FC Crotone

Crotone
Full nameFootball Club Crotone S.r.l.
Nickname(s)I Pitagorici (The Pythagoreans)
Gli Squali or Lo Squalo Calabrese (The Sharks or The Shark of Calabria)
Rossoblù (Red and Blue)
Founded1910; 114 years ago (1910)
GroundStadio Ezio Scida
Capacity16,647
ChairmanGianni Vrenna[1]
Head coachEmilio Longo
LeagueSerie C Group C
2023–24Serie C Group C, 9th of 20
Websitehttp://www.fccrotone.it
Current season

Football Club Crotone S.r.l., commonly referred to as Crotone, is an Italian football club based in Crotone, Calabria. They play in the third division of Italian football, the Serie C. Founded on 20 September 1910, it holds its home games at Stadio Ezio Scida, which has a 16,647-seat capacity.

History

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The club is based in the ancient Greek settlement of Kroton, one of the first Greek colonies in what is now known as modern day Italy. The club is proud of their Greek origins with their banners and slogans and regularly depicting Greek icons such as soldiers of Sparta.[2]

The first team from Crotone, Società sportiva Crotona, was founded on 20 September 1910, but without adhering to Italian Football Federation, and the following main teams of Crotone, like Milone Crotone, did not participate before 1921 in several minor leagues including Prima Divisione (which later would be known as Serie C). Following World War II, a new club, Unione Sportiva Crotone replaced the previous one, playing seven seasons in Serie C.

In 1963, the club was relegated to Serie D, but returned to the third division the following year, remaining there for fourteen consecutive seasons, missing promotion in 1977 when finishing third behind Bari and Paganese. In 1978, following the Italian football league reorganisation, Crotone was relegated to Serie C2 and the following year was declared bankrupt. A new club, Associazione Sportiva Crotone, began competing again in the Prima Categoria (eighth division).

Crotone was promoted to Serie C2 in 1984–85, but only for one season. The team's name was changed to Kroton Calcio, and the club was promoted again to C2 after the 1986–87 season, where it played until 1991. A second bankruptcy led to the foundation of Football Club Crotone Calcio with Raffaele Vrenna as chairman, starting in the Promozione (7th level). Crotone gained successive promotions to Serie C2 and C1, winning in the play-offs against Locri and Benevento, respectively.

Under Antonello Cuccureddu, Crotone first reached Serie B in 2000, returning to the second level two seasons later. Again in division two in 2004, after disposing of Viterbese in the promotion play-offs, it remained in the category until the 2006–07 season.

After being beaten by Taranto in the 2008 play-offs, Crotone returned to the second division the following season, defeating Benevento.

The team was promoted to Serie A, the Italian top flight, for the first time in its history in 2016.[3] In the 2016–17 season, the club finished 17th, securing a place in the next Serie A season. This was despite the Calabrian side only winning two points from the first ten matches, one of the poorest starts the Italian top-flight had seen in years. Crotone remained in the relegation positions for almost the entire season before an impressive revival saw the club achieve a seven-match unbeaten run from matchdays 30 to 36, including five wins in that time, and the season was concluded with a 3-1 victory over Lazio on the last matchday, a result that saw Crotone jump above Empoli to 17th place and thus secured another season in Serie A in what was hailed as a football miracle, led by 13-goal top scorer Diego Falcinelli and coach Davide Nicola. [4]

In the following season, Crotone failed to avoid relegation after losing against Napoli in the last match of the Serie A campaign, returning to Serie B after two seasons.

Following the 2019-20 season, the club was promoted to Serie A once more in second place, only behind Benevento in the table. However, the club's top-flight campaign was less than satisfactory. After spending the majority of the season in the last spot of the table, and losing incredible matches that were an early indicator of the hardship the club would endure, Crotone was mathematically relegated to Serie B after 34 games, following a loss to would-be champions Inter. This relegation came in contrast with several excellent performances from individual players, particularly striker Simy, who scored 20 league goals during the season, a record for a relegated team.[5] Nevertheless, the 92 goals Crotone conceded was one more than Casale conceded in 1933-34, setting a new Serie A record for goals against in a single season.[6]

To reduce wage bills following relegation to Serie B, the club loaned out attacking midfielder Junior Messias to AC Milan with an option for the latter to buy, and striker Simy to Salernitana (sold to the latter in January 2022). The team's attacking power weakened. Crotone finished 19th in the league and suffered a second successive relegation to 2022-23 Serie C.

Colours and badge

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Team colours are dark blue and white, due to their Greek origins, and also red. The club's kits are traditionally dark blue and red stripes. Some of the team's mottos are "Salutate la Magna Grecia" ("Salute Greater Greece")[7][8] and "Noi siamo la Magna Grecia" ("We are Greater Greece").[9] Fans of FC Crotone pride themselves as being ”La Capitale Della Magna Grecia” ("The capital of Greater Greece").[8] The team's nickname is "the Pythagoreans", deriving from the well-known Greek philosopher Pythagoras.[10]

Rivalries

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FC Crotone has a fierce rivalry against LFA Reggio Calabria in what's called the "Magna Graecia derby".[11][12] The club also maintains rivalries against Cosenza Calcio and US Catanzaro 1929.[13][14]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 30 August 2024[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Italy ITA Andrea Sala
3 DF France FRA Maxime Giron
5 DF Italy ITA Riccardo Cargnelutti
6 DF Italy ITA Davide Di Pasquale
7 FW Italy ITA Enrico Oviszach
8 MF Italy ITA Riccardo Stronati
9 FW Italy ITA Guido Gómez
10 MF Italy ITA Mattia Vitale
11 MF Albania ALB Aristidi Kolaj
12 GK Italy ITA Antonio Pio Martino
13 DF Italy ITA Nicolò Armini
15 MF Brazil BRA Vinicius
16 MF Italy ITA Andrea Gallo
18 DF Italy ITA Alessio Guerini (on loan from Atalanta)
19 FW Italy ITA Raffaele Cantisani
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Chile CHI Luis Rojas
22 GK Italy ITA Francesco D'Alterio
23 DF Italy ITA Filippo Groppelli
24 DF Italy ITA Giovanni D'Aprile
28 FW Italy ITA Marco Spina
30 FW Italy ITA Mario Aprea
31 FW France FRA Jean-Guy Akpa Akpro (on loan from Triestina)
33 DF Italy ITA Andrea Rispoli
35 MF Italy ITA Antonio Ranieri
38 MF Italy ITA Thomas Schirò
41 MF Brazil BRA Jonathan Silva (on loan from Torino)
77 FW Bulgaria BUL Dimitar Kostadinov
93 FW Italy ITA Marco Tumminello
99 FW Italy ITA Lorenzo Chiarella

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Switzerland SUI Daniel Leo (at Perugia until 30 June 2025)
— MF Croatia CRO Jurica Jurčec (at Sesvete until 30 June 2025)
— FW Italy ITA Giovanni Bruzzaniti (at Pineto until 30 June 2025)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Brazil BRA Lucas Felippe (at Potenza until 30 June 2025)
— FW Italy ITA Eugenio D'Ursi (at Gubbio until 30 June 2025)

Coaching staff

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Position Name
Head coach Italy Emilio Longo
Assistant coach Italy Vincenzo Migliaccio
Assistant coach Italy Giuseppe Brescia
Goalkeeper coach Italy Nicola Barasso
Fitness coach Italy Fabio Allevi
Fitness coach Italy Elmiro Trombino
Physiotherapist Italy Armando Cistaro
Physiotherapist Italy Matteo Errico
Physiotherapist Italy Riccardo Pupo
Chief doctor Italy Massimo Iera
Club doctor Italy Massimo Bisceglia

Managers

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References

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  1. ^ "Società" (in Italian). F.C. Crotone. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Italian Football Team FC Crotone is Uniquely Proud of Its Greek Origins". 17 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Crotone promoted to Serie A for first time in their history". espnfc.com. 29 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Crotone's great escape". The Football Times. 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  5. ^ "2020-21 Serie 1 top scorers". sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  6. ^ "Crotone 2020-21 Season Review". Football Italia. 27 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Οταν 3000 οπαδοί φωναζαν: Salutate la Magna Grecia -Υποκλιθειτε στη Μεγάλη Ελλάδα". Olympia.gr (in Greek). 2022-07-22. Archived from the original on 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  8. ^ a b Kampouris, Nick (20 May 2022). "Italian Football Team FC Crotone Is Uniquely Proud of Its Greek Origins". Greek Reporter. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Οι Ιταλοί δεν ξεχνούν την ιστορία και φωνάζουν «Είμαστε η ΜΕΓΑΛΗ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ»". Cognosco Team (in Greek). 2018-10-30. Archived from the original on 2024-02-09. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  10. ^ Cianfanelli, Marco (2021-07-21). "FC CROTONE: MAGNA GRECIA E SQUALI - di Marco Cianfanelli". PennantsMuseum (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  11. ^ Perri, Matteo (2012-04-12). "La Reggina indossa la Calabria, maglie speciali derby con il Crotone". Passione Maglie (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  12. ^ "Crotone-Reggina 1-1, la sintesi". F.C. Crotone (in Italian). 2021-09-11. Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  13. ^ God (2003-09-10). "News da Benevento". UsCatanzaro.net (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  14. ^ Redazione (2023-04-09). "Crotone, poker del Cosenza nel derby del campionato Primavera". Calcio Crotone (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  15. ^ "Crotone squad". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
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