Piacenza Calcio 1919, commonly referred to as Piacenza, is an Italian football club based in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna. The club currently plays in Serie C. Re-founded in 2012, Piacenza Calcio 1919 acquired the rights to use the brand of the original club Piacenza Calcio from Salva Piace.
History
Foundation of Piacenza F.C.
Piacenza Football Club was founded in 1919 with Giovanni Dosi as the first club president. Dosi was an ambitious manager, taking control of every social, technical, and administrative aspect of the club, with the sole focus at bringing the club into the national championship under the FIGC. After spending much of the club's early life in the regional leagues, they entered into Serie C for the 1935–36 season, coming close to gaining promotion into Serie B during 1938 but lost out to Fanfulla.
After World War II, Piacenza competed in Serie B for the first time, competing there for two seasons before falling back down to Serie C in 1948. The club were punished for illicit sportsmanship in 1956 and were relegated to Serie D. This proved to be quite a heavy blow for the club as they would continue to yo-yo between Serie C and D until 1964. Piacenza finally returned to Serie B in 1969, under coach Tino Molina and president Vincenzo Romagnoli. Piacenza's history until recent times was mostly undistinguished, with brief spells in Serie B in the 1940s and further spells in 1969–70, 1975–76, and 1987–88 to 1988–89.
Promotion in 1991 saw a rise in the side's fortunes under coach Gigi Cagni, with the club promoted to Serie A for the first time in 1993, but was immediately relegated in the next season, despite the presence of players such as midfielder Daniele Moretti, winger Francesco Turrini, and forward Giampietro Piovani. For much of the season, Piacenza had battled into mid-table and were even a few points short of a European place, but were relegated on the last day of the season in a tight scrap. The club wisely chose to retain Cagni and most of his squad, and they would achieve promotion as Serie B champions in 1995. The following five years saw the club win many supporters with its all-Italian lineup and successful battles against relegation. In 1997 the club acquired legendary hard man defender Pietro Vierchowod. Despite his advancing years, Vierchowod proved an outstanding purchase, more than holding his own in defence and even scoring decisive goals in the relegation battle. Relegation in 2000 was followed by an instant return to Serie A for two years with outstanding form shown by players like midfielder Enzo Maresca. The club has since remained in Serie B without threatening to mount a promotion challenge. However following a poor 2010–11 Serie B season, Piacenza found themselves in a relegation playoff against Albinoleffe which they lost due to Albinoleffe's higher league position.
2012: Final bankruptcy after relegation
On 22 March 2012 Piacenza Calcio in strong financial difficulty was declared bankrupt by the court of Piacenza. In this season it was ranked 15th and relegated from Lega Pro Prima Divisione to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione after play-out. On 19 June 2012 the club was finally declared bankrupt and the team was disbanded.
The refoundation: from Lupa Piacenza to Piacenza Calcio 1919
Following the bankruptcy of Piacenza Football Club, regional amateur club A.C.D. LibertaSpes, recently promoted in the season 2011–12 to Eccellenza Emilia–Romagna after winning Promozione Emilia–Romagna Group A, was renamed to Lupa Piacenza after the obtaining the brand for four years from an association "Salva Piace", in order to continue the football history of Piacenza Football Club. LibertaSpes, formerly known as A.C.D. Pontolliese Libertas 1907 until 2010, was a merger of U.S. Pontolliese, based in Ponte dell'Olio and A.C. Libertas, based in Piacenza. However, in 2010, G.S.D. BettolaSpes was renamed to A.S.D. BettolaPonte, while "Pontolliese Libertas" was renamed to LibertaSpes as part of the demerger of Pontolliese, which Pontolliese "merged" with Bettola instead. BettolaPonte is one of the predecessors of major city rival A.S. Pro Piacenza 1919. In mid-2013 Lupa Piacenza was renamed Piacenza Calcio 1919. At the same time, LibertaSpes was also re-founded, but under the name Associazione Calcistica Dilettantistica LibertaSpes, which did not use the usual Associazione Calcio Dilettantistica in the denomination. In 2013–14 Serie D season Piacenza Calcio was placed in the group B along with city rival Pro Piacenza 1919. In the 2015–16 Serie D season, Piacenza Calcio secured promotion to Lega Pro by winning the Group B title with 96 points and 30 wins over the course of the season, beating second placed Lecco by 16 points.
Stadium
Piacenza Calcio 1919 and Piacenza Calcio play their home matches at the 21,668 capacity, Stadio Leonardo Garilli, located in the city of Piacenza. The youth sector of the club was based in Steel Acciai Sport Center – Centro Sportivo "F. Gaudino" on "via Enrico Millo", Piacenza. The facility was named after the former chairman of LibertaSpes, Fabio Gaudino, as LibertaSpes, one of the predecessors of the current club Piacenza Calcio 1919, also used the facility. The 2013 re-founded LibertaSpes was based in nearby Campo "G. Calamari", which was also used by Pontolliese Libertas in the past.
