Castel di Sangro Calcio
| Full name | Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Castel di Sangro Calcio |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Giallorossi (Yellow-reds), Sangrini, Castello (Castle), Castelsangro |
| Founded | 1953 2005 (refounded) |
| Ground |
Stadio Teofilo Patini, Castel di Sangro, Italy |
| Capacity | 7,220 |
| Chairman | Giuseppe Santostefano |
| Manager | Craig Duggan |
| League | Promozione Abruzzo/B |
| 2013–14 | Promozione Abruzzo/B, 2nd |
Castel di Sangro Calcio is an Italian association football club from Castel di Sangro in the Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo. They play in Promozione. Their moment of greatness came in 1996, when they were promoted to Serie B, a noteworthy accomplishment for a team coming from a town of only 5,500 residents. Even greater, they were able to survive in that league another year. The story of their first season in Serie B is chronicled in the book The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss. The team played at the 7,220 seat Stadio Teofilo Patini in Castel di Sangro. The team's colours are red and yellow.
The village of Castel di Sangro had suffered great damage during the Second World War. At the end of the war, a priest named Don Arbete organized a football team to help to rebuild the community. Materials were scarce, so the players used a ball of socks tied with twine. They won their first match against a neighboring town, thus setting the bar high as far as expectations went. A formal team was organized by 1953, joining the lowest of all leagues in Italy, Terza Categoria (third category).
It took the team thirty years to earn a promotion to Seconda Categoria, doing so in 1983. However, the jump up a league meant they needed money for league fees, players' wages, and better equipment, and they had none. Their savior came in the form of Pietro Rezza, a southerner from the region of Apulia who had married into one of the town's wealthiest families and who left the operation of the team to his niece's husband, Gabriele Gravina.
The club's promotion to the Prima Categoria came only two years later. At this point, it was no longer possible to remain competitive by fielding a team composed solely of local talent, and although they were still not a professional team, Gravina "hired in" players from out of town to work at local jobs and thus be available to play for the team. In this way, the team quickly moved up the ranks, and by 1989 it had reached the professional ranks of Serie C2.
At this point, the road to success became a little bumpy, and they struggled to stay in C2. One-third of the way through the 1993–94, things were looking bad and they were facing relegation. Gravina brought in manager Osvaldo Jaconi, who worked a minor miracle by leading the team to a seventh-place finish. The next season, he astonished again by taking them to Serie C1.
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