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| Full name | Taranto Football Club 1927S.r.l. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Gli Ionici (TheIonians) I Rossoblù (The Red and Blue) I Delfini (The Dolphins) | |||
| Founded | 1927; 98 years ago (1927) | |||
| Ground | Stadio Erasmo Iacovone, Taranto, Italy | |||
| Capacity | 27,584 | |||
| Chairman | Massimo Giove (resigning president) | |||
| Manager | Michele Cazzarò | |||
| League | Excluded | |||
| 2024–25 | Serie C Group C, 20th of 20 (relegated) | |||
| Website | https://www.tarantofootballclub.it/ | |||
Taranto Football Club 1927, commonly referred to asTaranto, is a professionalItalian football club, based inTaranto,Apulia. Originally founded in 1927 by the union of two pioneering clubs that created the first city squad, Taranto currently plays inExcluded. Taranto is 19th in the all-timeSerie B ranking, though Taranto has not played in Serie B since1993, having played in the "serie cadetta" 31 times, more than any other Italian club which never played in Serie A.
The first team ever founded in the city of Taranto was theMario Rapisardi, established in 1904. However, in 1904 another team,U.S. Pro Italia, was founded. That year, the two teams attempted unsuccessfully to merge with each other. In 1911, after the founding ofAudace Foot Ball Club by a group of local students, a rivalry between the two teams started, lasting until 1927, when the two teams merged to formA.S. Taranto. The new team first promoted to Serie B in 1935, played only one year in that category. In 1947, after merging withU.S. Arsenale Taranto, another team in the city, the club assumed the name ofU.S. Arsenaltaranto, which lasted until 1955, when the old one was restored. In 1965, the new venue was inaugurated, after a hundred days of construction. A number of years played in Serie B andSerie C saw the highest peak ever reached by Taranto in 1977–1978, when the team, led by strikerErasmo Iacovone, was seriously fighting for a surprising promotion. However, on 6 February 1978, Iacovone was killed in a car accident. After his death, Taranto's venue was named after him. Taranto left Serie B in 1980/1981 and reached it again three years later. In 1985 the club was declared bankrupt by magistrates, and was taken over before the end of that season. Because of all that, it was forced to change its name to a different one,Taranto Football Club SpA. However, after more economic woes, the team was disbanded in 1993.
A new team, namedTaranto Calcio 1906, was established in 1993 and registered toSerie D by theFIGC. The team reachedSerie C2/C in 1994/1995, but went into liquidation in 1998, so that a new team, again namedU.S. Arsenaltaranto, was admitted to Serie D. In 2000 it was admitted to Serie C2/C, and changed its name toTaranto Calcio Srl. However, in 2004 the team was declared bankrupt one more time, and the consequent bankruptcy auction entrusted the club in the hands of businessman Vito Luigi Blasi, who changed its name inTaranto Sport Srl. In 2005/2006, the team ended second, gaining a spot in the promotion play-offs. The final phase of the Serie C2/C league ended in a triumph for Taranto Sport, which won the playoff finals againstRende and returned toSerie C1/B.
On 29 June 2012 it was excluded from Italian professional football and did not take its place in the 2012–13 championship ofLega Pro Prima Divisione.[1]
On 20 July 2012 the new companyTaranto Football Club 1927 S.p.A. was established.[citation needed] It restarted from the Serie D (Girone H)[2] thanks toArticle 52 of N.O.I.F.[3] In 2013 the team finished 7th in the league. In 2014 it ended the season in second place and lost toArezzo in the play-offs. The next season ended in similar fashion, with Taranto ending the season in second place and losing in the play-offs semifinal toSestri Levante.
In 2015 the club was renamed toSocietà Sportiva Dilettantistica Taranto Football Club 1927.[citation needed] In2016 the team finished the season in second place and lost in the play-offs toFondi, but eventually benefitted from arepechage and promoted toLega Pro. Thefollowing season Taranto finished 20th in Lega Pro/C and thus got relegated back to Serie D after just one season. In2017–18 the team finished 4th in Serie D/H and lost toCavese the playoff final.A year later the team finished 3rd in Serie D/H but again lost in the playoff final, this time toAudace Cerignola. The team finished 6th in2019–20 Serie D/H, thus failing to qualify for the playoffs. In2020-21, Taranto finished in first place inGroup H, thus securing promotion to Serie C.
In the2024–25 Serie C season, Taranto experienced financial difficulties. It failed to pay salaries and fees, and suffered consecutive point deductions as punishment, with 19 points deducted by late January 2025, taking the last spot in the table with negative 6 points. However, they continued to play (fielding their Under-19 squad, and playing home games behind closed doors), as dropping out of the competition would mean they would not be allowed to play in Serie D in the 2025–26 season.[4] In the end, this was not enough and the club was excluded from the 2024–25 Serie C season on 7 March 2025.[5]
The team's colors are red and blue.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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