Crotone

Full name	Football 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)
Founded	1910 (1910)
Ground	Stadio Ezio Scida
Capacity	16,647
Chairman	Gianni Vrenna[1]
Head coach	Lamberto Zauli
League	Serie C Group C
2022–23	Serie C Group C, 2nd of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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

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.

Colors and badge

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.

The team's mottos are "Salutate la Magna Grecia" ("Salute Greater Greece") and "Noi siamo la Magna Grecia" ("We are Greater Greece").

Players

Current squad

As of 17 January 2024^[7]

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  ITA Andrea Dini 2 DF  ITA Federico Papini 3 DF  FRA Maxime Giron 5 DF  ITA Davide Bove 6 DF  FRA Guillaume Gigliotti 7 FW  ITA Eugenio D'Ursi 8 MF  BRA Lucas Felippe 9 FW  ITA Guido Gómez 10 MF  ITA Jacopo Petriccione 12 GK  ITA Alberto Lucano 14 DF  ITA Carlo Crialese 15 DF  BRA Vinicius 17 MF  ITA Giovanni Bruzzaniti 18 DF  ITA Giuseppe Loiacono 19 MF  ITA Alessio Tribuzzi

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  CHI Luis Rojas 21 DF  SUI Daniel Leo 22 GK  ITA Francesco D'Alterio 23 MF  CRO Jurica Jurčec 27 MF  ITA Andrea D'Errico (on loan from Bari) 28 MF  ITA Mattia Vitale 29 FW  ITA Raffaele Cantisani 30 FW  ALB Dardan Vuthaj 36 DF  ITA Riccardo Spaltro 39 MF  ITA Thomas Schirò 44 GK  ITA Antonio Pio Martino 93 FW  ITA Marco Tumminello 99 GK  ITA Paolo Branduani — DF  ITA Manuel Nicoletti — MF  ITA Riccardo Stronati

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Francesco Gattuso (at Victor San Marino until 30 June 2024) — MF  NGA Theophilus Awua (at Atalanta until 30 June 2024) — MF  ITA Enrico Oviszach (at Giugliano until 30 June 2024) — FW  ITA Luca Gozzo (at Corticella until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ITA Giuseppe Panico (at Carrarese until 30 June 2024, obligation to buy) — FW  ITA Orazio Pannitteri (at Pro Vercelli until 30 June 2024) — FW  ITA Marco Spina (at Gubbio until 30 June 2024)

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Lamberto Zauli
Assistant coach	Massimiliano Nardecchia
Assistant coach	Giuseppe Brescia
Goalkeeper coach	Antonio Macrì
Fitness coach	Fabio Allevi
Fitness coach	Elmiro Trombino
Physiotherapist	Armando Cistaro
Physiotherapist	Matteo Errico
Physiotherapist	Riccardo Pupo
Chief doctor	Massimo Iera
Club doctor	Massimo Bisceglia

Managers

References

External links

• Official website (in Italian and English)