 | |||
| Full name | Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Casale Foot Ball Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Nerostellati (Starred-Blacks) | ||
| Founded | 1909 | ||
| Ground | Stadio Natale Palli, Casale Monferrato,Italy | ||
| Capacity | 4,000 | ||
| Chairman | Giuseppe Coppo | ||
| Manager | Giacomo Modica | ||
| League | Serie D/A | ||
| 2021–22 | Serie D/A, 3rd | ||
ASD Casale Foot Ball Club (formerlyAS Casale Calcio) is anItalian football club, based inCasale Monferrato,Piedmont.The club plays inSerie D.
The team's nicknamenerostellati ("the starred-blacks") refers to the team's colours of black with a white star on the chest.[1]
When the club was founded in 1909 Casale was at the geographical center of the new footballing movement in Italy.Genoa,Pro Vercelli,Milan,Torino, andJuventus were all leading clubs in theItalian football league system and Casale soon joined their ranks.[2]
In May 1913 Casale became the first Italian club to defeat an English professional team when they beatReading F.C. 2–1.[3] Reading won all the other games on this tour, defeating Genoa,Milan, Pro Vercelli, and even theItaly national team.
In the following season, Casale won their first and only national title.[3] Italian football was then organized on a regional basis and the national championship was divided into three stages. Casale topped the Ligurian-Piedmontese division and proceeded, along with second-placed Genoa, to compete in a division comprising the top northern teams, the others beingInter Milan,Juventus,Vicenza andVerona. Having won that division, Casale defeated central-southern championsLazio 7–1, 0–2 in the two-leg final.[2][3]
AfterWorld War I, Casale remained in the top division for a couple of decades, representing what had been the cradle of earlyItalian football.[2]
With the development of professionalism, Casale was progressively relegated to lower divisions, 1934 being their last year inSerie A.[3] The club was later refounded twice, in 1993 and 2013, after financial problems. In 2013, it took the current name of Casale Foot Ball Club.[4]
A heated rivalry exists between the fans of Casale andAlessandria.
Five players who appeared in the scudetto-winning team of 1913–14 played in theItaly national team, all making their international debuts between 1912 and 1914:[5]
One of Casale's biggest stars, however, was thefull backUmberto Caligaris whose career with the club ran from 1919 to 1928.[6] During his period with thenerostellati, he made 37 appearances forItaly national football team, featuring at the1924 Summer Olympics and winning a bronze medal at the1928 Summer Olympics before leaving Casale forJuventus.[6][7][8] His total of 59 caps stood as a record for about 40 years.[8]
Eraldo Monzeglio, later to represent Italy on numerous occasions, including the1934 and1938 World Cups, made his Serie A debut with Casale in 1923–24. The following season, however, he moved toBologna.[9]
Piero Operto,left back of theGrande Torino perished in theSuperga air disaster,[10] played with Casale in the years 1946–1948.[11]
