Full name | F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. |
---|---|
Nickname(s) |
Grifone (Griffon) Torelli (Little bulls) Maremmani |
Founded | 1912 |
Ground |
Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini, Grosseto, Italy |
Capacity | 9,779 |
Chairman | Massimiliano Pincione |
Manager | Nevio Orlandi |
League | Eccellenza |
2016–17 | Serie D/E, 18th (relegated) |
Website | Club website |
F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. is an Italian association football club, based in the city of Grosseto, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1912. The team's most associated nickname is grifone, after its logo, depicting a griffon. Its colours are red and white, and it currently plays in Eccellenza, the fifth level of italian football.
The club participated in professional league until 2015 as Unione Sportiva Grosseto Football Club. However the club failed to qualify for the 2015–16 Lega Pro, the third level of Italian football, following the departure of chairman Piero Camilli. Thanks to Article 52 of N.O.I.F., a phoenix club, F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. was admitted into the 2015–16 Serie D, the fourth level of Italian football instead.
The club was founded in 1912 as Football Club Grosseto, and made its debut in a match played and lost in Orbetello. The club joined the Italian Football Federation only nine years later, in 1921, being admitted in the Promozione division. In 1927, the club changes its official colours from black/white to the current white/red. Since its foundation, Grosseto played extensively from Serie C to the amateur leagues. In 1995 the club was cancelled by the football federation because of financial troubles, thus losing the right to participate in the Serie C2 after having won Serie D the same year. Following these events, Grosseto joined Eccellenza, ending it in fifteenth place being therefore relegated to Promozione. Two consecutive promotions from 1997 to 1999 however brought Grosseto back to Serie D. In 2000, Piero Camilli purchased the club with the aim to bring Grosseto back in the pros. In the 2001–2002 season, Grosseto ended as Serie D (Round F) runners-up, but were later admitted to Serie C2 to fill a league vacancy. The club successively won Serie C2 in 2004, being thus promoted to Serie C1. In 2005, Grosseto qualified for the promotion playoffs, losing the semifinal to Pavia; one year later, Grosseto gained again a spot in the playoffs, where they defeated Sassari Torres in the semi-finals, but lost to Frosinone in the finals, missing the opportunity to be promoted to Serie B for its first time in history. However, in the 2006–2007 season, under head coach Antonello Cuccureddu, who replaced Massimiliano Allegri after the ninth matchday, Grosseto finally managed to win Serie C1/A following a 1–0 away win at Padova in the final matchday with a goal by Carl Valeri, thus gaining a historical spot in the Serie B 2007-08. Cuccureddu left Grosseto by mutual consent with the club a few days following the triumphal win, and Giorgio Roselli was appointed to replace him for the 2007–08 Serie B club campaign.