Manager | Gianmarco Remondina |
| League | Lega Pro/A |
| 2015–16 | Lega Pro/B, 12th |
Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently Pistoiese plays in Lega Pro.
The singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini is probably the most famous tifoso of Pistoiese in Italy.
The club was founded in 1921 and refounded in 1937, 1945, 1988 and 2009; having last been in Serie A in 1981.
Pistoiese achieved prominence by rising to Serie B in the late 1970s with promotion to Serie A following in 1980. Under Marcello Melani Presidency, who choose veterans like Marcello Lippi and Mario Frustalupi and promising young talents such as Paolo Benedetti, Pistoiese reached in just 6 years the Serie A and made a reasonable start reaching as high as 6th after a win at Fiorentina at Round 13. But a dismal freefall resulted in last place in relegation, and the club have not recovered since apart from spells in Serie B in 1995–96 and 1999–2002. Melani left his direction in 1980 followed by Lippi in 1981.
In the 2005–06 Serie C1/B campaign, Pistoiese battled against relegation from Serie C1 with goals proving hard to come by, yet having one of the best defensive records in the division. A good season ending brought the team to a good 9th place in Group A, but just three points ahead the relegation playouts. Pistoiese finished 14th in Group B in 2007–2008 season and played relegation play-off against Sangiovannese. They won by 4–0 aggregate and remained in Lega Pro Prima Divisione (former Serie C1).
The Tuscan club started the 2008–09 season with Roberto Miggiano as head coach, but disappointing results and a bottom-place in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione table led the club to replace him with Salvatore Polverino later in October. However, results did not improve under new boss Polverino, prompting him to tend his resignations on February 2009. He was replaced by former Juventus star Moreno Torricelli, in his first personal stint as professional head coach; under Torricelli's reign, Pistoiese managed to improve results and escape immediate relegation ending in 16th place. Nevertheless, Pistoiese lost play-out against Foligno and got relegated in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
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