Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to asPisa, is an Italian professionalfootballclub based inPisa,Tuscany. The team currently plays inSerie B.

Pisa

Full name	Pisa Sporting ClubS.r.l.
Nickname(s)	I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
Founded	1909
Ground	Arena Garibaldi
Capacity	25,000[1]
Owner	Alexander Knaster
Chairman	Giuseppe Corrado
Head coach	Filippo Inzaghi
League	Serie B
2023–24	Serie B, 13th of 20
Website	pisasportingclub.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

The club was founded in 1909 asPisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 asPisa Calcio (and registered inEccellenza, the regional football division in Italy), after the cancellation of the former because of economical troubles. It was excluded again from Italian football in 2009, after the property failed to collect enough money to pay off the club's debts.^[2] In summer 2009 it was refounded with the denominationA.C. Pisa 1909.

Pisa won twoMitropa Cups, in 1986 and 1988. They play their home matches atArena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, named afterRomeo Anconetani, the chairman who brought and led the club in Serie A during the 1980s. In 2016, Giuseppe Corrado bought the club and planned the new Pisa stadium. In January 2021, billionaireAlexander Knaster acquired a 75% stake in the club.^[3]

After promotion toSerie B in 1965, Pisa took three years to reachSerie A for the first time. Despite a brave effort, Pisa was relegated on the final day of the 1968–69 season.

Spending much of the 1970s in Serie C, Pisa returned to Serie B in 1979 (by which time the club had come under the presidency of the much-lovedRomeo Anconetani) and were promoted to Serie A in 1982, embarking on a period of six out of nine seasons in Serie A. With Danish internationalKlaus Berggreen among their stars, Pisa managed a credible 11th place in the 1982–83 Serie A with 27 points and 27 goals scored and conceded in 30 games. The following season brought relegation (during which they recorded just 3 wins and 16 draws) with 15,000 fans travelling toMilan for the fateful penultimate game.

Promotion followed in 1985, and the team seemed capable of staying up until losing their last three games. The cycle was repeated in 1987, only for a side containing players likeDunga andPaul Elliott to stay up. The last promotion to Serie A was achieved in 1990, and with the talents of players likeMaurizio Neri,Michele Padovano, andLamberto Piovanelli up front andDiego Simeone,Henrik Larsen, andAldo Dolcetti in midfield, the side started well and was briefly atop the standings, only to suffer another relegation.

Relegation brought considerable financial strains to the club, and by 1994 they had lost a relegation play-off and were condemned toSerie C1.

Administration saw Pisa reformed inEccellenza, only to return toSerie C2 in 1996 and C1 in 1999. Pisa have since worked towards attaining Serie B status, which was achieved in 2007. Their crowds have been among the better in Italy's lower divisions owing to the dedication of their fans.

In May 2002Maurizio Mian's "Gunther Reform Trust" became the owner of Pisa,^[4] installing wealthy celebrityGerman Shepherd dog Gunther IV as honorary president. In the2002–03 Serie C1 season, Pisa reached the play-off final but were defeated inextra-time byUC AlbinoLeffe. President Gunther would attend matches at Arena Garibaldi andbark in support of the team. On one occasionRivalLivornoultras unfurled abanner bearing the legend: "Poisoned meatballs for Gunther". After two further seasons ended in mid-table finishes, Mian sold Pisa in 2005.^[5]

In 2005–06, the team, initially thought to be a protagonist for the promotion, were in continuous struggles, and avoided relegation after playoffs in two dramatic regional derbies againstMassese. The2006–07 season, with new bossPiero Braglia, brought Pisa back to fight for a promotion spot: thenerazzurri ended the regular season in third place, and eventually won the promotion playoffs by defeatingVenezia in the semi-finals andMonza in the finals.

For the2007–08 Serie B campaign, the first in 13 years,Gian Piero Ventura was named to replace Braglia at the helm of thenerazzurri. Despite initial predictions of a mid-low table place, Pisa's impressive performances brought the team to fight for a direct promotion spot, also thanks to a forward line composed byAlessio Cerci,José Ignacio Castillo andVitali Kutuzov which proved to be among the finest in the league. The club ended the regular season in sixth place, therefore achieving a spot to the promotion playoffs, where Pisa was later defeated byLecce.

In 2008–09, the club was acquired by Rome entrepreneurLuca Pomponi, who initially failed into appointingAlessandro Costacurta as new head coach, thus confirming Ventura asnerazzurri boss. The club, which was weakened by the departures of Cerci, Castillo, Kutuzov and several other players, did not manage to repeat its performances, with Ventura being ultimately sacked in March 2009, with the club in mid-table place. The appointment ofBruno Giordano, which was made to improve the team results, however proved to be disappointing in terms of results, as Pisa slowly lost positions in the table, and shockingly got directly relegated in the final game of the season due to an injury-time home defeat toBrescia which left the Tuscans in 18th place. The unexpected relegation also unveiled a number of massive financial issues which prevented the club from registering in theLega Pro Prima Divisione, and in July 2009 the club was excluded by the Italian Football Federation for the second time in its history.

Pisa has been refounded with the denomination ofA.C. Pisa 1909 S.S.D. (in which S.S.D. is a legal suffix required byFIGC) to start again fromSerie D under new ownership.^[2] At the end of the season Pisa won Group D (Italian:Girone D) of Serie D and was promoted toLega Pro Seconda Divisione for the 2010–11 season.^[6]

The team was then admitted toLega Pro Prima Divisione for the2010–11 season to fill vacancies created by a row of club exclusions in second and third tier of Italian football league system. Thus the S.S.D. legal suffix was drop and replaced byS.r.l.

On 12 June 2016 Pisa gained promotion to Serie B after seven years by defeatingMaceratese (3–1),Pordenone (3–0 on aggregate) andFoggia in the two-legged play-off final (5–3 on aggregate),^[7] however, the club was relegated to Serie C the following season after finishing second-last.

Having moved back toSerie B in 2019, the club changed back its name toPisa Sporting Club in the summer of 2021.^[8]

As of 7 February 2025^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

As of 16 February 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

• Serie B
  • Winners:1984–85,1986–87^[10]
  • Runners-Up:1989–90
  • Third Place (Promoted):1981–82,2006–07
• Serie C
  • Winners:1933–34,1964–65
  • Winners - C2 Group A:1998–99
  • Runners-Up - C1 Group A:1999-00
  • Third Place - Group A (Promoted):2018–19
• Serie D
  • Winners - Group D:2009-10
• Lega Pro
  • Runners-Up (Promoted) - Group B:2015-16

• Coppa Italia Serie C
  • Winners: 1999–00
  • Runners-Up: 2011-12
• Mitropa Cup
  • Winners:1985–86,1987–88
  • Runners-Up:1990-91

• Official website