S.S.D. Acireale Calcio 1946

Football club infobox
clubname = Acireale


fullname = Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Acireale Calcio 1946
nickname = "Granata"
founded = 1946
ground = Stadio Tupparello, Acireale, Italy
capacity = 6,800 | chairman = Sebastiano Massimino
manager = Lucio Tosto
league = Sicilian "Eccellenza" – B
season = 2006-07
position = Sicilian "Promozione" – C, 1st
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=AA0000|body1=AA0000|rightarm1=AA0000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=AA0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinredsides|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Acireale Calcio 1946 is an Italian football club, based in Acireale, Sicily. The club have spent most of their history in Serie C, although they have played for two seasons in Serie B.

History

A.S. Acireale is a team from a city of 55,000 inhabitants 18 km away from Catania. The club's roots can be traced back to a previous club in the city, from whose ashes the current incarnation rose from; the older club in the city played between 1928 and 1935.

Acireale was founded in 1946, making its debut in Serie C. The team reached its culmination in 1992/1993 when, after a long period played in Serie C1, C2 and D, the team, coached by Giuseppe Papadopulo, surprisingly gained its first promotion to Serie B. During its first Serie B season in 1993/1994, Acireale avoided relegation after having won a play-off against Pisa Calcio on penalties. But, in its next season, Acireale was not able to repeat their feat, and were relegated to Serie C1. Acireale successively played consecutively four season in Serie C2, a period which ended in 2003 after being promoted on playoffs. However, after a disappointing Serie C1 season in 2005/2006, ended with a relegation to Serie C2, Acireale dropped because of financial troubles, and a new property registered the club to the Promozione regional league, the 7th level in the Italian football league system. In its first Promozione season, the club readily won its league round being thus promoted to Eccellenza. The club was renamed to the current denomination in August 2007, and will take part to the Sicilian Round B of Eccellenza in 2007-2008.

Notable former players

*flagicon|Italy Davide Bombardini
*flagicon|Italy Arturo Di Napoli
*flagicon|Italy Walter Mazzarri
*flagicon|Italy Paolo Orlandoni
*flagicon|Italy Nicola Pavarini
*flagicon|Italy Gaetano Vasari

Notable former managers

*flagicon|Italy Walter Mazzarri
*flagicon|Italy Giuseppe Papadopulo
*flagicon|Italy Francesco Scoglio

External links

* [http://www.ultrasgranata.135.it/ Fan site]
* [http://www.leonigranata.com/ Another fan site]
* [http://www.forzacireale.it/ Another fan site]