Trapani Calcio

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Trapani Calcio Logo.png
Full name Trapani Calcio
Nickname(s) Granata (The garnets)
Founded 1905; 109 years ago (1905)
Ground Stadio Polisportivo Provinciale,
Erice, Italy
Ground Capacity 6,776
Chairman Vittorio Morace
Manager Roberto Boscaglia
League Serie B
2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A, 1st

Trapani Calcio is an Italian football club located in Trapani, Sicily. They will play Serie B in 2013–14 after having won the Girone A of Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

They are nicknamed the Granata (the Garnets), after their kit colour.


In brief[edit]

During the club's history they have played mostly in the Serie C and D leagues. In the current season, they play in Serie B for the first time in the club's history.

To date the highest league position the club has finished after the 1929/30 season was 2nd in the third highest level of Italian football, a position the club attained 3 times, in the Prima Divisione during the 1934-35 season,[1] in the Serie C during the 1960-61 season[2] and again during the 1962-63 season.[3]

Before the 1929/30 season, the club played for one season at the then highest level football division in the 1921-22 season,[4] but retired during the championship, forfeiting the last 6 matches.

In recent years, the highest league position the club attained was 4th in the third highest level of Italian football, then called Serie C1, during the 1994–95 season,[5] a result that was bettered in the 2011–12 season when Trapani achieved a second place in the same division. Throughout their long history, Trapani have won at least six recorded league championships in various divisions.


The club's roots can be traced back to 1905;[6] on 2 April of that year, local newspaper the Gazzetta di Trapani ran an advert requesting young people to form a football association for Trapani.[7] The club founded, by professor Ugolino Montagna and young native Abele Mazzarese to represent the West-Sicilian town was named Unione Sportiva Trapanese. It is one of the oldest teams on the island, after Palermo and Messina.


Post-war times[edit]

After the war, in 1921 three teams had risen up; Vigor, Bencivegna and Drepanum. During the 1921–22 season Vigor finished 6th in the Sicilian section of the national championship of the C.C.I. (Confederazione Calcistica Italiana). On 22 January 1923 a fusion took place between Vigor and Drepanum, the club decided to revive the previous name U.S. Trapanese.

By June 1926, the name of the club was changed to A.S. Trapani. In the 1930–31 season, under the name Juventus Trapani, the club won promotion from III Divisione into II Divisione, the following season they achieved promotion again this time into the early 1930s equivalent of Serie C. They finished 8th in Serie C during the 1942–43, but then football in Italy was put on hold for the Second World War.

1940s, 50s and 60s[edit]

Just after World War II, the club were using the name A.S. Trapani for one season, before changing its name to A.S. Drepanum. They were entered into Serie C, which at the time was divided into many regional groups. For the 1947–48 season, they qualified for the new, smaller Serie C; even finishing above Messina. Unfortunately for the club, they were relegated down to level which Serie D currently stands, in the 1949–50 after finishing second from bottom.

1990s: peak and decline[edit]

With former Serie A player Ignazio Arcoleo as head coach, Trapani experienced two consecutive promotions from Serie D to Serie C1 in the early 1990s.

In 1995, a strong and qualified team composed mostly by young promising players such as Marco Materazzi and more experienced local footballers such as Francesco Galeoto qualified to the promotion playoff, but ultimately lost to Walter Novellino's Gualdo in the semifinals with a late goal scored on injury time. Since then, Trapani experienced a slow but continuous decline, despite attempts to repeat past successes: Arcoleo left Trapani to coach Palermo along some of the best players, including Galeoto. The club then relegated to Serie C2 in 1997, Serie D in 2000 and even Eccellenza in the 2005–06 season, despite a late attempt by Arcoleo and former star Gaetano Vasari to save the team from relegation. In addition, the club also received a 12-points deduction for the 2006–07 season following a matchfixing attempt recognized by the Football Federation. In its 2006–07 Eccellenza campaign Trapani, coached by former Parma midfielder Tarcisio Catanese, ended the regular season phase to eleventh place, and saved from relegation after having won relegation playoffs to Terrasini in a 5–0 single-legged win. From 2007 onwards Trapani competed in the Serie D with little success.

The Boscaglia years: from Serie D to Serie B[edit]

In 2009, chairman Vittorio Morace appointed Roberto Boscaglia as new head coach, with the aim to bring the club back into professionalism; in his first season in charge, Trapani ended as runners-up behind Milazzo. However, later in August, due to the high number of club cancellations in the higher ranks, Trapani was admitted into the 2010–11 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (formerly Serie C2), thus ending the club's 13-year absence from the professional ranks.

In 2010-11, Trapani ended as runners-up in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione group C, and successively won the promotion play-offs to Lega Pro Prima Divisione. In the first campaign in the third tier, Trapani surprised everyone by topping the league against all odds; an end-of-season crisis however led to the Sicilians being overtaken by Spezia in the second-last week of the season and losing direct promotion eventually. In the subsequent promotion playoffs, Trapani defeated Cremonese in the semi-final, but then lost a two-legged final to fourth-placed outsiders Lanciano. In the following season, however, Trapani were crowned champions (this time in group A) and finally promoted to Serie B for their first time ever.


Trapani's main rival clubs are S.C. Marsala 1912 and Mazara Calcio A.S.D., respectively from the neighbouring cities of Marsala and Mazara del Vallo. A rivalry with U.S. Città di Palermo also exists, but has rarely been contested: Palermo and Trapani have briefly played together in Serie C1, and will renew their rivalry in the 2013-14 Serie B campaign.

Current squad[edit]

As of 1 February, 2014.


No. Position Player
1 Italy GK Emanuele Nordi
2 Italy DF Desiderio Garufo
3 Italy DF Antonino Daì
4 Italy DF Luca Pagliarulo (captain)
5 Italy DF Michele Ferri
6 Italy MF Giuseppe Pirrone
7 Italy MF Simone Basso
8 Italy MF Cristian Caccetta
9 Italy FW Giovanni Abate
10 Italy FW Andrea Raimondi
11 Italy FW Matteo Mancosu
12 Italy GK Richard Marcone (on loan from Vicenza)
13 Italy DF Giusto Priola
No. Position Player
14 Italy MF Maurizio Ciaramitaro
16 Italy MF Mario Pacilli
18 France MF Abdallah Yaisien (on loan from Bologna)
19 Italy DF Daniele Martinelli (on loan from Vicenza)
20 Italy MF Luca Nizzetto
21 Italy MF Andrea Feola
22 Italy GK Gaetano Dolenti
23 Italy DF Francesco Lo Bue
24 Germany FW Salvatore Gambino
29 Italy MF Simone Rizzato
30 Italy FW Antimo Iunco
33 Italy DF Christian Terlizzi

Out on loan[edit]


No. Position Player
5 Argentina MF Fernando Spinelli (at Pavia)
15 Italy FW Alessandro Romeo (at Viareggio)
17 Italy FW Diego Vettraino (at L'Aquila)
25 Italy MF Giuseppe Vitale (at Sorrento)
No. Position Player
26 Italy MF Daniele Crimaldi (at Ischia)
Italy MF Pierantonio Sassano (at Teramo)
Italy FW Dario Costa (at Riviera Marmi)
Italy FW Marcello Mancosu (at Pavia)

Youth team[edit]


No. Position Player
15 Italy MF Alberto Rizzo
17 Italy DF Rosario Alongi
25 Italy FW Antonino Pitasi
No. Position Player
32 Italy MF Daniele Ntim
34 Italy GK Emanuele Geria
35 Italy GK Giuliano Grieco

Notable former players[edit]

Notable former managers[edit]


Lega Pro Prima Divisione

  • Champions: 2012-13

Serie C2

  • Champions: 1993–94

Serie D

  • Champions: 1971–72, 1984–85

II Divisione

  • Champions: 1931–32

III Divisione

  • Champions: 1930-31


  • Champions: 1992–93


External links[edit]