A.C. Ancona

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Ancona

Full name

Associazione Calcio Ancona
SpA

Nickname(s)

Dorici

Founded

1905

Ground

Stadio del Conero,
Ancona, Italy
(Capacity 26,000)

Chairman

Manager

League

Serie C1/B, 16th





Home colours





Away colours

Associazione Calcio Ancona is an Italian football club, based in Ancona, Marche. The club was founded in 1905 as Unione Sportiva Anconitana, changing its denomination to Ancona Calcio 1905 in 1981 (as stated in the official web site (Italian)), and refounded in 2004 as AC Ancona. Ancona currently plays in Serie C1/B. However, it was in Serie A as recently as the 2003/04 season, when Ancona finished last and was relegated to Serie B. The club was then forced into bankruptcy, and was sent down two divisions to Serie C2. The team's colors are all-red.

1 History
2 Current squad
3 Notable former players
4 Supporters and rivalries
5 References
6 External links

Ancona had spells in Serie B before World War II and shortly after, but would not return to that level until 1988. Under coach Vincenzo Guerini, the club's rise was meteoric: 5th place in 1990 and promotion was achieved two years later. Although they would finish 17th and were relegated after just one year, the club nonetheless played in some memorable high-scoring games including a 3-0 home win over Inter. Midfielder Lajos Detari, winger Fabio Lupo and striker Massimo Agostini ensured Ancona had a respectable Goals For tally but conceded goals at an alarming rate.

The following year, Ancona reached an Italian Cup final but were heavily beaten by Sampdoria. Near misses in the promotion race was followed by relegation in 1996 and again in 1998. After returning to Serie B in 2000, Ancona would achieve another promotion in 2003.

Ancona's second Serie A season would be one of the worst enjoyed by any Serie A club, with a record-equalling 28-game winless streak from the start. They finishied the season with a pitiful 13 points. This was followed by bankruptcy and condemnation to Serie C2.

In October 2007 it was reported that Centro Sportivo Italiano (CSI), run by the Vatican's Conference of Bishops, had purchased an 80% share in the club. The report read:

"It is a way to moralise football, to bring some ethics to a sector that is going through a deep crisis of values," said Ancona Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli, who recently played a benefit game against an Italian national team of singers.
CSI president Edio Costantini said the centre wanted "to invest in the true meaning of sport. We want football to be again a means of education and not tied to strictly monetary values".
"We will show that, for boys, football is not just an illusion or a bad example." ^[1]

According to Catholic World News on October 9, 2007, the Vatican was distancing itself from the move, claiming the CSI was a group of 'lay Catholics' and the Vatican had 'nothing to do' with the project ^[2]. Yet in a Reuters report on October 11, 2007, both the Vatican Secretary of State and the Pope endorsed the move, quoted as saying respectively:

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone praised the project in a statement read at its presentation, saying it was designed to 'bring out the human and spiritual values in sport'.

Pope Benedict XVI also encouraged the team after receiving a shirt with his name and the number 16 on from them at a general audience in St Peter's Square ^[3]

As of November 11, 2007^[4]

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Enrico Guarna (on loan from Ascoli)
		GK	Massimo Schena
		GK	Davide Zomer
		DF	Fabio Di Fausto
		DF	Stefano Fanucci
		DF	Alberto Galuppo (on loan from Parma)
		DF	Luca Gentili
		DF	Luca Lacrimini
		DF	Giovanni Langella
		DF	Mattia Giovanni Masiero
		DF	Stefano Olivieri (on loan from Chievo Verona)
		MF	Anderson

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Davide Caremi (on loan from Chievo Verona)
		MF	Umberto Cazzola
		MF	Yuri Croceri
		MF	Crocefisso Miglietta
		MF	Gabriele Puglia
		MF	Simone Rizzato
		MF	Pasquale Schiattarella
		FW	Thomas Albanese (on loan from Siena)
		FW	Claudio De Sousa (on loan from Torino)
		FW	Salvatore Mastronunzio
		FW	Maurizio Nassi
		FW	Andrea Staffolani

The main rivals of Ancona is Ascoli.^[5] The ultras of Ancona are noted for their anti-racist and anti-fascist stances.^[5]

^ Vatican buys team to clean up Italian football, The Daily Telegraph online, October 4, 2007 Retrieved on October 4, 2007
^ Vatican not sponsoring soccer team, spokesman clarifies Catholic World News, October 9, 2007 Retrieved on October 10, 2007
^ Vatican backs club's mission SBS Television (Aust.) "The World Game" website, October 11, 2007 Retrieved on October 11, 2007
^ La rosa della stagione 2007/2008 (Italian). AC Ancona. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
^ ^a ^b "Italian Ultras Scene", View from the Terrace, 29 June 2007.

Official site

Serie C1 • 2007-08 clubs

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Serie C1 Girone A
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Serie C1 Girone B
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