World Soccer: Club Focus

Club Focus - Catania

Club Statistics
City (Population): Catania (302,884)
Founded: 1967
Honorary President: Ignazio Marcoccio
President: Antonimo Pulvirenti
Coach: Silvio Baldini
Club Address: Piazza Giovanni Verga, 16 95129 Catania
(Tel 0039-0957-530811/Fax 0957425724)
Website: www.calciocatania.net
Stadium: Angelo Massimino
Address: Piazza Spedini, 95125 Catania
Capacity: 21,000; Average Attendance 2006-07: 16,185
Pitch dimensions: 105m x 65m
Training Ground: Campo Sportivo di Massannunziata,
Mascalucia
Most capped Italian: Luigi Riva - 24
Transfer record paid: Gionatha Spinesi - £570,000 from Bari (2005)
Transfer record recieved: Roberto De Zerbi - £2 million to Napoli (2006)
Club nicknames: Rossazzurri (Red and light blues); Gli Elefanti (The Elephants);
Etne (Etneans) refering to Mount Etna
Team strip Home: Light Blue & Red striped jersey, light blue shorts and white socks.
Away: White jersey with red trimmings on left, white shorts with red trimmings and white socks.
Shirt sponsor: Energia Siciliana
Kit manufacturer: Legea

Serie A Records
P 916 W 270 D 333 L 313 F 987 A 1054 (*)
Debut season: 1954-55
Seasons: 10
Most appearances: Giuseppe Vavassori - 150
All-time top sorer: Adelmo Prenna - 29
Season's top scorer: Gionatha Spinesi - 17 (2006-07)
Most/Least points: 41 (2006-07) / 12 (1983-84)
Biggest home win: 5-0 v Udinese (1954-55)
Biggest home defeat: 1-5 v Juventus (1962-63) & Sampdoria (1963-64)
Biggest away win: 3-1 v Spal (1954-55)
Biggest away defeat: 0-7 v AS Roma (2006-07)
Most/Least wins: 15 (1960-61) / 1 (1983-84)
Most/Least defeats: 19 (1983-84) / 13 (1960-61/61-62/63-64)
Most/Least goals: 51 (2005-06) / 22 (1974-75)
Most/Least conceded: 68 (2006-07) / 35 (1983-84)

Catania Squad 2007-08
1 Albano Bizarri (G) DOB: 09.11.77
12 Vincenzo Ferrante (G) DOB: 19.08.86
28 Raffaele Ioime (G) DOB: 27.10.87
29 Gianluca Falsini (D) DOB: 02.10.75
5 Mauro Minelli (D) DOB: 02.04.81
32 Riccardo Nardini (D) DOB: 27.06.83
3 Rocco Sabato (D) DOB: 19.04.82
21 Cristian Silvestri (D) DOB: 21.01.75
4 Andrea Sottil (D) DOB: 04.01.74
6 Lorenzo Stovini (D) DOB: 24.11.76
23 Christian Terlizzi (D) DOB: 22.11.79
7 Juan Vargas (D) DOB: 05.10.83
17 David Baioco (M) DOB: 08.05.75
27 Marco Biagianti (M) DOB: 14.04.84
14 Mattia Biso (M) DOB: 06.05.77
9 Giuseppe Colucci (M) DOB: 24.08.80
8 Mark Edusei (M) DOB 02.09.80
20 Marcello Gazzola (M) DOB: 13.04.85
22 Ezequiel Llama (M) DOB: 26.06.86
25 Jorge Martínez (M) DOB: 05.04.83
2 Gennaro Sardo (M) DOB: 08.05.79
19 Giacomo Tedesco (M) DOB: 02.02.76
14 Rodney Babù (F) DOB: 23.12.80
10 Giuseppe Mascara (F) DOB: 22.08.79
15 Takayuki Morimoto (F) DOB: 07.05.88
24 Gionatha Spinesi (F) DOB: 09.03.78

History
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and are based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league; Serie A five times. They currently compete in Serie A after climbing back up the football pyramid. The club has achieved moderate success in the top league, the highest position ever reached by the club is 8th in Serie A twice, both during the early 1960s. The furthest Catania have progressed in cup competitions is the final of the Coppa delle Alpi. The origins of football being played by representatives of the Province of Catania can be traced back to English cargo ships, thanks to the workers who brought the game to Sicily. Specifically the earliest Catania team can be traced to match which took place on 2 May 1901 at San Raineri di Messina against Messina, the team was named Royal Yacht Catania; an English ship with a local Catanian crew.

Earliest club photograph; as Pro Patria in 1908.The ship workers team was just a pastime however, Catania's first professional and most stable football club was founded on 19 June 1908, by Italian film director Gaetano Ventimiglia and Francesco Sturzo d'Aldobrando, who founded the club under the name A.S. Educazione Fisica Pro Patria. Early on they would always play against sailors visiting the port of Catania, particularly foreign ships. Though their first ever match was against Regina Margherita an Italian battleship, the game ended in a 1-1 draw and the Catania line-up that day consisted of; Vassallo, Gismondo, Bianchi, Messina, Slaiter, Caccamo, Stellario, Binning, Cocuzza, Ventimiglia and Pappalardo. Just two years later they changed the name to Unione Sportiva Catanese.

In the North of Italy, football was more organised and those clubs competed in the early Italian Football Championships, while Catania and other Southern clubs competed in competitions such as the Lipton, Sant' Agata and Agordad cups. U.S. Catanese surived the First World War and just after it played in the local Coppa Federale Siciliana. Seven seasons later in 1927 they were entered into the Campionato Catanese, which was won in the 1928-29 season. As they gained promotion the club were entered into the Second Division, and changed their name first to Società Sportiva Catania. They first competed in Serie B in the 1934-35 season where they finished 4th; that season Genoa won the Serie B title.

Catania played in the league for three seasons during this period, before being relegated. Down in Serie C, Catania were crowned champions in the 1938-39 season, finishing above Sicilian rivals Siracusa and Messina (who came in 2nd and 3rd respectively). Their return to Serie B was not a pleasant one, the club finished bottom of the league and won only three games that season. The club's name was briefly changed to Associazione Calcio Fascista Catania during the 1942-43 season in Serie C, which ended prematurely because of the 2nd World War.

Calcio Catania during 1946.After World War II ended, a local competition was organised, the Campionato Siciliano. US Catanese were back; at the end of that season a local team named Elefante Catania were merged into the club. The merged club kept the Catanese name and competed in Serie C during the 1945-46 season, but finished last. In the same league that season a team called Virtus Catania were also present and finished 8th.

At the end of the season, Catanese and Virtus merged together to form Club Calcio Catania, with the first president as Santi Manganaro-Passanisi (who had been president of Catanese). They were entered into Serie C where they spent three seasons, after an epic duel with Reggina for first place Catania prevailed with stars such as Goffi, Messora, Ardesi and Prevosti, gaining promotion to Serie B during 1948-49. The late 1950s through 1960s are considered the golden years for the Catanian club, as they managed to achieve promotion to Serie A on two separate occasions during this time. Their first promotion from Serie B came, when in the 1953-54 season Catania feat out Cagliari and Lombardy side Pro Patria to be crowned champions of the division. Their first season in Serie A, saw Catania achieve a respectable 12th place finish, but the club were forcibly relegated due to financial scandal (as were Udinese).

Calcio Catania during their second spell in Serie A, in the 1960s.Under the management of Carmelo Di Bella (who had played for the club in the late '30s) Catania gained promotion from Serie B in the 1959-60 season. The race for promotion in third spot went down to the last day of the season and was very tense. Catania had lost their final game 4-2 to Brescia and needed Parma to get a good result against Triestina for the Sicilian club to secure promotion. That is exactly what happened and Catania had thus gained promotion once more. Catania returned into Serie A for the 1960-61 season, to begin what would be a six-year stay in the league. Their return season was emphatic as the newly promoted club finished in 8th above top Italian clubs such as Lazio and Napoli. This season produced several notable wins; they beat Napoli and Bologna twice, Sampdoria 3-0 at home and most notably they beat AC Milan 4-3 in Sicily and then on the final day of the season they beat Internazionale 2-0, with goals from Castellazzi and Calvanese. This rubbed the salt into the wounds of Inter who lost the closely contested title that year to Juventus.

Four years later in 1965 they would also finish 8th in the league, this time above Roma and Sicilian rivals Messina. Many of the club's most notable stars played around this time, such as; midfielders Alvaro Biagini and the Brazilian Cinesinho, along with wingers Carlo Facchin and Giancarlo Danova in the side. Catania more than held their own amongst the giants of Italian football, with wins against Juventus (2-0), Fiorentina (2-0) and Lazio (1-0). After their relegation in 1966 Carmelo Di Bella left and Catania stayed in Serie B; clashing with Palermo in the Sicilian derby before the Palermitan club were promoted. Catania followed in 1970-71 with a third place finish; though their stay in Serie A this time was very brief and they were relegated back down after one season. Their most impressive results that season was 3-1 win against Lazio and a draw at home against AC Milan, Catania lacked goalscorers at the time as they only scored 18 goals all-together in 30 games.

Catania players Mastalli and Cantarutti during the 83 Serie B winning season.Worse was to come for the club, who in 1973-74 were relegated down to Serie C, but fortunetly for the club they were able to bounce straight back with a promotion into Serie B as champions. A similar situation happened in 1976-77, where they were relegated down to Serie C. This time however, they were not able to bounce right back; they finished 2nd and then 3rd before finally being crowned champions of what was now known as Serie C1 in 1979-80. After three short seasons, Catania were promoted in 3rd place behind AC Milan and Lazio, into Serie A. They played the 1983-84 season in Italy's top league, but it proved to be an especially dismal season, with only one win (which came against Pisa) and 12 points despite the presence of Claudio Ranieri and Brazilian imports Luvanor and Pedrinho.

The decline of Catania started most evidently after its last relegation to Serie B. The team was no longer able to reach the top division of Italian fooball, and instead continued to decline, being relegated for a while into Serie C1 for the latter part of the 1980s. The lowest point of the club's history, however, was reached in 1993, when the team was cancelled by the FIGC because of financial irregularities. However, after a long judicial battle, the magistrature declared the Italian Federation decision as invalid, and forced it to include the team back into the footballing fold. Catania was thus included in the Sicilian Eccellenza (the sixth level of Italian football), but in the meantime another Sicilian football team, Atletico Leonzio from Lentini (in the Province of Syracuse), had been relocated in the city and renamed Atletico Catania. Despite all of this, the "real" Catania was able to rise back to Serie C in a relatively small number of years, and even back to Serie B in 2002.

During 2003, Catania was at the centre of a controversy that led to the enlargement of Serie B from 20 to 24 teams, known as Caso Catania. The club claimed that Siena fielded an ineligible player in a 1-1 tie, a result which saw Catania relegated, whereas the two extra points from a victory would have kept them safe. They were awarded a 2-0 victory, before the result being reverted, and then re-awarded again. In August, the FIGC decided to let Catania, along with Genoa and Salernitana stay in Serie B, the newly-reborn Fiorentina were also added for the 2003-04 season. The ruling led to protests and boycotts by the other Serie B clubs that delayed the start of the season. The league went down to 22 teams for 2004-05, while at the same time Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams. During the start of that season, Antonino Pulvirenti, chairman of the flight company Windjet and owner of Acireale, a Sicilian Serie C1 team, bought the club. Catania's new ownership let the team enjoy a revival, and in 2005-06 Catania ended in second position, earning promotion to Serie A. The 2006-07 season saw Catania in Serie A for its first appearance in 22 years. In their first season back Catania began well, though they recorded a couple of heavy defeats, their home form saw them peak as high as 4th after 20 games.

Their return season changed drastically on 2 February 2007, due to the 2007 Catania football violence incident. It happened during the Sicilian derby with Palermo, policeman Filippo Raciti was killed during football-related violence caused by Catania ultras outside the Massimino stadium. The event led FIGC commissioner Luca Pancalli to cancel all football-related events in the country for a period of time; including league and national team matches. Catania chairman and owner Antonino Pulvirenti announced his willingness to leave the football world, stating it was not possible to go on producing football in Catania.

After the Italian football league restarted, Catania continued on but dropped in form largely. In truth their slump in form had started just before the derby incident and all together they failed to win for twelve games in a row, before beating Udinese 1-0 in late April 2007, they eventually finished 13th.

2007-2008 Season
After finishing in a very respectable 13th place last season, i can't help feeling that Catania will suffer "second season syndrome" if there is any such thing. The city is famous for Mount Etna, and Catania's season will be quite a timid one, rather than any significant eruption occuring from the Rossazzurri. Gionatha Spinesi is the main man up-front but a repeat of the 17 goals he scored in 37 games last term, is unlikely to repeat itself. This club is certainly not a bad one, far from it but with a lack of goals apart Spinesi's throughout the team is a worry. Catania may very well grind out a lot of draws but will find difficulty in winning many games. This will ultimately lead to the club's relegation
Woody's prediction: 19th place for Catania and playing in Serie B in 2008-09

(*) = Serie A record up to and including 2 September 2007

Edited by stephen_woodside (11/09/2007 01:26)

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