F.C. Messina Peloro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Messina

Full name

Football Club Messina
Peloro SRL

Nickname(s)

Biancoscudati (Whiteshielded),
Peloritani (Peloritans)
Giallorossi (Yellow-red)

Founded

1900 (reformed in 1972)

Ground

Stadio San Filippo,
Messina, Italy

Capacity

40,200

Chairman

Pietro Franza

Head Coach

Alberto Cavasin

League

Serie A

2005-06

Serie A, 17th





Home colours





Away colours

Football Club Messina Peloro is an Italian football club based in Messina, Sicily originally founded in 1900. The club has spent most of its history in the lower Italian football leagues. However, since 2004 they have been competing in Serie A.

The furthest Messina has reached in the Coppa Italia is the last 16, both of which were achieved in the 2000s. In the past, they have also reached the semi-finals in the Coppa Italia Serie C.^[1]

Messina have appeared in the Italy's top league Serie A, for a total of five seasons during their history. The club's first spell in the league was in the 1960s, the second began in the 2000s. The highest ever position they have finished is 7th,^[2] which happened during the 2004-05 season.

[edit] History

The history of Messina Football Club began when Alfredo Marangolo returned to Sicily in August 1900 from studying in London, England. In Great Britain the game of football was fast gathering popularity with the The Football League in its early stages.

Messina Football Club was officially founded in 1 December 1900^[3] by Marangolo with the help of Anglican reverend "Caulifield". The first club manager and captain was a man named F. L. Padgett, who stayed only for a year and Messina played their home games at San Ranieri.

The staff foundations of the Messina football organization, was composed of 9 Englishmen, 4 Italians, 2 Swiss-Danish, 1 American and 1 German, including;

Walter F. Becker - President
Charles M. Caughy - Vice President
Walter Oates - Secretary
Horace Gooding - Councilman
F.L. Padgett - Councilman
M. Way - Councilman
Adolph Marangolo - Councilman

Giulio Arena Ainis - Councilman
J. Giorgianni - Councilman
G. Lovatelli - Councilman
William Robert Sanderson - Honorary Associate
Guglielmo Sarauw - Honorary Associate
Carl Sarauw - Honorary Associate

George Oates - Honorary Associate
Herbert Oates - Honorary Associate
Edward James Eaton - Honorary Associate
Eduard Jacob - Honorary Associate

[edit] Derby of Sicily: Huleatt era

At the college where Marangolo visited he had also made the acquaintance of Ignazio Majo Pagano who formed Anglo Palermitan (Palermo) on his return, only a month before Messina. Indeed the first Sicilian derby was held between Messina and Palermo on 18 April 1901, 1000 fans turned out to Via Notarbartolo in support their respective club for the match. The game ended 3-2 to the Palermitan side.^[4] After the match, the two club celebrated the arrival of football in Sicily in a cordial fashion with a banquet thrown at the Hotel Milano. The press at the time noted the good sportsmanship and fair play between the clubs.^[5]

Charles Bousfield Huleatt who had helped put the club together originally with Marangolo under the name "Caulifield" took over as Messina player-manager from their second year onwards. In 1904, Messina restored their pride from the earlier clash with Palermo, by coming out victorious 3-2.^[6] The two teams once again celebrated together after toasting drunkely "to the solidarity of the circle, to their future, to Palermo, to Messina, to the King of Italy, the King of England".^[7]

A strong bond, and healthy rivalry had built up between the two Sicilian clubs and a competition named the Whitaker Challenge Cup was arranged to be played between them. The first was held in 1905; Messina won the game (once again the result was 3-2) and in doing so captured their first trophy. Messina proved the result was no fluke the following year at San Ranieri; capturing the trophy in a 2-1 victory.

Messina team photograph from 1910.

[edit] Earthquake: SG Garibaldi

The earthquake of 1908, which killed 60,000 people in Messina; affected the club in a large manner; Deaths included Charles Bousfield Huleatt, players Frank John Carter, Walter Oates and financial backer George H. Peirce.

Football resumed in Messina during the following year; thanks largely to Arthur Barret Lascelles who used money from his own pocket to ensure football activity in the city would continue. By 1910 the funds of Barret had dried up and the club was folded, Società Ginnastica Garibaldi Messina (Gymnastic Society Garibaldi Messina) briefly took its place until it too was dissolved due to the First World War.

[edit] Post-World War I

After World War I, a club under the name U.S. Messinese was founded and entered to play in the Coppa Federale the following year; an all Sicilian championship disputed in Messina, Catania and Palermo.

The club participated in the Italian Football Championship of 1921-22 organised by the C.C.I. finishing 3rd in the Sicilian group section; this was the first Championship in which clubs from the Island were entered. The following season the FIGC and CCI were unified.

This coincided with unifications in Messina. Another side Umberto Messina was incorporated into U.S. Messinese, and thus the club changed its name to U.S. Messinese Umberto in October 1922. The following month this new side was fused once again, this time with Messina Sporting Club; creating the Messina Football Club. The club's football ground was that of the Citadel "Enzo Geraci". Only two years later in December 1924 FC Messina was melted, and the players became part of the reformed U.S. Messinese.

Finally, Messinese qualified for the semi-finals of the International league, after beating Palermo 3-0 in the Sicilian championship of 1924-25. Here Messinese played against Alba Roma, Cavese and Liberty Bari, but failed to win a single match, scoring only two goals in six games.

The following season, Messina was truly humbled by Palermo, who beat them 7-1 over two legs, for the Sicilian championship. Messina however, was still admitted to the semi-finals, but with similar results to the previous year. After the re-organisation of 1926, Messina was entered into the Seconda Divisione. Messina came close to promotion, but lost out to rivals Palermo; Messina would be promoted to Serie B for the 1932-33 campaign under the presidency of Francesco Lombardo and Koenig's coaching.

Messina's last squad of the 1930s, while Lombardo was president.

Messina remained in the league for six seasons, finishing as high as 4th during the 1935-36 season. The spell in Serie B was also notable for the local rivalry between them and Calcio Catania. The stats, for this period for Messina versus Catania, were two wins, four losses, eight goals scored, eight conceded. Notably, all three major Sicilian clubs played in Serie B during 1936-37.

[edit] AS Messina: numerous mergings

Down in Serie C, AC Messina were withdrawn and folded during 1940-41. The following season in 1941-42 a club named US Peloro 1906 changed its name and became US Mario Passamonte (named after a fallen hero of the war in Africa). The idea was to enter the club into Serie C in place of Messina, however this was unsuccessful, until the following season.

It would not be long before all activity was halted in Italian football for World War II. After several fusings in 1945; including one between US Passamonte and AP Messina, the club AS Messina subsequently emerged as a post-war representative of Messina. This was not a clean cut merger however, some players and officials formed the rival club Giostra Messina; both Giostra and AS Messina reached the finals of the Southern League but eventually finished 4th and 5th respectively. At the end of the season, the two teams reunited as one merged club Associazione Calcio Riunite Messina, abbreviated as ACR Messina.

[edit] Success in the League: 1950s and early 60s

The 1950s for Messina began in glorious fashion, they were crowned champions of Serie C under the management of Yugoslavian manager Mihaly Balacics. Messina did not falter in Serie B, during their first season in the league they avoided relegation. Giuseppe Melazzo and the Comitato Reggenza owned the club during this new period of relative success.

A squad short of Messina in Serie B, during 1958.

During the following season, Messina finished 3rd. This period was also notable in Sicilian football for the rivalry between Messina and Catania, similar to the one the club's shared in the 1930s. The two clubs performed respecfully in terms of final positions in Serie B during the early 50s, with Catania gaining promotion to Serie A in 1954. Statistically, Messina were the more dominant club in the Sicilian derby during this period, winning 4 games and losing 2; the other 2 games finished as draws.

Throughout the rest of the 1950s, Messina remained in the division as a whole finishing in a respectful position. Goffredo Muglia took over as president in 1958 to begin a brand new era for the club. For the first time in their history, Messina were crowned champions of Serie B during the 1962-63 season. The race for the championship was a very close one which went down to the last day of the season, with Messina finishing above Bari and Lazio.

For their first ever season in Serie A, the football squad for Messina included; Morelli, Brambilla, Stucchi, Pagani, Dotti, Peruvian Benitez, Ghelfi, Fascetti, Morbello, Canuti and Clerici. Messina's first game in Serie A took place on 15 September 1963, it ended in a 3-1 defeat against Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. As a whole the first part of the season was not a success, they won only 2 games, but they managed to turn it around in the second half of the season, with 7 wins; beating Juventus (1-0), Fiorentina (1-0) and Sampdoria (4-3). The surge of wins in the latter part of the season helped them stay up, finishing 14th.

The next season for the club in Serie A would not be so fortunate, they were relegated in 17th place. Some notable high points of the season included a 1-0 victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The Stadio Olimpico was also the setting of Messina's other most impressive result of the season, they stunned Lazio by beating them 4-0 on the last day of the season.

[edit] Decline

The Sicilian side were not able to bounce straight back up into Serie A, and in fact during their third season back down in Serie B were relegated. It was a cruel way to be relegated for the club, as three teams who survived (Perugia, Lecco and Genoa) finished with the same amount of points as Messina; their position in the league was decided via a series of play-off games.

After several seasons finishing in and around the top 10 positions of Serie C, Messina were relegated down to Serie D in the 1972-73 season. The club managed to bounce straight back however, winning the Serie D championship and achieving promotion back into C. After a few decent seasons in the upper parts of the table, relegation struck Messina again. In the 1979 season Serie C2 was formed and Messina were placed into it.

[edit] 1980s revival with Schillaci

By 1983 Messina were champions of Serie C2 and had a future star amongst their ranks in Salvatore Schillaci. The club, now back on the right tracks came close to promotion to Serie B in 1985 with a 3rd place finish just behind Palermo. The following season Messina won Serie C1 and earned themselves promotion back to Serie B.

Time in Serie B during the 1980s was a pleasant one for the Sicilian side, they notched up 7th and 8th place finishes. In 1989 the club's most capped player of all time Salvatore Schillaci, was sold by Zdeněk Zeman to Turin giants Juventus, he also went onto great success on the national stage just a year later at the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning the Golden Boot with Italy.

[edit] Financial problems

Just three seasons after Schillaci's departure, Messina lost their position in Serie B and were relegated down to C1 and then spiralled into further trouble. The club finished 12th in Serie C1, but due to financial difficulties the FIGC cancelled all professional football activity for Messina.

The decision was thought to be unjust by the club and fans, with Messina been thrown into a footballing abyss never known before. In the summer A.S. Messina was founded with the president Pietro La Malfa, beginning in the amateurs national championship (C.N.D.) with the objective to bring back the giallorossi to professional football.

Messina's crest: 1997 to 2002.

They played in the Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti for four seasons, finishing high up for the first three of them, but due to more due to financial problems in 1996, they were relegated to the Sicilian Eccellenza league. Instead of going through with the relegation Messina was merged in July 1997 with a local club named Peloro, the new name of the club was Football Club Messina Peloro.

[edit] Aliotta's Messina Peloro

Emanuele Aliotta was the new chairman of Messina Peloro and in a few short seasons, the club ramped up the Italian league system. Stating with Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti in the 1997-98 season, Messina were promoted into Serie C2 as champions. In their first season back in this league they finished 2nd to Benevento Calcio, although this was a set back, the revival was strong and the following season they were crowned champions.

The 2000-01 season in Serie C1 was won by local rivals Palermo, Messina came in second three points shy of the leaders. Messina were entered into the play-offs; they beat Calcio Catania to secure promotion back into Serie B. In less than a decade, under the presidency of Aliotta, Messina had climbed back up from the abyss and were back in the upper part of the Italian league system.

After two seasons in B, a new chairman took over at Messina; Pietro Franza. The 2003-04 season saw the Sicilian side gain promotion back into Serie A under coach Bortolo Mutti. Six sides from Serie B were promoted that season. The club had not appeared in the top Italian league since 1965, a total of forty years.

[edit] Serie A: Messina at height

After being many people's tip to be one of the teams relegated from Serie A in the 2004/05 season, Messina surprised doubters by producing several good results (the pick of which was a shock win at the San Siro against AC Milan) to stay clear of relegation throughout the whole season, and eventually finished in 7th place in the table, just a single place away from securing a UEFA Cup place.

Also during this period, for the first time in the club's history^[8] Messina players were called up to the Italian national football team, first was Alessandro Parisi in 2004, then Carmine Coppola in 2005 who was called up twice by the azzurri.

Despite this impressive form however, Messina still were in danger of being relegated from Serie A at the end of the season due to a possibility of not having enough finances available to compete in the league. Eventually, though, they successfully managed to stay in the Serie A League.

In the 2005-06 season Messina was however unable to repeat its previous impressive season, leading this to the sacking of Mutti, who was replaced by Giampiero Ventura; despite all, they looked to be mathematically relegated from the top division after Day 36 losing the derby against Reggina 3-0. However, due to the Serie A scandal of 2006, Messina avoided relegation to Serie B despite finishing 18th

[edit] Current season

Messina started the 2006/07 season with Bruno Giordano as head coach; however, he was replaced on January 30, 2007, by Alberto Cavasin because of poor results.

A notable achievement for Messina so far this season, was reaching the last 16 of the Coppa Italia for only the second time in their history. Messina knocked out S.S. Lazio on the way in a thrilling show down, which went to extra time; Messina won the game 4-3 with goals from Iliev, Cordova and two from Di Napoli.^[9] They went out in the next round to eventual finalists Internazionale.

[edit] Current first team squad

As of March 26, 2007^[10]^[11]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Gabriele Paoletti
3	MF	Massimo Minetti
4	MF	Manolo Pestrin
5	MF	Daniele De Vezze
6	DF	Mathew Olorunleke
8	DF	Marco Zoro
9	FW	Christian Riganò
10	FW	Ivica Iliev
11	FW	Arturo Di Napoli
12	GK	Saul Santarelli
13	DF	Angelo Rea
14	DF	Andrea Giallombardo
15	GK	Gabriele Ferla (from youth team)
16	MF	Mitsuo Ogasawara
17	MF	Salvatore Masiello
18	FW	Sergio Floccari

No.	Position	Player
19	DF	Alessandro Parisi
20	MF	Nicolás Córdova
21	MF	Edgar Álvarez
23	MF	Roberto D'Aversa
27	DF	Marco Zanchi
28	FW	Ibrahima Bakayoko
30	MF	Rok Straus (from youth team)
31	DF	Enrico Morello
32	MF	Vincent Candela
33	DF	Mark Iuliano
51	MF	Girolamo Provenzano (from youth team)
77	MF	Luigi Lavecchia
86	DF	Antonio Ghomsi
88	GK	Nicholas Caglioni (suspended for doping)
89	DF	Gaetano Calà (from youth team)
—	DF	Zsolt Bognár

[edit] Players on loan

	FW	Atsushi Yanagisawa (on loan to Kashima Antlers)
14	FW	Davide Arigò (on loan to A.C. Martina)
23	DF	Andrea Gaveglia (on loan to A.C. Martina)
83	FW	Vittorio Bernardo (on loan to A.C. Martina)
24	MF	Carmine Coppola (on loan to Livorno since January '07)

For recent transfers, see the list of Serie A transfers 2006-07.

[edit] Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in football

41 – Salvatore Sullo, central midfielder, 2001-2007^[12]

[edit] Notable former players

[edit] Most appearances

As of December, 2006, the players with the most league appearances for Messina are:^[13]

#	Name	Career	Goals
1	Angelo Stucci	235	1
2	Salvatore Schillaci	219	61
3	Renato Ferretti I	189	87
4	Constantino Lo Bosco	188	3
5	Franco Radaelli	180	10
	Romolo Re	180	?
7	Renato Avellani	178	0
	Agostino Maglio	178	0
9	Nicolo Napoli	175	20
10	Franco Polizzo	157	14

[edit] Staff

[edit] Managerial History

This list is a chronological history of Messina's managers; in some cases managers have left and then returned to the club in the same season, hence some names feature twice in the same year.

1901 F.L. Padgett
1902 Charles Bousfield Huleatt
1909 Nazzareno Allegra I
1923 Giovanni Stracuzzi
1926 Gottardi
1928 Giovanni Panosetti
1930 Giovanni Panosetti, Clemente Morando
1931 Clemente Morando, Luigi Cevenini III
1932 Engelbert Senior König
1933 Engelbert Senior König, Gyorgy Orth
1934 Gyorgy Orth
1935 Pietro Piselli, Ezio Sclavi
1936 Angelo Mattea
1937 Richard Klug , Heinrich Bachmann
1938 Cesare Migliorini, Rudolph Plemich
1939 Albino Carraro
1940 Engelbert Senior König
1941 Domenico Mazzotta
1945 Giuseppe Celeste
1946 Oronzo Pugliese
1947 Oronzo Pugliese, Renato Ferretti
1948 Attilio Sudati, Virgilio Felice Levratto
1949 Virgilio Felice Levratto, Engelbert Senior König
1950 Mihaly Balacics, Oronzo Pugliese
1951 Oronzo Pugliese, Carlo Rigotti
1952 Carlo Rigotti
1953 Rudolph Hiden
1954 Rudolph Hiden, Cesare Gallea
1955 Manlio Bacigalupo
1957 Rudolph Hiden, Tonino Colomban, Ivo Fiorentini
1958 Ivo Fiorentini
1959 Bruno Arcari IV
1962 Umberto Mannocci
1965 Tonino Colomban
1969 Paolo Todeschini

1970 Tonino Colomban
1972 Oscar Alberto Massei
1973 Oscar Alberto Massei, Emilio Zanotti
1974 Giusto Lodi
1975 Franco Scoglio, Luigi Moschella, Leandro Remondini, Franco Scoglio
1976 Bruno Bolchi
1977 Giorgio Rumignani, Adelchi Brach, Giorgio Rumignani
1978 Enrico Hanset, Adelchi Brach
1979 Adelchi Brach, Nicola Trimarchi, Lino De Petrillo
1980 Paolo Ferrario, Nicola Trimarchi, Antonio De Bellis, Nicola Trimarchi
1981 Franco Scoglio, Mario Santececca
1982 Alfredo Ballarò, Gennaro Rambone, Giovanni Bonetti, Alfredo Ballarò
1983 Alfredo Ballarò
1984 Alberto Spelta, Giovanni Seghedoni
1985 Franco Scoglio
1989 Zdeněk Zeman
1990 Francesco Scorsa, Adriano Buffoni
1991 Giuseppe Materazzi, Tonino Colomban, Pietro Ruisi
1992 Mario Colautti, Fernando Veneranda
1993 Pietro Ruisi, Tonino Colomban, Gianni Anna
1994 Angelo Busetta, Vincenzo Domingo, Marcello Prima, Giuseppe Cannavò
1995 Nino Barone, Angelo Busetta, Carmelo Miceli, Nino Barone
1996 Nino Barone, Giuseppe Sabadini, Pino Aneri
1997 Alfredo Ballarò, Antonio Aloi, Loris De Carolis, Pino Irrera, Loris De Carolis, Pino Irrera, Bruno Caneo, Loris De Carolis
1998 Pietro Ruisi
1999 Pietro Ruisi, Stefano Cuoghi
2000 Stefano Cuoghi
2001 Paolo Beruatto, Carlo Florimbi
2002 Daniele Arrigoni, Ernesto Apuzzo, Daniele Arrigoni
2003 Stefano Cuoghi, Francesco Oddo, Bruno Bolchi
2004 Vincenzo Patania, Mutti Bortolo
2005 Bortolo Mutti
2006 Bortolo Mutti, Giampiero Ventura
2007 Bruno Giordano, Alberto Cavasin

[edit] Presidential History

Over the years Messina has had various owners, chairmen or presidential figures; here is a cronological list of them;

1900 Walter Becker
1901 Arthur Barret Lascelles
1919 Giovanni Vento
1922 Augusto Salvato
1924 Augusto Salvato & Giovanni Vento
1927 Court consul of Military service
1928 Augusto Salvato
1929 Sgoj-Savoja
1930 Francesco Lombardo
1940 Francesco Grosso
1941 Carmelo Garofalo
1944 Salvatore Saya
1945 Vincenzo Nicotra, Giuseppe Gensabella
1947 Francesco Sajia
1948 Principe Carlo D'Alcontres
1951 Giuseppe Melazzo & Comitato Reggenza

1957 Giuseppe Nunnari
1958 Goffredo Muglia
1970 Giuseppe Fusco
1971 Giovanni Gulletta
1977 Angelo Presti
1980 Lamberto Sapone
1983 Michelangelo Alfano
1984 Salvatore Massimino
1991 Maria Leone
1992 Maria Leone & Giovanni Massimino
1993 Pietro La Malfa
1995 Antonino Trimarchi
1996 Antonio Ingemi
1997 Emanuele Aliotta
2002 Pietro Franza

[edit] Stadium

Main article: Stadio San Filippo

Messina FC have played their home matches in the new stadium San Filippo since the 2004/2005 season. Its capacity is (about) 40,200 seats. The name take place from Messina fraction where it is placed, but a couple of petitions aim to rename it after the former Messina manager Franco Scoglio or the Messina Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia.

The old stadium, the 11,000 seater Stadio Comunale Giovanni Celeste, is now used as a training field.

[edit] Honours

Serie B

Champions: 1962-63
Promoted: 2003-04

Serie C

Champions: 1949-50, 1985-86
Runners-up: 1946-47, 2000-01

Serie C2

Champions: 1982-83, 1999-00
Runners-up: 1998-99

Serie D

Champions: 1973-74

Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti

Champions: 1997-98
Runners-up: 1995-96

I Divisione

Runners-up: 1929-30, 1931-32

Sicilian Championship

Winners: 1924-25

Whitaker Challenge Cup

Winners: 1905, 1906

[edit] References

[edit] External links

(Italian) (Japanese) Messina's official website

Serie A • 2006-07 clubs

v • d • e

Italian Football Championship seasons

1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909
1909-10 | 1910-11 | 1911-12 | 1912-13 | 1913-14 | 1914-15 | 1919-20 | 1920-21
1921-22 (C.C.I.) | 1921-22 (F.I.G.C.) | 1922-23 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26
1926-27 | 1927-28 | 1928-29

Serie A seasons

1929-30 | 1930-31 | 1931-32 | 1932-33 | 1933-34 | 1934-35 | 1935-36 | 1936-37 | 1937-38 1938-39 | 1939-40 | 1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1944 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 1948-49 | 1949-50 | 1950-51 | 1951-52 | 1952-53 | 1953-54 | 1954-55 | 1955-56 | 1956-57 1957-58 | 1958-59 | 1959-60 | 1960-61 | 1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 1966-67 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 | 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07

Football in Italy